ÆTHELMEARC
COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #92 Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Feast of St. Oswald of Worcester
28 February, AS XL
Greetings from Myfanwy!
Herein pray find commentary on Æ LoI #92. Sorry for the
limited amount of conflict-checking (this has been a really
hectic month at our house, what with the preparations for being
merchants at Gulf Wars. I did conflict-check everything in
the LoARS for July through November 2005 (everything before that
appears to have been inter-filed in the O&A).
I remain your servant and the Society’s.
Lady Myfanwy ferch Rhiannon
Ruth Morrisson
myfanwy@nauticom.net
1. Clarice Roan -- Per fess azure and argent, a
dove rising argent sustaining in its claws a serpent embowed
counter-embowed gules.
The Withycombe docs are as cited.
I don’t have that Dauzat. Dauzat and Rostaing [p. 569] gives
the header form <Roanne>, with dated forms:
<Roudoumna> (2nd century); <Roidomna> (4th century);
and <Rodenna> (11th century). Morlet [p. 856, sn.
Roanne] gives the same citations. The other citations are
all as given. Additionally, in “Concerning the Names Rowena,
Rowan, and Rhonwen [sic]” [http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/
rowan.shtml] it says:
Another similar name [sic]
A
feminine name Roana [sic] is recorded once in England in 1212 [6]
[sic]. We
believe that this name
originated from the color adjective roan [sic], first used as
a byname describing hair
color and later as a given name [17] [sic]. It is worth
noting that the early 13th
century saw a fashion in England for inventing fanciful
women’s names, most of which
never occur again [18] [sic].
While evocative of the flag of Mexico, there is not a conflict.
no conflicts found in the LoAR
2. Fredeburg von Katzenellenbogen -- Vert, two
bars gemels and in chief a lion passant argent.
There probably should be a bit more space between the two sets of
bars gemel, to make them more identifiable (rather than just four
bars):
this:
=====
rather than: =====
=====
=====
For a better (i.e., not in ASCII) depiction, c.f. Parker [p, 37,
sn. Bar] for the illustration of the arms of Ercall (Argent,
three bars-gemels sable.
Otherwise, nice armory.
no conflicts found in the LoARs
3. Katerin Douglas Als’ Alexander -- Per
chevron raguly sable and gules, a phoenix and in chief three
flames Or.
The Withycombe and St. Gabriel docs. are as cited.
The per chevron line is extremely high -- this almost looks more
like a chapé field (in which case it would have to be
returned for charging the chapé). Besides being
high, the per chevron line is somewhat too wide an angle -- it
should be more of an acute angle (90° or less). The
complex line is somewhat oddly drawn.
The flames do not look like flames -- they look more like stag’s
attires!
If you need to have this redrawn, please let me know (although I
will be unavailable for a good bit of March, due to attending
Gulf Wars).
no conflicts found in the LoAR
4. Onóra inghean Chonaill
The docs for the given name are as cited; note, however, that the
online ILoI has an extraneous space added in the middle of the URL;
as a result, one can’t just copy and paste the URL into a browser
and get to the website page.
The docs for the byname are mostly as given, except that there
are typos in the URL [the actual URL is http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/
Conall.shtml]. Additionally, while I believe that the name is
lenited correctly, it would be nice to have included
documentation to that effect. Krossa’s article “Quick and
Easy Gaelic Names”, 3rd Edition [URL: http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotnames/
quickgaelicbynames/index.shtml] says:
The
standard way to form a name using a simple patronymic byname for
women is:
<single given name> inghean [sic] <father's given name (in
genitive case &
always lenited unless
starting with D, T, L, N, R, or a vowel)>
which means
<given name> daughter [sic] <of father's given name> .
Her article “The Spelling of Lenited Consonants in Gaelic” [URL: http://www.
medievalscotland.org/scotlang/lenition.shtml] gives <ch> as
the pre-1200 lenited form of <c>, with both <ch> and
<c> as the post-1200 forms.
It sounds, therefore, that both the submitted form and <Onóra
inghean Conaill> would be registerable.
5. Sabina de Lyons (new household name House
Laughing Fox and badge) -- (Fieldless) A fox’s head erased
contourny gules.
Not particularly well drawn, but probably registerable.
no conflicts found in the LoAR
6. Temair Ruadh -- Per pale vert and azure, a
domestic cat sejant Or.
The docs for the given name are as cited.
The docs for the byname are also as cited. In particular,
the submitted spelling is given as the early Modern Irish
Gaelic nominative form, dated c. 1200 - c. 1700 [URL: http:// www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/DescriptiveBynames/
Ruadh.shtml]. The charge should be somewhat larger and more
centered on the field, in order to fill the space better.
There should also be some interior detailing, particularly the
head/face. It probably doesn’t need a complete redraw, but
does warrant an artist’s note to the submitter.
The posture might conceivably be reblazoned as “sejant coward”, due
to the tail position, but I’m not entirely sure (since it isn’t
really tucked between the legs). My recommendation is that
Wreath should make the final decision about the blazon.
clear of: Elise porteresse d’yaue (11/05
Outlands) -- Per pale sable and vert, a lion sejant Or
maintaining an ewer azure between three plates.
There is a CD for changing the field, and one for removing the
secondary charges. There is, however, nothing for the
maintained charge.
Bibliography:
Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning,
and History.
Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd., 1999, 2004 [copyright:
The New York Public Library, 1946].
Morlet, Marie-Thérèse. Dictionnaire
étymologique des noms de famille, nouvelle
édition revue et augmentée.
[??]: Librairie Académique Perrin, 1991, 1997.
Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, and Fidelma Maguire. Irish
Names. Dublin: The Lilliput Press,
1981. 1990.
Reaney, P. H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English
Surnames, Rev. 3rd. Ed.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Withycombe, E. G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian
Names, 3rd. Ed. Oxford and New
York: Oxford University Press, 1977.