ÆTHELMEARC COLLEGE OF HERALDS - commentary archive
Letter of Intent #94
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1.  Alasdair Waldgrave - S. Gabriel Report #2330 (www.s-gabriel.org/2330) says:

"<Alasdair> is a modern Gaelicized form of <Alexander>.  <Alexander> was adopted by Scottish Gaels in the medieval period [3, 4, 5], but evidently did not come into use in Ireland until it was brought in by Scottish Gaelic families.  Irish records include reference to non-Gaelic foreigners named <Alexander> dating from 1124 [6]; however, we have found no native Irish use of this name earlier than the likely example <Alaxander> recorded in 1504 [7]. The closest example we have to the modern name <Alasdair> is <Alusdar>, recorded in 1522; however, this is an Irish citation of the exploits of a Scottish man, so it's possible that nothing like <Alasdair> was used in Ireland until modern times [8].  We believe that the form <Alaxander>, pronounced \AH-l@k-SAHN-dar\ or \AH-l@-SAHN-dar\, is appropriate for an Irish man's name only from about the 14th century [9]. We have no evidence that any form like <Alasdair> was used in pre-1600 Ireland; accordingly we cannot recommend it as a good recreation."

Report #2202 (www.s-gabriel.org/2202) says:

"<Alasdair> is a modern Scottish Gaelic form of <Alexander>; we do not know if it existed in period Gaelic.  <Alexander> itself was introduced into Scoto-Norman culture in 1080 [1, 2].  The name was adopted into Gaelic in Scotland by the late 13th century [3].  We don't have a good example of the name in Gaelic texts in Scotland, but we do have Gaelic examples from Ireland, where the name was typically written <Alaxandar> in your period [4].  This spelling was probably also used in 15th century Scottish Gaelic [5].  The closest our Irish sources come to the modern name is <Alusdar> in the 16th century [6], and Scottish evidence also suggests that the modern form developed later than your period [7].  We therefore recommend you use <Alaxandar>, which was pronounced \AH-l@k-SAHN-dar\ or \AH-l@-SAHN-dar\."

Based on this, it might be a good idea to change the name to <Alusdar>, since that spelling is firmly documentable, and is similar in sound and spelling to <Alasdair>.  The byname should be fine as submitted; there's one weirdness for combining Gaelic and English/Scots in the same name, but that's the only one.

2.  Alheydis von KÃrckhingen - I found no conflicts.

3.  Finn Marland {O'}Shannon - His name was registered as <Finn Marland O'Shannon>, with an o-apostrophe, not an  accented <O>.  This is clear of Freya of the Amber Hills (reg. 03/1978), "Azure, a chevron sable fimbriated argent  between two daggers proper and an increscent argent," with one CD for the type and one for the tincture of the secondaries.  That was the closest I found.

4.  Iain Ard mac an Bhaird - The name is fine, with just one weirdness for the SCA-compatible element.  I found no conflicts with the name or the arms.

5.  Tancred of Acre - The name looks fine; I found no conflicts.

6.  Tuathflaith ingen uà Chellaich - Huh, looks like we have two number 5's here.  The bordure and the bend need to be drawn substantially wider, and the stag's head should be redrawn in a more realistic fashion; I've never seen a deer with a) eyes like this, or b) a nose like this.  (Looks almost like a tapir with horns!).  I found no conflicts.

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