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This is the Middle Kingdom Letter of Acceptances and Returns for Escutcheon's May 2000 letter. Comments in braces {} were removed from the Letter of Intent sent to Laurel and the College of Arms. Names, devices, or badges in braces have been returned or pended; general comments or replies to commentary are also placed in braces.
Many thanks to Lord Andrew Maklaurene, Master John ap Wynne, Mistress Elena de Vixen, Lord Dominic Durant of Marlborough, Lord Turlough, Jeff Kean, Lady Adeliza de Saviniaco, Maistir Rory mac Feidhlimidh, Lord Mikhail of Lubelska, Lady Ælfreda æt Æthelwealda, and the Polaris Thursday Night commenting group for their comments this month.
{*) Ariadne la Noire. Device Resubmission.
Sable, three swans displayed within a bordure Or.
Unfortunately, this conflicts with Leofric Ealdricson (4/92, via Ansteorra), "Per chevron vert and azure, three eagles displayed within a bordure Or." There is one CD for the change in the field.}
{*) Artemus of Grimsby. New Name (pended) & Device (returned).
Checky sable and gules, three lion's heads erased contourny Or and langued vert.
<Artemus> does not appear to be a period name; it is found in Hanks and Hodges, and is undated. The spelling <Artemas> is found in the King James version of the Bible, Titus 3:17; while this makes the name registerable, it is not necessarily authentic. The client cares most about sound and wants an authentic "9th to 14th century Saxon-Norman name" but will NOT permit MAJOR or MINOR changes. Therefore, I am pending this submission to contact the client to see what he truly wishes.
The device violates RfS VIII.2.b.iv Good Contrast: "Elements divided into multiple parts of two different tinctures must have good contrast between their parts. For example, checky argent and gules is acceptable, but checky azure and gules is not." Checky sable and gules, by analogy, is also poor contrast.}
1) Beate Wittmaier. New Name {& Device.
Per bend gules and Or, a feline sejant sable.}
<Beate> comes from Scott, "Medieval German Given Names From Silesia" and is dated to 1362. <Wittmaier> is a header spelling in Bahlow (English trans.), p. 618. The client does NOT permit MAJOR or MINOR changes to the name. Submitted as <Weitmeyer>, the spelling is found in Bahlow p. 602 as <Weitemeyer>. After contacting the client, she asked that the spelling of the surname be changed to <Wittmaier>.
{The device conflicts with Giles of Lennox (12/71 via the West), "Or, a domestic cat sejant, paw extended sable." There is one CD for the field.}
2) Bebhinn ingen Dhuibh. Change of Registered Name.
The client's current name (Bebinn Dub) was registered by Laurel on 2/00. Then client has two wishes: 1) she does not want the "h"'s dropped and does not want to have "Dub" as part of her name (but will accept Dubh, Dhubh, and any variation of accents); 2) she wants the second element to be a patronymic. Her hope is that she has constructed the name properly this time but welcomes changes that are necessary for registration as long as her two wishes are honored. For documentation, she attaches an article by Cateline "Choosing an Irish Name" which supports the use of "ingen." She also attaches the text of her name's original registration in which Laurel explicitly supports the spelling, Bebhinn Dhubh.
According to a commenter, <Macduib> is found in Woulfe, p. 353 (I do not know what, if any, dates there are, I do not have a copy of the book). This gives evidence for a non-literal patronym such as <ingen Dhuibh>. Submitted as <ingen Dhubh>, we have changed the patronym to the genitive case as required by Gaelic grammar.
<Bebhinn> according to S. Gabriel report #901 is a purely modern form of the name, but with the support from the Laurel letter, it should be registerable.
3) Berowelf fon Haholtesheime. Device Resubmission. Per saltire argent and gules, a double-bitted axe inverted gules.
Name reg'd 7/99
The client's previous submission (Per saltire argent and gules, two axes argent) was returned by Laurel on 7/99 for conflict with Richard of Walterna (Quarterly Or and sable, in bend sinister two double-bitted axes argent).
4) Brigid of Kerry. New Name and Device. Argent, three slips of cherries proper, a chief checky azure and argent.
<Brigid> is described as a 5th century Irish saint in the on-line edition of The Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol II). Withycombe (54) dates its use in England to 1480. Cosgrove, New History of Ireland (II: 173) dates Kerry to 1233 or before. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia, 15th Edition (VI: 816) dates Kerry to 1127 or before. The client cares most about having an Irish name and would like an authentic 16th century Irish name.
5) Castellana de Salas. New Name and Device. Per chevron azure and sable, in chief three crescents one and two argent, in base a natural leopard dormant contourny Or marked sable.
<Castellana> is found in Smith, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" ( http://www.panix.com/~mittle/ names/juliana/isabella/WomenFullNames.html). <de Salas> is found in the locative surnames section of ibid ( http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/juliana/isabella/locative.html). The client cares most about sound and will NOT permit MAJOR changes.
6) Ceara Ruad. New Name & Device.
Vert, a phoenix argent between three crescents Or.
<Ceara> is in Ó Corráin & Maguire (50). <Ruad> is found in Jones, "Early Irish Feminine Names from the Index to O'Brien's Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae" ( http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangystyl/obrien/), meaning "the red." The client cares most about having a name that is Gaelic for "the red." She is interested in having an authentic Irish Gaelic 9th to 13th century name. She will NOT permit MAJOR changes. Submitted as <Ceara an Ruadh>, we have corrected the byname to a form that would have been used in her time period.
{The device does not conflict with Yrjo Kirjawiisas (reg. 1/80) "Vert, an Egyptian phoenix statant to sinister proper between three ankhs Or." There is one CD for the ankhs vs. the crescents, and one for argent vs. proper.}
7) Celestria de Cranham. New Device. Per pale argent and sable, on a chevron between two mullets and a fret, a mullet, all counterchanged.
Name submitted on 6/00 MK ELoI.
{*) Cuil Cholum. Group Name and Device Resubmission. Purpure, on a chevron between three columbines Or, three laurel wreaths vert
While RfS III.2.b Compatible Naming Style and Grammar: non-personal names states:
"Branch names, names of orders and awards, heraldic titles, and household names that must consist of a designator that identifies the type of entity and at least one descriptive element. Common designators are Shire, Barony, Guild, House, Order of the, and Herald. The designator must be appropriate to the status of the submitter. Society branches may use the designator established by Corpora for their category of group or any authorized alternative form," it seems reasonable that <Cuil> could be sent up for consideration as an authorized alternative form.
Unfortunately, the documentation provided does not support the elements of this name. <Kilcolumb> or perhaps <Cill Colum> are supportable by the documentation given. However, the clients do not allow either MAJOR or MINOR changes, therefore we are returning this name for further work.
The device is being returned because the name is being returned.}
8) Denis des Baux. New Name and Device. Per pale purpure and argent, on Celtic cross, a lozenge counterchanged.
<Denis> is found in Dubh, "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris," (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/ paris.html). There is a <Raimond des Baux> from the 14th, according to Tuchman, A Distant Mirror. The client would like to have an authentic name for the time period 1180-1220 but will NOT accept MAJOR or MINOR changes.
9) Duncan MacLachlan-Name & device resubmission
Azure, a stag rampant and on a chief argent a thistle fesswise and a thistle fesswise reversed proper
{This submission was pended on the 12/99 LoAR}. The client's previous submission, <Keeldar MacLachlan>, was returned by Rouge Scarpe in 2/99 for lack of reliable documentation of the given name. The client's new submission is completed undocumented, but it is not unreasonable as a late-period English form of a Scottish Gaelic name. <Duncan> as a given name is in Black, 228. <Maclachlan> is dated to 1555-6 in ibid., 533.
{The client originally said he wanted a name that was historically accurate for the period around 1300, so we pended the name for clarification. Since we haven't heard from him, we'll send the name on as he submitted it.}
The positions of the thistles on the chief is highly unusual, but it doesn't violate any SCA rules.
10) Eithni ingen Chormaicc. New Name.
<Eithni> is found in an on-line version of the Annals of Tigernach (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100002/ text002.html). <Cormac> is found in ibid. A letter from Mistress Tangwystyl supports that "ingen Chormaicc" is the correct form of the patronymic. The client cares most about language/culture but likes the aesthetic "look" of <Eithni> (rather than <Eithne>, which is found in O'Corrain and Maguire, dated to the 8th century). She would like to have an authentic 5th-6th century Irish name. She will NOT permit MAJOR changes.
11) Feargus macc Tigernaigh. New Name.
<Feargus> is found in an on-line version of the Annals of Tigernach (http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100002/ text002.html). <Tigernach> is in ibid. A correspondence with Mistress Tangwystyl supports that "macc Tigernaigh" is the correct form of the patronymic. The client cares most about language/culture and would like to have an authentic 5th-6th century Irish name. He will NOT permit MAJOR changes.
{*) Giles FitzAlan. Device Resubmission. Per pale sable and gules, a wyvern passant coward Or.
This conflicts with Percival de Toulouse (reg. 11/82 via the Middle), "Per fess indented azure and gules, a wyvern passant Or," and Alethia Elphinsonte of Dragonhold (reg. 10/83 via the West), "Vert, a dragon sejant, wings elevated and addorsed, maintaining in dexter forepaw a crescent Or," with only one CD in each for the field.
12) Jean of Cynnabar. New Name and Device. Per pale gules and Or, two sea-tygers combatant counterchanged.
The client's modern name is <Jean>. <Cynnabar> is an SCA branch, reg. 1/96. The client cares most about sound, does not care about the gender of the name, but would like the name to be authentic for an unspecified time and place. She will NOT permit the creation of a holding name. The last request is a strange one as this submitted name is actually identical to a holding name.
13) Juliana de Cigna. New Name.
<Juliana> is found in Withycombe (1840 and dated to 1196-1220. <de Cigna> is a surname meaning "swan," according to Fucilla, Our Italian Surnames (118). The client cares most about meaning and will NOT permit the creation of a holding name [not applicable however in this case].
The Italian form of <Juliana> is <Giuliana>, according to Benicoeur, "Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427," (http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/ catasto. However, since she did not request authenticity for Italian culture, I am reluctant to change the name.
{*) Mariana Isabel de los Mares Interiores. New Name.
<Mariana> is found in Van Stone, "16th Century Spanish Women's Names." <Isabel> is found in ibid. <de los Mares Interiores> is intended to be a Spanish placename and to mean "from the Inland Seas." The translation was derived from FreeTranslation.com (a literal automatic translation program). For support of the pattern, the client cites "de la Mar" (of the Sea) found in Smith, "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century." The client cares most about meaning and having a Spanish name. She would like to have an authentic 15th/16th century Spanish name.
No evidence was provided and none could be found for "of the inland seas" as a reasonable Spanish place name. As one commenter pointed out, there are no inland seas in the Iberian peninsula.
Additionally, double given names are extremely rare in Spain before 1600. If she would an authentic Spanish name, we recommend that she chose one given name, and then either a patronym or a locative for her surname.}
{*) Northshield, Principality of for Northern Cross, Award of. Order Name and Badge Resubmission. (Fieldless) An eight-armed cross clechy, gyronny sable and Or.
No evidence was given and none was found for "Award of Northern Cross" being an appropriate award or order name.}
{*) Olaf Skytja. New Badge. Or, a pheon inverted sable.
This conflicts with Hreodbeorth MacBeath, (reg. 11/97 via Atlantia), "[Fieldless] A pheon inverted sable," with one CD for the field.
14) Simon Hondy. Change of Registered Name.
The client's current name (Julius Whitetassle) was registered 8/95. For documentation, the client attaches Gabriel Report #2017 which sought to document the name "Silas the Handy." The report suggests the use of <Simon> instead, which is found in nic Bryan, "An Index to the 1332 Lay Subsidy Rolls for Lincolnshire, England" (http://www.panix.com/~mittle/ names/mari/LincLSR). <Hondy> is documented from Reaney & Wilson (s.n. Hondy, Handy) and dated to 1275 and 1391-2. The client cares most about the meaning (having Hondy = "handy") and would like a period 13th-15th century name. He will NOT accept MAJOR changes.
15) Simonis Adriane. New Name.
<Simonis> is given as a very rare early 14th century by Chavez, "Personal Names of the Aristocracy in the Roman Empire During the Later Byzantine Era" (http://www.sca.org/her aldry/laurel/names/byzantine/family_names.html). <Adrianos> is dated to 1392 by ibid as a masculine name. According to instructions at the same site (http://www.sca.org/herald ry/laurel/names/byzantine/feminizing.html), names ending in -nos can be feminized by changing them to -ne, thus we would get <Adriane>.
16) Ysfael ap Briafael. New Name and Device. Vert, three bendlets enhanced argent.
<Ysfael> is found in Jones, Welsh Miscellany (31) and <Briafael> is in ibid (30). The client cares most about having a Welsh name and would like the name to be authentic period Welsh.
{*) Ysfael ap Briafael. New Badge. (Fieldless) A lion rampant vert.
This does not conflict with Brian of Green Hills (9/73), "[Fieldless] A cat sejant vert." There is one CD for fieldlessness, and one for the posture of the cat. However, it does conflict with Robert of Westmarch (reg. 7/74) "Sable, a lion rampant vert, fimbriated argent." There is one CD for the field, but none for the fimbriation.
Done by my hand this 20th day of August,
Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Rouge Scarpe
Sara L. Friedemann
213 N. Paterson
Madison, WI 53703
sfriedemann@students.wisc.edu