Crux Australis Herald
Baron Uberto Renaldi [mka Nigel Castle]
GPO Box 2719, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia
phone: (08) 8336 6791 or intl +61 8 8336 6791

"The CAMeL"
May 2002 (Anno Societatis XXXVII)

Unto the College of Heralds of the Principality of Lochac, and all others who may read this missive, from Baron Uberto Renaldi, Crux Australis Herald, greetings!

In this issue...

Reports | New Ordinary and Armorial available | Position still vacant - Baryl Pursuivant

A plea from the First Coronation steward | A request from Basil of Politarchopolis

Roster changes | Important addresses | Subscriptions and Resources | Submission requirements

Meeting schedule | Recent submissions | News of previous submissions

 

Announcing my successor

I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Giles Leabrook as my successor, with his formal investiture as Crux Australis Principal Herald to occur at First Coronation.

As June's meeting will therefore be my last, any submissions that cannot reach me by the 16th June should instead be sent to Giles, whose address is in the Important Addresses section below.

Your servant,

Baron Uberto Renaldi,
Crux Australis Herald


Reports

End-of-Reign reports from ALL group heralds are due by 11 June 2002. Giles will no doubt be using these reports to gain an insight into the state of heraldry when he steps up, so it is imperative that you send a full and accurate report.

As a reminder, here's what ideally should go into your reports:


New Ordinary and Armorial available

The tenth edition of the SCA Ordinary and SCA Armorial are now avaliable from Free Trumpet Press West. This edition covers all registrations up to and including December 2001. Although there are a number of online resources for searching the O&A, the printed version is still valuable tool, most especially for teaching conflict checking.

I was thinking of the College buy a copy of both for each group that wanted them, but with the Armorial costing US$36 and the Ordinary at US$60, the College simply can't afford it. However, the College can probably subsidise some of the cost and pay for the postage. Also, if you have an older edition of the O&A then one of the updates might be better (and cheaper) option.


Position still vacant - Baryl Pursuivant

The position of Baryl, as external commenter for Lochac, is still vacant. Contact me or see the previous two issues of The CAMeL for details.


A plea from the First Coronation steward

Mistress Kiriel du Papillon has written to me requesting the support of the College of Heralds in helping to run what will undoubtedly be one of Lochac’s largest indoor events on July 6th-7th.

Therefore, I am calling for volunteers to assist with field work for the rapier tourney on Saturday and the heavy tourney on the Sunday, duty work for both days and the many hours of courts on the Saturday. Please contact me by mid-June with your preferences and I will have your name added to the duty roster.

The eyes of the Known World will be on Lochac for this event. Our participation is crucial for its success, so I expect all rostered heralds in attendance to volunteer some of their time (it’s part of your duties and responsibilities, remember?). If you are present and a rostered herald and don’t volunteer, you’d better have a very good reason why, because I will be asking!


A request from Basil of Politarchopolis

Amongst the many things happening at First Coronation will be two rapier tournaments: the Silver Cup on the Saturday and the King's Champion Tourney on the Sunday. Basil has requested some heralds to call these these tournaments, so if you think you can assist please contact him by email at murray.bigg@hic.gov.au or volunteer on the day.

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Roster changes

After a lapse of some weeks I have finally marked the PE test that Hrothgar æt Gytingbroc handed to me at Festival. Having scored a respectable 88%, I have elevated him to the personal rank of Pursuivant Extraordnary.


Important addresses


Subscriptions and Resources

"The CAMeL" is available from Crux Australis at $20 per year. Make cheques payable to "SCA Inc. College of Heralds".

Laurel's Letter of Acceptance and Return is available from the SCA College of Arms. Send a cheque for $US25 made out to "SCA Inc. - College of Arms" to Bruce R. Nevins, 2527 E. 3rd Street, Tucson AZ, 85716-4114, USA. As usual, everything of relevance to Lochac will be published in "The CAMeL".

The Armorial and Ordinary, as well as updates to them, are available from SCA Inc. - Free Trumpet Press West. Their address is '1613 N. School St., Normal IL 61761-1240, USA'. They also sell the "Heraldic Pictorial Dictionary for the SCA", proceedings of Known World Heraldic Symposia and Compilations of Precedents by past Laurel Sovereigns of Arms. Contact me or visit their web site for more details.

I also recommend that groups acquire some name resources, in particular P.H. Reaney & R.M. Wilson's "A Dictionary of English Surnames" and E.G. Withycombe's "The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names". The latter is currently out of print, so if you spot it at a second-hand book sale, buy it!

Useful or interesting links:
The Blazons mailing list, the email list for Lochac's heralds - www.sca.org.au/mailman/listinfo/blazons.
The SCA Heraldry web page - www.sca.org/heraldry including the Laurel home page and on-line armorial and ordinary search.
The Academy of Saint Gabriel (lots of good articles on medieval names) - www.s-gabriel.org
West Kingdom Heralds' Handbook - heralds.westkingdom.org
Free Trumpet Press West (SCA heraldic publications) - www.sca.org/heraldry/ftpw.
Parker's Glossary of Heraldry - http://www04.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/ta2/saitou/ie401

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Submission Requirements

Cost: $20 per new submission (name, device or badge). Note: a new name and device costs a total of $40. No cost for resubmissions or branch submissions. Make cheques or money orders payable to "SCA Inc. College of Heralds". Do not send cash through the post!

Copies required:

Please include ALL necessary documentation to support each submission. It is the responsibility of the submittor to present their submission in a way that makes registration easy. Name documentation should be as accurate as possible: remember to include photocopies of the title page as well as the relevent page(s) of any source used.


Meeting schedule

My final meeting will be starting 2pm on Sunday 16th June 2002 at 36 Rosella Street, Payneham SA. Please call beforehand if you intend to bring submissions for processing. The meeting will be followed by a party to which (like the meeting) all are welcome.

The date, time and location of Giles' first meeting is as yet undecided - watch this space in next month's CAMeL.


Recent Submissions

Present at the Crux Australis Submissions Meeting held on Sunday 12th May 2002 at 36 Rosella Street, Payneham SA were: Uberto Renaldi, Crux Australis Herald; Massaria da Cortona, Mortar Pursuivant; and Wakeline de Foxley, Pursuivant Extraordinary At Large.

The following submissions were FORWARDED to the College of Arms in March 2002 for registration:

  1. Bain de Saint Florian
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
    Consulting herald: Sabine du Bourbonnais
  2. Resubmission of Name and Device to Crux
    Argent goutty de larmes, a rose proper and a bordure azure.

    The submittor desires a 8th-12th century masculine name of any origin, cares most about the sound and will accept major changes. His previous name submission Baine of Stornoway was returned by me in April 2002 for insufficient documentation. Bain: The ORB 'On-line Calendar of Saints Days' has a ' Bain, bishop (of Thérouanne)' listed under June 20, with the name being common to most of the sources consulted in this compilation of "people recognised as saints in the Middle Ages and Renaissance". de Saint Florian: Withycombe (3rd ed., s.n. Florian) says this is "the name of a 4th-C Roman saint...occaisionally used in the Middle Ages. The submittor is also a resident of the Barony of Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière, and will no doubt accept the latter as a byname should it be necessary.

     

  3. Eleanor of Orkney
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
    Consulting herald: Sabine du Bourbonnais
  4. Device Resubmission to Crux
    Per pale embattled vert and purpure, a compass star and a chief indented argent.

    Eleanor's name was submitted to the College of Arms for registration in April 2002. Her previous device, of the same design as this but without the chief, was returned by me in the same month for multiple conflicts.

    Adding the chief indented appears to have cleared it of any conflicts.

     

  5. Humphrey de la Pole
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
    Consulting herald: Cornelius von Becke
  6. Device Resubmission to Crux
    Per chevron wavy argent and gules, three roses counterchanged.

    Humphrey's name was registered in November 2000. His last device submission, in December 1999, was similar to this (having kendal flowers instead of roses) but had to be returned for being on the old forms and ambiguously coloured.

    If this design is registered, the submittor will be advised to draw the roses larger and make the per chevron division steeper (i.e. lower a the ends and higher in the middle).

     

  7. Llewelyn ap Dafydd
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
    Consulting herald: Sabine du Bourbonnais
  8. New Name (see RETURNS for device)

    The submittor desires a masculine mid-14th century Welsh name, cares most about the sound and will accept major changes.

    Llewelyn: Withycombe (3rd ed., s.n. Llewel(l)yn) lists this as a common Welsh name. Bartrum, 'Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts' [University of Wales Press, 1966] lists ten instances of Llywelyn on page 201 in the index of personal names.

    Dafydd: Bartrum, 'Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts' [University of Wales Press, 1966] lists three instances of this name on page 182 in the index of personal names.

     

  9. Sabine du Bourbonnais
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
    Consulting herald: the submittor
  10. Device Resubmission to Crux & Laurel
    Azure, three bees in pale Or between flaunches Or ermined azure.

    Sabine's name was registered in May 2000. Her last device submission, 'Or, on a pale azure three bees Or', was returned by me in October 2001 for conflict.

    This new design looks clear of problems.

     

The following submissions were RETURNED in for further work

  1. Amalia von Bergen op Zoom
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
  2. Device Resubmission to Crux
    Azure, in fess an hourglass and three escarbuncles in pale argent.

    This is in violation of RfS VIII.1.b:

    Armorial Balance - Armory must arrange all elements coherently in a balanced design.
    Period armory usually places the primary elements of the design in a static arrangement, such as a single charge in the center of the field or three identical charges on an escutcheon. More complex designs frequently include a central focal point around which other charges are placed, like a chevron between three charges, but the design remains static and balanced. Designs that are unbalanced, or that create an impression of motion, are not compatible with period style.

    The combination of a primary charge group consisting of a single charge of one type three charges of a different type, plus the arrangement of the charges in the group, results in a design that looks unbalanced, is awkward to blazon, and resembles no period armory anyone at the meeting had ever seen.

     

  3. Contarina la Bianca
    Group: Saint-Florian-de-la-rivière
  4. Device Resubmission to Crux
    Bendy sinister azure and Or, an escarbuncle argent.

    This conflicts with 'Purpure, an escarbuncle argent.' [Badge for Cerelia de Lacy of Sherborne, Feb 1983]. There is only a single CD for changes to the field.

    There was also some concern raised at the meeting at the way that the bendy sinister is drawn here. Normally, bendy and bendy sinister are drawn with the lines at 45º to the horizontal. Although the angle the lines here are drawn would probably not be reason enough for return, they do look odd with the escarbuncle.

     

  5. Griffin Reid
    Group: Willoughby Vale
  6. New Device
    Vert, in saltire a fracted sword proper and a quill pen Or.

    This device conflicts with 'Vert, a calligrapher's knife and a reed pen in saltire argent, tied with a ribbon Or.' [Badge for the Kingdom of Ansteorra, Nov 1977]. No difference can be counted between a calligrapher's knife and a sword (whole or fracted), nor between a reed pen and a quill pen. Therefore, there is only one CD for changing the tincture of the pen and the hilt of the sword.

    Interesting sidenote: the proverb "the pen is mightier than the sword" (which this design seems to deliberately evoke) first appeared in English in 1839 - "Beneath the rule of men entirely great, The pen is mightier than the sword." [Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu II]. The closest pre-1600 variant comes from 1582 - "The dashe of a Pen, is more greeuous then the counter use of a Launce." [G. Whetstone, Heptameron of Civil Discourses]. The origin of both of these is Cicero, in his De Officiis: "cedant arma togae" (Latin for "arms give way to persuasion").

     

  7. Llewelyn ap Dafydd
  8. New Device
    Sable, a cross crosslet argent.

    This conflicts with 'Sable, a cross crosslet fitchy within a bordure embattled argent' [Device for Andrew Grey of Blakehethe, Nov 1999]. There is one CD for adding the bordure, but by prior precedents nothing for fitching the cross:

    "Evidence was presented that period heralds saw no difference between crosses and crosses fitched, nor did the modification of the bottommost limb of four appear to give adequate visual difference to grant a CVD." (LoAR 10/90 p.14).

    Fitching a cross is not worth [a CD]. (Wolfger of Rheinfelden, 11/95 p.15)

    It also conflicts with 'Sable, a cross crosslet fitchy azure, fimbriated argent' [Badge for Steffan yr Ysgolhaig, Dec 1988]. As above, there is no CD between fitched and normal crosses crosslet, so there is only one CD for changing the tincture of the cross and nothing for removing the fimbriation:

    Conflict with ... Azure, an estoile argent, and with ... Gyronny argent and sable an estoile of seven points argent fimbriated sable. In each case there is a CD for fieldless versus fielded but nothing for the addition or change in tincture of the fimbriation. [12a/93, p.20]

    There is not a CD for fimbriation ... [Fiona ingen ui Fhaolain, 07/00, R-Æthelmearc]

    It also conflicts with 'Quarterly sable and vert, a cross bottony argent' [Badge for Sigenoth the Blissful, Jan 1998]. There is one CD for changes to the field, but not another between a cross bottony and a cross crosslet:

    "A cross crosslet and a cross bottony are only artistic variations of the same charge, and were used interchangeably in period, so no difference may be granted between them." (LoAR 4/92 p.22).

    Due to these conflicts (and possibly more) I must sadly return this classically beautiful piece of armory.

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News of previous submissions

Lochac submissions from the February 2002 Letter of Acceptances and Returns (dated April 15, 2002):

REGISTERED

Cairistiona nic Bheathain. Device change. Vert, a mandrake Or.

This is clear of conflict with a badge of Migel Gneuyle de Normandie, Gules, an old man statant affronty maintaining sword and shield Or. The mandrake in this submission is drawn with a more humanoid root than is found in the Pictorial Dictionary, but it is compatible with depictions of mandrakes in some period herbals. There is a CD between a mandrake and a human figure: "We feel there is a CD between a mandrake and human figures as there is between other fanciful heraldic creatures (e.g. angels) and human figures. (LoAR September 1993, pg. 12)". A visual comparison with Migel's badge shows no overwhelming visual similarity: Migel's man is in a long robe, has no headgear, and has a long beard.
The submitter's previous device, Per pale vert and Or, two cats sejant affronty counterchanged, is released.
Cillíne of Lochac. Holding name and device (see RETURNS for name). Purpure, a bee Or and in chief three mullets argent.
Submitted under the name Cillíne Ruadh.
Elayne Montjoy. Device change. Sable, three trefoils Or.
Classic device! Her previous device, Azure, a demi-sun issuant from base Or, on a chief argent three shamrocks vert, is released.
Lucas d'Avignon. Device. Gules, a fox salient within an orle of fleurs-de-lys Or.

Will Dekne. Name.

 

RETURNED

Avallon Keep, Canton of. Branch name.

RfS III.1.a requires lingual consistency within a name phrase. A place name is a single name phrase. As Avallon is documented as a French placename and Keep is English, Avallon Keep violates this requirement.
Cillíne Ruadh. Name.
This name conflicts with Caillin Ruadh (registered February 1997). It is debatable whether there is sufficient difference between the appearance of Cillíne and Caillin. Regardless, there is not enough difference in sound between the two to clear them. Caillin is pronounced \KAL-een\. Cillíne is pronounced \KIL-een\. Therefore, they differ only in the sound of a vowel cluster. When both were pronounced at the Pelican decision meeting, it was the feeling of those attending that they were too close in sound. As two unrelated given names must differ significantly in both sound and appearance to be clear of one another, this name must be returned.
[The] armory has been registered under the holding name Cillíne of Lochac.
Liadan inghean Glassan. Name change from Liadan ingen Glassain.
Listed on the LoI as a "Spelling Change", this item is actually an appeal of a change made at the Laurel level.
The LoI states:
The submittor's name was registered in June 2001 as Liadan ingen Glassain, modified from the originally submitted Líadan inghean Glaisín. As the submittor had requested an authentic name and allowed major changes, the modifications were made by Pelican so as to make the byname temporarily compatible with the given name.
What I neglected to mention on the Lochac LoI of 21 February 2001 (and include in the packet to Laurel) was that the submittor would have much preferred 'inghean' to 'ingen', a preference which may have swayed Pelican's decision at the time, and the submittor now requests that the spelling be changed as per Admin Handbook VI.B.
The form of the byname submitted at this time, inghean Glassan, has three problems. The particle inghean is an Early Modern Irish (c. 1200–c. 1700) form. Glassan is an Old Irish (c. 700–c. 900) or Middle Irish (c. 900–c. 1200) nominative form. RfS III.1.a requires linguistic consistency in a name phrase. So the problems are that (1) Glassan needs to be changed to an Early Modern Irish form, (2) put into a genitive form, and (3) lenited, in order to be used with inghean in a feminine patronymic byname. In Middle Irish, lenition is not shown in names beginning with 'G'. So the genitive Glassain lenites to Glassain. In Early Modern Irish, lenition is shown in names beginning with 'G'. So the genitive form Glasain lenites to Ghlasain. Líadan inghean Ghlasáin or Liadan inghean Ghlasain would be registerable forms of this name, though they would not be authentic, since there is no evidence that Líadan was still in use in the time when Early Modern Irish was used. As the submitter does not allow changing the name to one of these forms, we must return the name.

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