Unto the heralds and populace of the Kingdom of Lochac does Amanda Martel,
Crux Australis Principal Herald, send greetings.

It’s come to my attention that it might be educational for people to hear
something of how the College of Heralds actually works, and how it’s
actually structured.

By Corpora and the Laws of Lochac, the whole function of the College of
Heralds will be conducted by … me. Crux Australis Principal Herald is
responsible for all of it. This is, as you can imagine, quite silly. So,
over the years, various Cruces Australis have created deputy positions to
hand off some of this work to.

But, this core group of officers is… not many people. The full set is 12
people, at full strength. But this is not all the heralds of the Kingdom,
not by a long shot! Even when we add in the Baronial, Shire, Canton, and
College heralds, we come up short.

The College of Heralds, as well as being a network of officers, is
something of a Guild of Practice. Membership in the College as a whole is
but a single form-filling session away. This wider group of talented,
enthusiastic, and tireless or tired individuals are those you’ll see
performing the at-event heraldry for tournaments, courts, feasts, and the
like (when such things return to us), and also much of the consulting on
names and devices.

Some have compared the wider College of Heralds to herding cats, but I’m
sure I couldn’t say.

—

But, you may say, if the College of Heralds is such a wide-spanning group,
who can speak for them? For that, we turn back to the officer structure.

If I, speaking as Crux Australis Principal Herald in my official capacity,
make a statement about how the College of Heralds will act on a matter,
that is the position of the College of Heralds. If I, speaking as Amanda
Martel, say something about how I feel on a matter, that’s my opinion that
all can disregard at their leisure. If it’s an official statement, I sign
it with my title.

If one of my deputies, speaking on something within their office’s remit,
makes a statement signed with their title, that’s the position of the
College of Heralds until I or they say otherwise. For example, Rocket
Herald’s statements on the submissions process as it exists in Lochac are
statements for the College of Heralds. I trust my deputies, they know
their jobs better than I do.

Everyone else in the College, including myself once I pass on this weighty
tabard of office, can speak as a member of that Guild of Practice. Many of
the said guild’s members are experienced, intelligent, even hilarious (if
your taste runs to puns, as mine does), with a wealth of knowledge from
years of experience, including from the insides of the system.

This is, perhaps, somewhat odd, and definitely potentially confusing. The
College of Heralds is in a rather strange corner there, as both official
officer corps and unofficial guild-like collective.

—

The following items have been registered in Lochac on the April 2020
Letter of Acceptance and Response:

Arabella de Darlington. Name and device. Per fess argent and azure, in
pale a drakkar proper sailed gules conjoined to a tortoise statant Or.

Eleanora d’Arcy. Device change. Per fess argent and per pale gules and
azure, a dragon dormant sable and two fleurs-de-lis argent.

Eurgain of Whitby. Name and device. Per chevron azure and gules, a chevron
argent between three goblets Or.

ffride wlffsdotter. Heraldic title Morelle heraut.

Louisa Lyppard Cattone du Lac. Device change. Per pale argent and sable,
two unicorn’s heads couped respectant counterchanged and a point pointed
barry wavy gules and Or.

Lucia della Torre. Name and device. Azure, a chevron throughout purpure
fimbriated and in base a cross of Calatrava argent.

Nicola Rosa. Name and device. Sable, a dog collared salient and on a chief
argent three hexagonal gemstones azure.

Ottilia Simion. Name.

Siward of Giggleswick. Name.

Skiotr Beorhtnothessune. Name and device. Azure, on a chevron inverted
argent three bear’s heads erased palewise sable.

Sybil de Speresholt. Name and device. Sable, on a saltire azure fimbriated
a ferret sejant erect argent.

Þorsteinn Bjarnarson. Name.

Vyolet Lyllycroppe. Name.

William the bear Rose. Name and device. Argent, in pale two swords in
saltire and a bear’s head couped close sable.

Wulfflæd of Hæselbroce. Name and device. Azure, in pale two hazelnuts Or.

Rocket Herald will send out individual missives to all those with
acceptances and returns. Quarrel Herald will update the Lochac Roll of
Arms, which will be available at
https://roll.lochac.sca.org/index.php?page=Recent when done.

—

Yours in service to the Kingdom and Crown of Lochac,

Amanda Martel
Crux Australis Principal Herald

(see how I signed my title?)