CAMeL

May 1998

Those wonderful people who helped.

Unfortunately, it is so long since the meeting I have forgotten. It was the usual suspects, and I am very grateful for their help.

Sunday 7th June, 2pm. Meetings will usually be on the first Sunday of the month at 2pm. Call first if you are bringing a submission to the meeting.

Braddon Giles

Hund Herald: þorfinn Hrolfsson. External commentary franchise and heraldic publications. [Steven Roylance] 1592 Malvern Road, Glen Iris VIC 3146. Ph (03) 9885 6348.

Cannon Pursuivant: Hoas Windchaser. Precedence and Gentry list. [Danny Bartel] PO Box 1623 Kersbrook SA 5231. Ph (08) 8389 3404.

Baryl Pursuivant: Thomas Flamanc of Kelsale. External commentary. [John Sawyer] Ph (03) 9543 4847.

Bombard Pursuivant: þorfinn Hrolfsson. Ceremonies deputy.

Drop Dead Deputy: Giles Leabrook [Braddon Giles] 58/122 Saunders St Pyrmont NSW 2009. Ph (02) 9660 3865

Positions vacant:Field/voice deputy; regional mentors.

C.A.M.(e).L. is available from Crux Australis at $20 per year. Make cheques payable to "SCA Inc. College of Heralds".

Note that due to lower production costs, the Camel will cost $20 a year from 1st January 1998.

Laurel's Letter of Acceptance and Return is available from the SCA College of Arms, C/O Mistress Sionyn Muirgen niDhomnall, Pelican Queen of Arms, Jackie Watson, 3532 Winding Wind Cove, Bartlett, TN 38135-3044, USA for US$25 per year. Make cheques payable to "SCA Inc. - College of Arms".

Please note that everything of relevance to Lochac will be published in the CAMeL.

The main item of news this month is that Laurel has finally released the new submission forms. Laurel says: At the April 1998 the Board approved the standardized forms. A set will be mailed out to all Principal and submissions heralds shortly, and a set will go out with the next Laurel packet as well. We would like to see them in use by no later than November 1998 LoIs, and they will become mandatory by the February 1999 LoIs.

The new forms do not differ a great deal from those we use now. They need to be customised for Lochac. I understand that the form may represent a more radical change in some other kingdoms. I hope to distribute the new forms in the next six weeks. In the meantime, use the existing forms, but warn submittors that they are being superceded, and that they should not "sit" on a submission on the old forms for months.

I will publish a schedule for implementing the forms when I distribute them. I can say now that I will not accept submissions on the old forms after December 31 this year.

Reports are now due from everyone. If you have not reported this quarter, report NOW. Deadline for reports is the 7th June. If I do not receive a report from you for two quarters running, I will have to consider removing you from the roster.

I have listed my report requirements in previous Camels. If you do not have back issues, try my web site, or contact me.

Reports received this month from:

St Florians, Politarchopolis, Castellum Montanum, River Haven

Master (Thorfinn) þorfinn is the Australian Agent for Free Trumpet Press. He carries the Ordinary and Armorial, and other useful publications. Contact þorfinn directly for the latest prices.

I also recommend that groups acquire some name resources, in particular Reaney, P.H. & Wilson, R.M. A dictionary of English Surnames and Withycombe ,E.G. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names.

The Crux Australis web page at http://www.sca.org.au/herald contains useful information for heralds, and links to the SCA Heraldry page, and other general SCA pages. If you have web access, I recommend that you take a look.

Many interesting heraldic links can be found through the SCA Heraldry web page at http://www.sca.org/heraldry including the Laurel home page, on-line armorial and ordinary search, and the Academy of St. Gabriel (a heraldic consultation service).

Cost: $15 per name, and $15 per device or badge. No cost for resubmissions. Make cheques payable to "SCA Inc College of Heralds".

We currently send US$3 (approximately AUS$4.50) to Laurel for each item This will rise as of 1st January 1998 to US$4 (approximately AUS$ 5.90). I will try and absorb the cost increase form as long as possible, but if the Aussie dollar continues to drop, I will have to increase my charges.

Copies required for submissions:

• Names: 4 copies of Name form and ALL documentation, including title page of each book.
• Devices/Badges: 4 COLOUR copies and one BLACK & WHITE copy. The colour copies should be accurately coloured, preferably in felt tip pen. e.g.. Crayola Classic Colours. Faint colour printers or faint coloured pencil is not acceptable. The colours must be visible across a crowded Herald's meeting!

I will reject submissions without a black and white copy as I need to scan it to produce the Letter of Intent for Laurel.

Please check that submitters have ALL documentation. Remember, they have to present their submission in a way that makes registration easy. Name documentation should be as accurate as possible, and copies supplies unless the reference is standard such as Reaney and Withycombe. Even then, the page and edition should be quoted.

I know that some of you have few name resources. There is a lot of help available if you ask for it. I or someone overseas may well be able to help with that tricky name. If you cannot document a name well, you can still submit it, BUT submitters should be made aware that if they check the 'make no changes' box, their name will be returned even if ONE letter is incorrect.

Most submissions I have seen are of an excellent quality. However, it saddens me to return a good submission just because the artwork or documentation is incomplete.

1. Foxwood, Canton of

Change of name: Armandie, Canton of registered June 1997.

Language: English.

Fox appears in Foxden (1246) and Foxwist (1260). Ekwall page 186. Wood appears as a placename element in names such as Harewood (1246). Ekwall page 219. The submission has the appropriate petition.

References:

Ekwall Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names. 4th ed. p47

Laurel Abroad

I will be in Drachenwald attending an event in the Barony of Aarnimets{a"} and then Double Wars in the Principality of Nordmark from May 6 through May 30. I will probably not be able to check my e-mail or my voicemail. If anyone has any problems or concerns while I am gone, contact Pelican. Note: Because I will be doing a road show in Nordmark the last weekend in May, the May LoAR will probably going out until early June.

Warrant Status

The Board has extended our warrants through October 1998. When we know more as to what will happen after that, we will let you know.

Documentation

We have been receiving letters of intent which cite web pages as part of their documentation. Let me remind the college that the only web pages that will be accepted across the Board as documentation are the ones on the Laurel web page as part of the www.sca.org site. NO other sites are acceptable as they stand. For documentation to be accepted from any other site, the entire page(s) of documentation must be sent with the Laurel package, along with information about the site itself.

Use of Official SCA Group Names in SCA Personal Names

There has been a number of commenters counting the use of an SCA branch name in an SCA name submission as a "weirdness" if the official group name is in poor style -- i.e. not in the form of a documentable place-name. The use of any registered official groups will not count as a weirdness. To decide on a case-by-case basis if the group name is a weirdness in a personal name submission requires an additional, unnecessary level of decision.

Should Heralds be required for groups below Barony level

At the April Board Meeting exchequers were made required for all group. While heralds still remind a required officer for all groups, it is possible that there may be a proposal to remove heralds, or at least move them to be one of the three others (like marshal or moa/s). What is the opinion of the College on this matter? Please copy the Laurel Ombudsman, Margherita Alessia (Susan Earley); 4443 Dubois Boulevard, Brookfield, IL 60513-2223; 708-485-1276 with your comments on this, and only this. Since this issue effects the way the SCA is structured, we invite commentary on this subject from all members of the CoA, not just the commenters.

Some comments on submissions from other Kingdoms

Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja. Name (see RETURNS for device).

The majority of the original documentation for this name came from the International Genealogical Index published on CD-ROM by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We will repeat what has been said before about the Mormon Church's International Genealogical Index (IGI), as it applies to the use of the IGI as a source for documentation of names in the SCA:

"The IGI is a database originally intended to record ordinances performed in behalf of ancestor of LDS members. It was recognized that the information contained would or could be a valuable tool for other individuals searching for their ancestors so the information was made public. Effort is made to insure the best, most accurate information is used in the performance of these ordinances, but human beings do the work and thus errors are made. Understand that it is a record of ordinances that contain genealogical information, not the other way around. Since it's a record ordinances, you can't change want was done, you can only correct the errored information and resubmit." (Jeffrey Smidt, <jsmidt@iastate.edu, soc.genealogy.links newsgroup, Tue, 22 Jul 1997 09:08:07 -0700, Message-ID: <33D4DAE7.332A@iastate.edu>).

In other words, the records may contain a lot of errors, much of the information is sent in by amateur genealogists (which makes it more error prone), and it is, at the very best, a mediocre secondary source for SCA purposes, and more often, a poor tertiary or quaternary source, with names normalized and/or mistranscribed in many cases. It should only be used for SCA purposes with all of that in mind. Fortunately for the submitter, members of the College of Arms were able to provide reliable documentation for his submission.