Crux Australis Herald
Lord Uberto Renaldi [mka Nigel Castle]
GPO Box 2719, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia
phone: (08) 8336 6791 or intl +618 8336 6791
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Crux Australis Herald Lord Uberto Renaldi [mka Nigel Castle] GPO Box 2719, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia phone: (08) 8336 6791 or intl +618 8336 6791 |
"The CAMeL"
March 2000 (A.S. XXXIV)
Unto the College of Heralds of the Principality of Lochac, and all others who may read this missive, from Lord Uberto Renaldi, Crux Australis Herald, greetings!
In this issue...
Introduction | More ranting | Rowany Festival | Reports | Roster changes
Important addresses | Subscriptions and Resources | Submission requirements
Meeting schedule | Recent submissions | News of previous submissions
Introduction
Please re-read the requirements for submissions! I require only four copies of the name form, four coloured copies and only one outline copy of the device and badge forms. The files take up quite enough room as it is, and so any extra copies must be thrown away!
I have also been receiving a large number of device submissions where the device has been printed on a colour printer, then cut out and glued onto the submission forms. Although this is obviously easier than tediously colouring in devices by hand, it does have some drawbacks.
One is that two copies of each device form must be posted to Laurel Queen of Arms in the USA, and the cost of postage is based on weight. Obviously, it would not matter if it were just two forms being sent, but what I send is a monthly package containing all the submissions that were passed at the previous Crux meeting, and it only takes a few of these "heavier" submissions to push the weight, and consequently the price, up.
Another problem is that the colours produced by the printer may not match that on the screen, resulting in some colours that cross the boundary of what is heraldically acceptable. Remember, it is the emblazon (the drawing) not the blazon (the written description of it) that is registered. The emblazon (which is assumed to be what the submittor wants registered) must conform to the rules of heraldry, one of which is that the colours used must clearly be one of the accepted heraldic tinctures or an accepted "proper" colouration.
A final issue is the fact that, while there is a reasonable amount of good heraldic clip-art and scanned images available, a much nicer result is often obtain by the use of an experienced heraldic artist who is able to arrange charges in a more balanced and aesthetically pleasing way than can be achieved with most computer programs.
Therefore, although I will continue to accept such submissions, I am much more in favour of hand-coloured forms, drawn by your local heraldic artist or scribe, whose skills you should be encouraging!
Your servant,
Uberto Renaldi
Whilst we are on the topic of submission requirements: please provide photocopies of all the pages cited on name submission forms. In the back of the Administrative Handbook there is a list of ‘Name Books That Do Not Require Photocopies to Laurel’, but just because Laurel has these books does not mean that I do. If you do cite from one of these, please include at least one copy of the page with the submission, just so I can be sure that the documentation provided is appropriate.
Just a reminder that Sir Robert (Acting Cinquefoil Pursuivant) and I still need more volunteers for voice heraldry and help in manning a consultation table at Festival. Please don’t leave it up to just a few of us to do all of the work.
I have been asked by the acting Lochac Seneschal to present a report to him by the 25th of April, some weeks before I was intending to submit a quarterly report to Their Highnesses.
Therefore, I am requesting that all Baronial and Shire heralds report to me by the 15th of April, if at all possible. I apologise for the short notice. If you simply cannot report by then, I will still be expecting a report by the 6th of May. College and Canton heralds should send written reports to their Baronial or Shire herald before then so that their reports may be summarised in the Baronial/Shire reports to me.
None this month.
I am happy to roster anyone as a Pursuivant Extraordinary if they have fulfilled the necessary requirements; ie they have submitted their name and device (and, if returned, continued to resubmit in a timely manner), passed the book heraldry test, and have done one of the following or the equivalent:
submitted at least two devices as a consulting herald; or
taken part in a minimum of two courts; or
taken part at two events as a duty or field herald.
If you feel you have completed the requirements necessary for this rank then please write to me saying so and I will happily include you amongst the members of the College of Heralds. Similarly, if you know of someone who should be a PE but is not, feel free to recommend them (assuming they want to be, of course).
"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".
Master Thorfinn is the person to talk to about heraldic publications. Possibly the most useful item that he stocks is the ‘Heraldic Pictorial Dictionary for the SCA’ (affectionately known as the PicDic), which will cost you $A8.50 for the first edition or $A12.50 for the second edition. Alternatively, order it directly from the USA via Free Trumpet Press for $US15 (details of their web site are below — and they now take credit cards).
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’.
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 (an heraldic consultation service). The Free Trumpet Press West web page is http://www.sca.org/heraldry/ftpw, or email klconlin@ilstu.edu
Cost: $20 per new submission (name, device or badge). No cost for resubmissions or branch submissions. Make cheques payable to "SCA Inc College of Heralds".
Copies required:
Please check that submittors have ALL necessary documentation to support each submission. It is up to the submittor to present their submission in a way that makes registration easy. Name documentation should be as accurate as possible, photocopies supplied (even if the reference is a standard one such as Reaney or Withycombe) and page number(s) and edition should also be quoted.
Meeting schedule
Crux Australis Herald holds a meeting at least once a month to consider submissions, which are then either forwarded to the College of Arms for commentary (and hopefully registration), returned if we find a conflict or a stylistic problem, or occasionally pended awaiting clarification from the submittor. If we have the time and enthusiasm, we may also look at and comment on submissions from other Kingdoms.
Crux meetings are usually held at 36 Rosella Street, Payneham SA, starting at 2pm. Please call (08) 8336 6791 or Email herald@sca.org.au beforehand if you intend to bring submissions for processing. The next meeting, however, will be held at Rowany Festival, probably on the Monday or Tuesday. I will endeavour to organise a time with the steward before the 1st of April so call me after then to confirm. The May meeting will be back at the usual location and is tentatively scheduled for the 28th.
Master Thorfinn Hrolfsson, Hund Herald, also holds regular commentary meetings in Melbourne. Please call him for details on (03) 9885 6348.
Recent submissions
Present at the Crux Australis meeting held on Sunday 19th March 2000 were Lord Uberto Renaldi, Crux Australis Herald, Lord William Forestor de Blackwode, acting Frette Rouge Pursuivant and cornet Nicolette de Coulours (with baby Alex).
The following items were SUBMITTED to Laurel Queen of Arms for registering:
Artemisia da Quieto d’Arzenta 
Legal Name: Leonie Kirchmajer
Group: Agaricus
Consulting herald: Lyssandre le Téméraire (alias Jan Antheunis van Ghent)
Device resubmission to Crux Australis
Per saltire purpure and sable, a legless dragon displayed to sinister and in chief three mullets of five points argent.
This gentle’s name was submitted to Laurel in January. At the same meeting her previous device submission, Gyronny of eight purpure and sable, a pithon displayed to sinister argent, was returned for violating RfS VIII.2.b.iv. This redesign appears free of problems. Submitted as a pithon (the heraldic term for a bat-winged snake), it was the consensus of the meeting that the beast portrayed resembled a dragon more closely than a snake. It should be clear of Per saltire purpure and sable, a dragon contourny and a bordure argent (device for Robert Vachon du Bois du Nord, Apr 1996). There is one CD for changing the number of secondary charges, and another CD for changing the type.
Catrìona MacLeòid Na Iona
Legal Name: Alexandra Battle
Group: Dubh Thrian
Consulting herald: Pedair
New Name
The submittor desires a Scottish name and will accept only minor changes. They care most about the language/culture.
‘Catrìona’ is listed by Jarvie (p.5) as the Gaelic version of ‘Catriona’, whilst Ó Corráin and Maguire (p.45) list the Irish version, ‘Caitríona’; both are derived from ‘Catherine’. ‘MacLeòid’ is apparently in Black (p.538) but as the Crux library is lacking this tome I cannot check.
‘Na’ is presumably the Gaelic for ‘of’ or ‘from’. ‘Iona’ is an island off the southwest coast of Mull in Scotland where Saint Columba founded a monastery in the sixth century (when that part of Scotland was known as Dalriada). Apparently, the island was originally known as just ‘I’ or ‘Hi’, derived from the Celtic word for a yew tree, but the first word of the Latinised name, ‘Ioua insula’ was misread sometime after 700 as ‘Iona’, one of the forms of the name ‘Jonah’. Because of Columba’s association with the island, a document of circa 1100 names it ‘Hiona-Columcille’. Not really relevant to documenting this name, but fascinating nonetheless. Well, at least I think so!
Gwir ferch Madog
Legal Name: Susan Barzda-Ryan
Group: Krae Glas
Consulting herald: Gwynfor Lwyd
Device resubmission to Crux Australis
Azure, in chief in fess three rustres Or.
This was returned by me last month for in sufficient number of forms. Extra forms have been provided, so this can now be sent to Laurel. It should be clear of Azure, three mascles interlaced in fess Or (device for Tom Precipice, Jan 1973). There is one CD for the position, and another for change in type, and interlaced mascle being (in the opinion of those present) sufficiently different from a rustre.
Jan Antheunis van Ghent
Legal Name: Brendan Lloyd
Group: Agaricus
Consulting herald: self
Change of Name resubmission to Laurel
The submitter’s currently registered name is Lyssandre le Téméraire. He currently has a change of device submission with Laurel. His previous change of name submission, ‘Jan van Ghent’, was returned by Laurel in November 1999 for conflict with ‘John of Gaunt’, father of Henry IV of England.
Adding the patronymic ‘Antheunis’ clears this conflict, as per RfS V.1.b.ii, "Number of Name Phrases". The name is from the Academy of Saint Gabriel website, under the heading ‘Flemish Given Names from Bruges, 1400-1550’.
Osanna Katzgraw von der Tann 
Legal Name: Nicole Brasher
Group: Stormhold
Consulting herald: Adrienne Fildyng de Faux
New name and Device
Purpure, a winged cat sejant close, licking its sinister forepaw, argent, on a chief wavy argent three roses proper.
The submitter desires a female German name and cares most about the language/culture. They will accept only minor changes.
‘Osanna’ is found in Bahlow (p.364) [another book the Crux library lacks] under ‘Osann’ as a variant dating from 1380 and 1526. Both ‘Katzgraw’ and ‘von der Tann’ are found in Brechenmacher, the first (Vol.2, p.20) under a 1359 spelling of ‘Katzgrau’ and the latter (Vol.1, p.490), dated to 1495.
Úlfarr MacVanis
Legal Name: Patrick Greene
Group: Stormhold
Consulting herald: Adrienne Fildyng de Faux (name) and Pedair (device)
New Name and Device
Per pale purpure and vert, a wolf’s head couped bendwise sinister and on a chief wavy argent three roses proper.
The submittor would like a male Norse/Scottish name, and will accept minor changes only. They care most about the language/culture.
‘Úlfarr’ is found in Haraldsson (p.15). ‘MacVanis’ is apparently in Black (p.567) under ‘MacVanish’. I am unsure as to how authentic this name is, being a mix of Old Norse and Scots Gaelic, but the two cultures did have a fair amount of contact during our period.
The following item has been RETURNED for further work:
Riccardo Pugliesi
Legal Name: Alexander McPhee
Group: Parvus Portus
Consulting herald: Wilfrid de Ackelonde
New Name (New Device PENDED)
The submittor desires a 14th-16th century male Italian name, and will not accept any changes, nor the creation of a holding name.
‘Riccardo’, according to Dunkling and Gosling (p.235), is the Italian form of Richard. ‘Pugliese’ is, according to Fucilla (p.106) an adjectival surname derived from the province or region of Puglia.
Unfortunately no date is given for the use of ‘Riccardo’ in Italy (or anywhere else), so this is not sufficient evidence of the name being used in pre-1600 Italy. Looking through other sources, we could find no ‘Riccardo’ in any of the more famous Italian families (the Medici, Sforza or Visconti), nor as the name of any of the better known Italian Renaissance artists, nor the given name of any Pope. The closest we got was from my English translation of Boccaccio’s ‘The Decameron’ (not acceptable on it’s own as documentation), in which ‘Ricciardo’ is the given name of a character in three of the stories. Although ‘Riccardo’ sounds like a perfectly acceptable pre-1600 Italian name, without suitable documentation supporting this I cannot forward the submission to Laurel.
Furthermore, Fucilla only gives the byname ending in an ‘e’. No evidence was provided for the use of a final ‘i’ instead. The spelling submitted may be perfectly correct, but without documentation supporting or explaining this I can do nothing. Normally I would change the spelling to the closest documented form, and note the submitted spelling so that someone in the College of Arms can give us the benefit of their greater wisdom, but as the submitter has elected to accept no changes I am forced to return it.
A device was also submitted, which appears free of problems but cannot be submitted without a name and so has been pended.
References
Academy of Saint Gabriel. http://www.s-gabriel.org/docs/bruges/given-early.html.
Bahlow, Hans. ‘Deutsches Nameslexikon’.
Black, George F. ‘The Surnames of Scotland’
Brechenmacher, Josef Karlmann. ‘Etmologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen Familiennamen’.
Dunkling, L. and Gosling, W. ‘Everyman’s Dictionary of First Names’. [Not good reference material]
Fucilla, Joseph G. ‘Our Italian Surnames’. Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc., 1987.
Geirr Bassi Haraldsson. ‘The Old Norse Name’. Yggsalr Press, 1977.
News of previous submissions
None - I am still waiting to receive Laurel’s Letter of Acceptances and Returns from February.