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Last modified January 20, 2005


Outlands College of Heralds

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December 2004 Letter of Presentation
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From the office of the White Stag Principal Herald
Lady Sorcha MacLeod
whitestag@outlandsheralds.org

UNTO François la Flamme, Laurel King of Arms, Margaret MacDuibhshithe, Pelican Queen of Arms, Gwenllian ferch Maredudd, Wreath Queen of Arms, and the College of Arms, upon this 27th day of January 2005, A.S. XXXVII (2004 CE),

DOES Lady Sorcha MacLeod, White Stag Principal Herald, send greetings and well-wishes.

THLady Alia Marie de Blois has stepped down as Rampart Herald, having earned a respite with her long and dedicated service. This is my first Letter of Intent, and I look forward to participating in this aspect of the submissions process. Feedback is welcomed.

I present the following items for your consideration.

  1. Auriana Danburge. New Primary Name.
    Auriana is found in "Dutch Womens' Names before 1100" by Walraven van Nijmege (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/earlydutchfem.html), where it is in a list of names from non-Germanic roots. Danburge is found in "Names in the Low Lands before 1150" (http://www.keesn.nl/names/), in the list of Feminine Given Names (list_f.htm) where it seems to indicate that it is comprised of the parts Danen and -burg and was found once in the 1000's.
    Although Danburge was documented as a given name, there is the possibility that this may be an unmarked matronym or placename. Therefore we are sending it to College and Laurel in hopes of assistance. A commenter writes, "Matronyms were rare in Dutch names; I've only found one example (though it happens to be unmarked!): 1422 from , in my '15th Century Dutch Names' (http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/dutch15.html)."
    She allows all changes, desires a feminine name, and is interested in having her name made authentic for an unspecified language/culture (though one would suspect she means "Dutch" or "Low Lands").
  2. Blackwater Keep, Shire of. New Change of Registered Name.
    This is a change from their currently registered name, Shire of Scorpions Hollow, originally registered as Shire of Scorpion's Hollow, in March of 1987 and changed in December of 1999. Blackwater is found in Black's Surnames of Scotland under the header Blackwater on pages 80-81, which says that it is "An old Aberdeen surname derived from the 'villa de Blacwatyr'". It is also found in the Placenames of Scotland by James Johnston on page 41. Keep is an SCA-compatible placename element: "Keep has long been used as part of SCA branch names. The most recent registration is Crossrode Keep, Shire of (registered November 1999 via Ansteorra). This element is effectively regarded as SCA compatible as an element in an English place name. Given the forms in which it has been registered, spellings of the element Keep are registerable both as a separate element (such as Crossrode Keep), and as the final element in a compound place name (such as Northkeep). Registerable spellings include Keep and any alternate spellings which may be documented to period (including those listed above)."[Tristan Ravencrest, 11/01, A-Æthelmearc] There was some commentary that this would be much more authentic as "Shire of Blacwatyr," but it should be registrable as it stands.
    They will not accept major changes, care most about the (unspecified) language/culture, and are interested in authenticity for "English/Scottish" language/culture. This submission is accompanied by a proper petition, signed by all officers save one of the group and some members of the general populace.
  3. Kathws Rusa. Device Resubmission. Azure, a scimitar inverted and sinister-facing proper issuant from a trimount vert, in chief two crescents Or.
    Originally blazoned "a scimitar proper", it is also inverted and the edge faces to sinister, and was reblazoned to "a scimitar inverted and sinister-facing proper". Her name was registered in October 2001. Her first device, Azure, two arrows inverted in saltire argent between three bezants one and two and a trimount vert, was returned by Laurel in November of 2002, because, although documentation was provided for the low-contrast green trimount on the azure field, it was insufficiently similar to the exemplars provided. Her second device, Azure, a scimitar inverted proper issuant from a trimount vert was returned by Laurel in February 2004 for conflict. This resubmission addresses that conflict by adding the crescents in chief.
  4. Mari the Far-Travelled. New Primary Name.
    Mari is the submitter's legal name and a copy of her ID was provided. Mari is also found in "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock (Gloucestershire, England: 1538-1600/1)" by Mari Elspeth nic Bryan (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/), where it is marked as being under the header Mary. In The Sagas of the Icelanders by Jane Smiley, on page 265, in the Tale of Thorvald the Far-Travelled, the main character is referenced as "Thorvald Kodransson, called the Far-traveller". Also, in a search on the Viking Workshop website (http://viking.hgo.se/), there is an Ingvar the Far-Travelled (Ingvar Vittfaren, Ingvar den vittfarne), described as a chieftan and ship captain named Ingvar who went on many adventures somewhere between 1036 and 1040 AD. She would like to use the Lingua Anglica allowance to render 'Far-Travelled' in English.
    One commenter writes, "Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 2146 (http://www.s-gabriel.org/2146) lists several English bynames related to travel, including Wydefare in 1279 and Widfare in 1246. Mari Wydefare is a reasonable English name, *and* it looks like Wydefare and Widfare are cognate to the Norse byname Vittfaren, which the submitter cites." This information is presented in case "the Far-Travelled" is deemed unregistrable.
    The submitter allows all changes, cares most about the meaning "Mari who has travelled extensively", and desires a feminine name.
  5. Omar al-Saqr al-Antaki. New Primary Name and New Device. Per pale vert and sable, a falcon displayed and in base a sword fesswise reversed argent.
    Omar is the submitter's legal given name and a photocopy of his identification was provided. al-Saqr is a laqab, found in "Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices" by Da'ud ibn Auda (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/arabic-naming2.htm). al-Antaki is a nisba meaning "of Antioch", as found in the name of Dawud al-Antaki who, according to "History of Science and Technology in Islam: Potassium Nitrate in Arabic and Latin Sources by Ahmad al-Hassan (http://www.gabarin.com/ayh/Nitrates.htm), is described as, "Dawud Al-Antaki (d.1599), who was born in Antioch and lived part of his life in Anatolia, Damascus and Cairo".
    Although the documentation for al-Antaki is a scholarly source, it does not necessarily have a period form of the name,. Antioch was a place in our period known to the Arabs, and therefore we we are sending it up to Laurel and the College of Arms in hopes that they know of a documentably period form. He will not accept major changes, desires a masculine name, cares most about the meaning and language/culture "Omar the falcon of Antioch", and is interested in authenticity for "Arabic" language/culture.
    The submitter has been instructed to draw the falcon larger, so that it fills the space.
  6. Outlands, Kingdom of. Transfer of heraldic title. Gold Trumpet.
    The Kingdom's name was registered in July 1986. The heraldic title Gold Trumpet was registered to the Kingdom of the Outlands in May 2002, for Timothy O'Brien's sole and exclusive use for his service to heraldry in the Outlands.
  7. Theodor von Oldenburg. New Primary Name.
    Theodor is found in Talan Gwynek's article "Late Period Masculine German Names: Names from 15th Century Plauen" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/germmasc/plaun15.html), where it is found between 1401 and 1450, and von Oldenburg is a locative byname intended to mean "of Oldenburg". Oldenburg is documented from its entry in the Columbia Online Encyclopedia (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/wold/A0836527.html), which says "Originally part of Saxony, the county of Oldenburg came into prominence in the 12th cent., when the counts became princes of the empire." This clearly establishes that the county existed at that time, but we are unable to find this as a period spelling. One commenter found "Oldenborch", which is dated to 1384 in Brechenmacher on page II:345.
    He allows all changes, desires a masculine name, cares most about the language/culture, and is interested in authenciticy for "German 15th C" time period and language/culture.
  8. Timothy O'Brien. Acceptance of transfer of heraldic title. Gold Trumpet.
    Timothy's name was registered in February 1998. The heraldic title Gold Trumpet was registered to the Kingdom of the Outlands in May 2002, for Timothy's sole and exclusive use for his service to heraldry in the Outlands.
  9. Vivienne Kestrel la Fauconnière. New Primary Name.
    Vivienne is found in Dauzat's Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de Famille et Prenoms de France, on page 598 under the header "Vivien". Colm Dubh's article "An Index to Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html) lists one Vivien le serjant, and Vivienne would be the feminine form of that. Kestrel is the submitter's legal last name and a copy of her ID was provided, and la Fauconnière is found in Colm Dubh's article (above), in the name Melissent la Fauconnière.
    While prior registration is no guarantee of future registrability, we find the following precedent to be pertinent: "There was some question about the plausibility of Vivienne in period. Morlet, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de famille, (p. 969 s.n. Vivien) gives Vivienne as a matronymic form. Combined with the example of Vivien le serjant in Colm Dubh's article "An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris" (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html), Vivienne is a plausible period form." [Vivienne de Lampérière. 05/02, A-Caid]
    She will not allow major changes, desires a feminine name, cares most about the meaning "the Falconer", and is interested in authenticity for "12th to 14th century" time period.

Thus ends my Letter of Intent. I count 5 new names, 1 new device, and 1 new change of branch name, for a total of 7 items for which payment is due to Laurel, as well as 1 transfer of heraldic title and 1 acceptance of same. and 1 resubmitted device. A check for $28 will be sent separately by the Outlands Exchequer.

In service and duty,
Sorcha, White Stag

Line Emblazon Sheet
Color Emblazon Sheet
December 2004 Letter of Presentation
January 2005 Letter of Response
January 2005 Letter of Intent
May 2005 LoAR Results
Return to the Rampart home page.