Last modified: December 12, 2007


Outlands College of Heralds

December 12, 2007
From the Office of the Castle Herald
Baronessa Francesca di Pavia, OP, OL
castle@outlandsheralds.org

UNTO the Outlands College of Heralds, our respected friends and colleagues who give freely of their time to provide commentary, and all others who come by these letters, on this 12th day of November, A.S. xxxxii (2007 CE), does Maestra Francesca di Pavia send greetings on behalf of The Honourable Lady Marie de Blois, White Stag Principal Herald.

Here follows the Kingdom of the Outlands Letter of Presentation for December 2007. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Errors found herein are undoubtedly mine.

Anyone may comment upon the items found herein, and e-mail commentary to the herald's commentary list is encouraged. Please have comments on items contained herein to the White Stag Principal Herald by January 12, 2008, for the decision meeting tentatively scheduled for January 13, 2008.

Line Emblazon Sheet
Color Emblazon Sheet
December 2007 Letter of Presentation
January 2008 Letter of Response
January 2008 Letter of Intent
May 2008 LoAR Results
Return to the Rampart home page.

1. Alys Bouchard.  New device. Azure, three crescents argent conjoined one and two, in chief a mullet of eight points Or.
(Dragonsspine)
The name was submitted on the November 2007 Letter of Presentation.

2. Andreas von Wittelsbach. New name and device. Quarterly checky azure and argent and gules, a gryphon passant Or.
(Dragonsspine) Gender: Male. No other boxes checked. Changes accepted.
Andreas: "Medieval German Given Names from Silesia" by Talan Gwynek (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/bahlow/bahlowMasc.html) cites numerous instances of this name in this spelling dated from 1368 to 1562.
Wittelsbach: Davies, Norman, Europe: A History Harper, 1996, pg. 395 cites the Wittelsbach family, rulers of Bohemia, Hainault, and Holland in the 14th Century.
No documentation is provided for the particle "von".

3. Anna by the Waters. New name and device. Per bend sinister wavy argent and azure, a frog tergiant vert and a cattail argent.
(Caerthe) Gender: Female. No major changes accepted. The client wants her name to reflect living by a body of water. Changing the name to "of the Waters" or the like would be considered a minor change, and would be acceptable to the client.
Anna: "Late 16th Century English Names" by Talan Gwynek (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/eng16/eng16alpha.html) cites 15 examples of this name in the stated period.
Waters: Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (1997 edition), header WATER, WATERS dates this surname to 1327. The prepositional phrase "by the Waters" is not documented as a variant of this name, though other variants are listed: de la Watere (1245), del Water (1246), atte Watere (1296). Cross-references: Bywater, Attwater.

4. Caerthe, Barony of. Resubmission of order name: Order of Evan.
(Caerthe) No major changes accepted. This Order is named after Evan Mawr, whose name was registered in August 1982. A change back to the original submission, or a variant thereof (ie Order of the Sojourners of Evan) would be considered a minor change, and would be acceptable to the client. The following badge, registered to the Barony on the November 2002 LoAR, is to be associated with this Order: Or, a dragon passant gules and a chief embattled sable.
The previously submitted version of this name, Order of the Sojourners of Evan Mawr, was returned on the April 2005 LoAR: " No documentation was submitted for this item, nor was an attempt to document it made on the LoI. This is sufficient reason in and of itself to return this Order name, especially as the College failed to provide documentation or support for either the parts or the formation of this Order name. The order name itself has several problems. First, this name does not follow construction patterns found in period Order names. So far, the only example of an Order name unambiguously using a secular name is Order of Maria-Eleanora founded in 1632. No examples of Order names using secular names with the pattern [given]+[byname] has been found. Second, it is unclear whether the concept Sojourner of [person] is meaningful. The OED gives these definitions of sojourner "A temporary resident" dated to 1483, and "a guest or lodger" dated to 1608, and "a boarder living in a house, school, or college, for purpose of instruction" in 1629. The concept "guest of patron" is not attested in period Order names." The current submission is constructed in a "meta-pattern" where the name contains the given name of the secular person for whom the order is named (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/order/registerorder.html).

5. Caoilinn inghean Caoimhin Ó Tighe. New name and device. Per pale purpure and argent, a Greek symbol 1000 voided, counterchanged.
(Unser Hafen) Gender: Female. The client cares most about the sound of the name. Changes accepted.
Caoilinn: The submitter included a letter from the Academy of St. Gabriel: "We didn't find <Caolin> as a Gaelic name; we think it might be a modern spelling of the feminine name <Caoilinn> or <Caoilfhionn>. That name is pronounced \K#L-uhn\. The symbol \#\ represents a vowel not found in English, but somewhat similar to the <u> in <push>. You can produce an approximation by saying the vowel in <cool> without rounding your lips at all; that is position your lips to say <kee>, but say <cool>.  This name has been anglicized as <Keelin>. The spelling <Caoilfhionn> would have been used after 1200 or so; earlier it would have been <Cáelfinn>. We did not find any other period woman's name pronounced \KAY-lin\ or \KEE-lin\."
No documentation is provided for any of the other name elements. Extensive documentation is provided for the infinity symbol. None of it documents it as a heraldic charge.

6. James Bowyer. New name and device. Argent, on a lozenge purpure, a saltire and two crescents in pale argent.
(Dragonsspine) Gender: Male. The submitter cares most about the language/culture of the name, stated to be 15th-16th Century English. Changes accepted.
James: Withycombe, The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names, 1988 edition, p, 170-171, header JAMES, dated to the 13th century in England.
Bowyer: Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (1997 edition), p. 58, header BOWYER, BOYER, BOAYER dates this name, meaning "a maker of or trader in bows" to the 12th-13th Century, though no examples of this spelling are cited.

7. John Bowyer. New name and device. Azure, a lion couchant Or and a chief wavy argent.
(Dragonsspine) Gender: Male. The submitter cares most about the language/culture of the name, stated to be 15th-16th Century English. Changes accepted.
John: Withycombe, The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names, 1988 edition, p, 178-179, header JOHN, dated to at least the 12th century in England.
Bowyer: Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (1997 edition), p. 58, header BOWYER, BOYER, BOAYER dates this name, meaning "a maker of or trader in bows" to the 12th-13th Century, though no examples of this spelling are cited.

8. Lilian Bowyer. New name and device. Argent, a cross gules, in dexter chief a bobwhite quail proper
(Dragonsspine) Gender: Female. The submitter cares most about the language/culture of the name, stated to be 15th-16th Century English. Changes accepted.
Lilian: Withycombe, The Concise Dictionary of English Christian Names, 1988 edition, p, 196, header LIL(L)IAN, LIL)L)IAS, LILY, LILLA(H), dates the name to the 16th Century in England.
Bowyer: Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames (1997 edition), p. 58, header BOWYER, BOYER, BOAYER dates this name, meaning "a maker of or trader in bows" to the 12th-13th Century, though no examples of this spelling are cited.

9. Stephen Axtell. New name and device. Per pale azure and gules, an arm couped embowed sustaining an axe Or.
(Windkeep) Gender: Male. The submitter cares most about the sound of the name. Changes accepted.
Stephen: Index to the Ashmolean Library's Brass Rubbing Collection (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/brasses/men.html) dates this name in this spelling to 1446.
Axtell: The submitter provides a copy of his driver's license, showing that this is his legal surname. The National Archives, Documents Online (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/), with a Quick Search for Axtell, dates 1500-1599, yields two wills: that of Thomas Axtell, Yeoman of Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, 14 May 1588, and that of Henry Axtell of Luton, Bedfordshire, 23 June 1585.

Thus ends the December 2007 Letter of Presentation. 

Your servant,

Francesca di Pavia
Castle Herald

Line Emblazon Sheet
Color Emblazon Sheet
December 2007 Letter of Presentation
January 2008 Letter of Response
January 2008 Letter of Intent
May 2008 LoAR Results
Return to the Rampart home page.