Unto Olwynn Laurel; Mari Pelican; Istvan Wreath; and the commenting Members of the College of Arms,

Greetings of the New Year from Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy, Brickbat Herald and Parhelium Herald for the Kingdom of Atenveldt!

The Atenveldt College of Heralds requests the consideration and registration of the following names and armory with the College of Arms.

Please note: Unless specifically stated, the submitter will accept any spelling and grammar corrections; all assistance is appreciated.

1. Beverly FitzAlan de Stirkelaunde: NEW NAME and DEVICE

Vert, a mourning dove close, one leg raised, between flaunches argent.

Although Withycombe notes that Beverly is not found as a given name, either masculine or feminine, until the late 19th C as a masculine name, then in the 20th C as an American feminine given name (3rd edition, p. 50 s.n. Beverly), documentation provided with the submission notes several names found in the LDS website in which Beverly appears to be a given name: Beverly Cline Smith, b. 1501 ( http://tinyurl.com/yhbspcu ); Beverly Johnston, b. 1596 ( http://tinyurl.com/yzbqullq ); Beverly Rogers, b. about 1552 ( http://tinyurl.com/yg56d5e ). These are all listed as women.

British Chancery Records 1386-1558 ( http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7919 ) appear to demonstrate a Thomas Fitzalan from 1519, and a William Fitzalan from 1501. However, no hardcopy of these pages were included in the documentation, and I don't have a subscription to this site to verify these dates. Another website does show 77 instances of FitzAlan/Fitzalan throughout period, including many in the 16th C ( http://thepeerage.com/i972.htm#s13509 ).

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames with Special American Instances, Charles W. Bardsley, London: Henry Frowde, 1901, cites a William de Stirkelaunde, in county Westmoreland, 20 Edw I. (p. 728 s.n. Strickland). This is undated, but if this refers to Edward I, this dates the spelling to the late 13th C. Eventually the spelling of the byname and the townships of that name became Strickland.

The client desires a female name and will not accept Major changes to the name. If necessary, she will accept the spelling of Beverly as Beverley.

The posture of the dove was blazoned originally as vigilant, meaning “close passant” (with one leg raised). However, birds with one leg raised are just blazoned as "close": "The raven was originally blazoned with its dexter talon raised. This detail has been ruled unblazonable in the past: "A bird passant, that is to say, with one leg raised, is considered an unblazoned variant of close" (LoAR February 1996, p. 1). Quite a few period birds close are drawn with one leg raised to some degree, especially massive birds such as cocks, hens and swans. Perhaps this is because the bird better fills the space at the bottom of the shield when drawn with one leg raised." [LoAR 02/2002, Branwen of Werchesvorde, Atenveldt-A]

Because the client shows the bird with a raised leg and used a term to signify this, I modified the blazon to reflect the desired posture. It may or may not stand (ahem), if a dove is considered a massive bird (I've seen some pretty chunky mourning doves in my backyard – it must have something to do with feeding them Cocoa Krispies...).

2. Christmas Albanach: NEW NAME and DEVICE

Purpure, a gore argent ermined gules.

Christmas is both a feminine and masculine given name and reflects from the 13th C. on the practice of naming a child for a feast day on which it was born (Withycombe, 3rd edition, p. 65 s.n. Christmas).

Albanach is found in Black's The Surnames of Scotland, meaning “of Scotland,” referring to Scots living outside of Scotland. This spelling is seen before 1165; Albenach is demonstrated in 1260 (p. 14 s.n. Albanach).

The client doesn't care about the gender of the name and is most interested in the sound of the name.

The device is clear of Aryanhwy merch Catmael: Purpure, a bordure ermine. There is one CD for the type of peripheral, and another for its tincture.

3. Gawayn Langknyfe: DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, September 2009

Per bend sinister argent and gules, a Greek minotaur statant affronty vested of a loincloth between in bend two battle axes all counterchanged.

The name was registered September 2009.

The original submission, Per bend sinister sable and gules, a bull-headed human with bull's hoofs vested of a loincloth per bend Or and argent between in bend a battle axe Or and a battle axe argent., was returned because the primary charge is not recognizable. The monster's horns were drawn to blend with the body, in such a way that they could not be distinguished. If any charge's identifying features were not readily seen, that charge is not identifiable, and thus not registrable. Additionally, the monster blazoned as a minotaur fit neither the Classical Greek (a man with a bull's head) nor the medieval (a centaur-like monster with a bull's body, a man's torso, and occasionally bull's horns from the man's head) definition of the term. “The head is not a bull's head (though it has bull's horns and ears), and the hind legs have cloven hooves, so it is not a Classical Greek minotaur; and it has a human body and legs, not a bull's body, so it's not a medieval minotaur. Please instruct the submitter that any resubmission including a minotaur should use a period depiction of the monster, drawn in a period style.” The client has chosen to use the Classical Greek form of the monster.

4. Killian M'Cahall: NEW BADGE

Quarterly argent and vert, four dragonflies counterchanged.

The name was registered June 1995.

5. Ségán Ó Catháin: DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, December 2009

Per bend sinister vert and sable, a sinister wing argent and a bordure argent semy of triquetras inverted sable.

The name was registered December 2009.

The original submission, Quarterly vert and sable, a sinister wing argent., was returned for conflict with Dante Alighieri (important non-SCA arms), Azure, a sinister wing argent. There was a single CD for the changes to the field.

6. Wthyr na Lannyust: NEW NAME

Wthyr is said to be a Welsh and Cornish variant of the masculine given name Arthur; while citations are given for Arthur as a period name, no hardcopy was provided that demonstrates Wthyr as a period variant of Arthur. Aryanhwy comments: I would expect Wthyr to be a variant of Uther, (the name of Arthur's father in many variants of the tale), not Arthur. Hutson, British Personal Names in the Historia Regum Britanniae, quotes marginalia from a 13th C MS of the Historia Britonum on pp. 55-56: '[Arthur] mab uter britannice, filius horribilis Latine', where Arthur's father's name is identified with Welsh <uthr> 'cruel, terrible'. On p. 56, Hutson notes that "In the Book of Taliessin there is a chieftain, Uthyr Pendragon, who claims a ninth part of the prowess of Arthur... There is also a poem in the Black Book of Caermarthen which mentions Uthir Pendragon and Arthur, but there is no connection between the two apart from their appearance in the same poem." I haven't been able to find any support for <U/W> interchange in Welsh or Cornish, so I'm not sure how plausible the spelling <Wthyr> is.

Lannyust is said to be Brythonic Celtic, a Cornish dialect, meaning “St. Just in Penwith,” an ecclesiastical parish in West Cornwall, comprised of a number of villages. A modern tourist site for St. Just in Penwith mentions Lannyust Agas Dynnargh! (“Welcome to St. Just!”), http://www.just-arts.co.uk/stjust.htm . A UK and Irish genealogical site notes the Cornish version of St. Just in Penwith is Lannyust, and that in 596 A.D. , Justus/St. Just was sent there by Pope Gregory the Great for missionary work ( http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/StJustinPenwith/ ). Again, Aryanhwy comments: Watts s.n. St Just has a number of citations of the place name, but primarily in English contexts, not Cornish: <ecclesia Sancti Justi> in a 17th C copy of a MS from c1070 (this one is, of course, Latin); St Just in Penewith 1297, Seint Just 1342, Yust(e) 1342, 1524, St Just alias St Towst 1581. He doesn't even mention a form in Lann. It could be that it's a modern back-formation, substituting Cornish Lann 'church; enclosure, habitation'. So, Uth(y/i)r (de/of) S(e/a)int Just looks plausible, but I'm not so sure about the submitted form.

The client desires a male name and is most interested in the language/culture of the name (Cornish). He will not accept Major changes to the name.

I was assisted in this month's Letter of Intent preparation by Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Helena de Argentoune, Michael Gerard Curtememoire and Nest verch Rodri ap Madyn

This letter contains 3 new names, 2 new devices, 1 new badge, and 2 device resubmissions. This is a total of 8 items, 6 of them new.

A check to cover fees will be sent separately.

Thank you again for your great indulgence and patience, your expertise and your willingness to share it.

I remain,

Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy

c/o Linda Miku

2527 East 3rd Street; Tucson AZ 85716

atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com

brickbat@nexiliscom.com

Commonly-Cited References

Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland.

Medieval Names Archive. http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/

Names Articles. SCA College of Arms. http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names.html

Ó Corráin, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names.

Reaney, P.H. and R. M. Wilson. A Dictionary of English Surnames, 2nd Edition, 1976, reprinted 1979.

Withycombe, E.G., The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd Edition. London, Oxford University Press, 1977.