1 June 2002, A.S. XXXVII

Kingdom of Atenveldt

Unto Their Royal Majesties Aaron and Alisandra; Mistress Magdelen Venturosa, Aten Principal Herald; the Heralds in the Atenveldt College of Heralds; and to All Whom These Presents Come,

Greetings from Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy, Brickbat Herald!

This is the June 2002 internal Atenveldt Letter of Intent. It contains local submissions, asking questions of submitters and local heralds who have worked with them; if these questions are not addressed, the submission may be returned by the Atenveldt College of Heralds. You are welcome to comment both on submissions being considered for a future LoI and those already in an LoI; mistakes do get made, and I can correct ones, even on those submissions already at the Laurel level. Please have your comments to me on the submissions being considered for the July LoI by 25 June. I accept online commentary, in addition to questions pertaining to heraldry: brickbat@nexiliscom.com.

The Resubmission Push: it’s almost summer, it’s hot, it’s time to stay indoors (at least when the sun’s out) and do things there! I’ve included in the Kingdom of Atenveldt Heraldic Submissions Page (email address below) a list of submissions that have been returned since Fall 1997 to the present (with any luck, most of them are listed!) within the kingdom. Considering that resubmissions are free, and that many of these returns are fairly easy “fixes,” I’d really like to see this list decrease in size–there isn’t much reason for the list to be as long as it is. I’m asking you to review it and contact submitters in your area who may be on the list–press a little, press harder, and let’s see what can be done for these “lost souls” (yeah, yeah, I’m on the list, too...gotta work on that!). If a submitter needs information (a replacement of his/her letter of return, suggestions for making a resubmission succeed), feel free to contact me. I have a grasp on Adobe Photoshop now, so sending you or a submitter a decent sketch of a new device or badge is easy to do.

On the positive side, I’ve been thinking about this “Resubmission Campaign” for a month or so, just keeping it to myself. Evidently, heralds (and submitters) must be a psychic group, since there have been five names removed from the list because of resubmissions that appear in this month’s Letter of Intent. This is a wonderful start!

Letters of Acceptance and Return: the Atenveldt results of the March 2002 Laurel meetings are included in this report.

Submissions Website: You can send electronic commentary on the most recent internal LoIs through the site, in addition to any questions you might have. Current submission forms can be found there. Please let your local populace know about it: atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com.

Please consider the following submissions for inclusion in the July 2002 Atenveldt LoI:

Conlan O'Morda (Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Vert, a claymore inverted proper gripped by gauntlet fesswise reversed argent.

The name is Irish. Conlan is sort of a “reverse derivation,” the family name (O) Connellan anglicized and abbreviated to Conlan or Conlon, “both of which are numerous in all the provinces, especially in Connacht” (MacLysaght, p. 55). Since the standard Irish clan affiliation name is ó + clan ancestor’s given name, this seems to be a reasonable way of choosing a given name. However, the closest Irish given name I can find to Conlan is Connla, Condla and Conna (all in Ó Corráin and Maguire, p. 58), Congal (pronounced Con-ul, ibid, p. 57) plus Congal, Congalach, Conn (“Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names: 1601-1616,” http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/). Conlan might be a post-period form, or it may have mutated (for lack of a better word!) from a different Irish masculine given name. Irish being what it is, I have no problems sending up the name submission and seeing what the College of Arms has to say about this formation of the given name. O’Morda is cited in Irish Names and Surnames by the Reverend Patrick Woulfe, pp. 47, 177, 619, as the name of a Leinster family; MacLysaght shows related names as O More, and the Irish form Ó Mórdha, p. 221. A very positive point of the submission is that the submitter notes that he’ll accept changes to the surname and spelling changes to the given name, but he wishes to keep the sound intact–this is very important, as it provides a guideline for those who can be of help with making any corrections/changes in the CoA. Thank you!

While it seems logical that a gauntlet would “maintain” (hold) a sword, the sword here is the major charge and the gauntlet is too small to be considered anything but maintained feature; it should be blazoned, but it will very unlikely contribute to any difference in checking conflict. Because of this, this is probably in conflict with Tasha of Falcon's Claw: Vert, a sword inverted argent between three suns Or. (1 CD for the addition of the secondary charges, nothing for the maintained charge); and John of Gravesend: Vert, a sword palewise proper, surmounted at the tip by a helm affronty argent. (1 CD for difference in orientation of the sword, possibly 1 CD for the addition of the helm); Kiriel of Windhover Cliff:

Vert, a sword inverted, overall an American kestrel hovering affronty proper. (1 CD for the addition of a co-primary charge).

Felice Throckmorton: NEW DEVICE

Azure, a seahorse within an orle Or.

Consider the armory of Two Seas, Shire of the: Azure, a sea-horse Or, in chief two laurel wreaths argent.; Halldís Steinarsdóttir: Azure, a sea-horse reguardant Or, in base two barrulets wavy argent.; Kateline Deveraux Simpson: Azure, a seahorse erect and a chief Or.

Gaston Trévoux (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW BADGE

Per fess vert and sable, an owl’s head argent.

The name was registered October 2000.

This is in conflict with Merric of Stormgate: (Fieldless) An owl's head cabossed argent, maintaining in its beak a candle fesswise azure lit at both ends proper. There is 1 Clear Difference between a fieldless and a fielded badge, but because the candle is maintained/held, it is considered an "insignificant" charge and doesn't contribute to a second CD needed to avoid conflict. I am not suggesting that the submitter add a bordure (at least not an argent one!), since that would lead to another conflict! If Gaston doesn't mind having multiple owl heads, he might consider putting one owl head in each part of the field (Per fess vert and sable, in pale two owls’ heads argent.). Late Note: Gaston will go with two owls’ heads...

Renée ferch Claymore (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per chevron azure and argent, two martlets and a claymore inverted counterchanged.

The name is stated to be Welsh. However, Welsh names are very strict in construction. Ferch always means "daughter of," and it's followed by

a Welsh masculine given name (Emrys, Cadfael, etc.); it does not take the surname of a family, nor a placename. As Renée is not really a Welsh feminine name (but she can use it, as it's her legal given name), the name really only stands a chance of being registered as Renée Claymore. A name such as this is considered using an "unmarked" byname, with the family relationships, or geographic relationships, implied rather than actually “spelled out” with prepositions or prefixes or suffixes added to the name. For example, a patronymic such as Williamson or Robertson often mutates into Williams and Roberts (people know that at some point in the family history, there was an ancestor by the name of William or Robert). An early occupational byname of John the Baker eventually becomes John Baker, and a locative Mary atte Water, Mary Atwater, for the same reason. Even with a classically constructed Welsh name, a Welsh woman living among English speakers is likely to lose the familial article, and be known as Ceridwen Emrys as opposed to Ceridwen ferch Emrys.

The following submissions appear in the 1 June 2002 Atenveldt Letter of Intent:

Andriona la rousse de Beauvoir (Twin Moons): NAME and DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, 11/00

Purpure, a schnecke issuant from sinister chief and in dexter chief and in base two fleurs-de-lys argent.

The original name submission, Adriona Nichole la rousse de Beauvoir, was returned for nondocumentation of Adriona and the use of a double given name. The submitter has dropped the second given name. The name is French. Andrion, which is a French given name, is found in “An Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris,” by Colm Dubh (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html). The gender of the name is not specified, and the submitter has taken the liberty to feminize it by adding a terminal -a. la rousse, “the red-head,” is a descriptive epithet, also found in the source cited above. Beauvoir is a locative surname found in “French Names from Two 13^th Century Chronicles,” by Arval Benicoeur (http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/crusades/crusadesLieux.html).

The original submission, Purpure, a schnecke issuant from sinister chief argent charged with a rose gules, slipped and leaved vert, in dexter chief and in base two fleurs-de-lys argent., was returned for use of a rosebud rather than a rose, and the inability to demonstrate any period examples of schneckes with secondary or tertiary charges. The CoA was willing to consider some leeway (“We may allow secondary or tertiary charges with a schnecke, but we doubt that the use of either is period practice.”), and removing the rose(bud) removes the second anomaly to the design.

Anita de Challis (Twin Moons): NEW BADGE

Gules, a seeblatt and a chief double-arched Or.

The name was registered February 2000.

This is reminiscent of Meg ny Devlin: Vert, a seeblatt and on a chief double-arched argent three pomegranates gules., because of the primary and secondary charges. However, there is 1 CD each for tinctures of the field, the seeblatt, and the chief, and the addition of the tertiary charges.

Ann Busshenell of Tynehurst (Barony of Atenveldt): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Kingdom, 10/01

Gules, three bendlets abased azure fimbriated and in sinister chief an hourglass argent charged with a needle sable.

The name was registered March 2002.

The submitter’s original submission, Gules, a bend azure fimbriated, in chief an hourglass argent surmounted by a threaded needle bendwise sable., was returned for tincture violation and unbalanced design. This is a bit of a redesign. While fimbriated multiple ordinaries appear rather scarce, two examples of fimbriated scarpes/bendlets sinister, date to 1994 and 1997 registrations by the College of Arms.

Catalina da Quaglietta (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Azure, three quail and a bordure argent.

The name is Spanish and Italian. Catalina is found in “16th-century Spanish Women's Names,” Elsbeth Anne Roth (http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~kvs/fnames.html). The byname was registered to her husband, Niccolo da Quaglietta, in September 1999; it is his legal surname, and it is also a town in central Italy. (Quaglia is the Italian word for “quail.”) The combination of Spanish and Italian name elements is a reasonable one.

Ealasaid Nic Shuibhne (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW DEVICE CHANGE

Quarterly gules and sable, a sealion Or, tailed argent.

The name was registered June 1995.

This is very close to Richard of the Silverdawn: Gyronny gules and ermine, a lion dragon erect Or. There is 1 CD for difference of field. Since there is a CD between a field that is Or vs. one that is divided "Per fess Or and argent," for example, we can argue that there is the second CD for differences in the tinctures of the primary, sole charges. If this is registered, the submitter wishes to release her currently-held device, Azure, a cat sejant argent atop a camel saddle Or, on a base argent a drop spindle proper threaded gules.

Felice Throckmorton (Sundragon): NEW NAME

The name is English. Felice is the vernacular form of Felicia (who was a saint of Nicodemia), and the spelling of Felice is dated to 1460 in England (Withycombe, p. 116). Throckmorton is a village in Worcestershire, dating back to the 13^th C. (http://www.throckmorton.org.uk/).

Isabel de Estella (Twin Moons): NEW BADGE

Or, an apothecary jar sable, lidded gules, within a bordure indented gules.

The name was registered June 1995.

Isabella Dona Boticelli (Tir Ysgithr): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per saltire gules and sable, in pale a hawk’s bell and a sun Or.

The name is Italian. Isabella and Dona are both feminine given names found in “Feminine Given Names from the Online Catasto of Florence of 1427,” by Arval Benicoeur (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/catasto/). Alessandro (Sandro) Boticelli was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence, 1444-1510; although born with the surname Filipepi, his father apprenticed him to a goldsmith by the name of Boticelli (http://www.artist-biography.info/artist/sandro_botticelli).

Martin de la Rosa (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per bend sable and Or, a rose and two crescents in bend, all counterchanged.

Originally submitted as Jesus de la Rosa, correspondence with Juliana de Luna strongly suggests that Jesus is a post-period devotional name; neither she nor I was able to find Jesus in period references. Martin is a popular saint’s name (“Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century,” Juliana de Luna, http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/MensGivenAlpha.html). The surname Rosa is also found in this source; this particular form was also registered to Andrés Miguel Rodriguez de la Rosa in November 1998.

Mary Rose of Burgundy (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Agent, two peacock feathers crossed in saltire proper, a chief vert.

The name is English. Mary is found in England c. 1440 (Withycombe, pp. 211-212). Rose is an English surname derived from ME rosa, “rose”; Robert de la Rose is dated to 1242, and Addam atte Rose, to 1305 (Reaney and Wilson, p. 299). The duchy of Burgundy, a rival of France, eventually came under French gubernatorial control in the 16^th C.

It appears that most peacock feathers which appear in the SCA Ordinary that are blazon as “proper” have the shaft and thin tendrils of the feather sable (as is the case here), with the eye of the feather in multiple tinctures (two such proper peacock feathers found in Feather and Quill–Sable, were registered in 1997, and a third piece of armory was registered in 1999).

Siobhán de Bhulbh (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per chevron throughout ployé vert ermined Or, and Or, in base a needle sable, eyed of a goblet Or.

The name is Irish. Siobhán is a feminine Irish given name (Irish Names, Ó Corráin and Maguire, p. 165). This is the more “modern” form of the name; although the submitter maintains that it is 12^th C. Irish Celtic, the documentation provided does not vouch for this, and Ó Corráin and Maguire show Sibán as the earlier form, when it became popular in Ireland in the 12^th C. de Bhulbh, the Irish Gaelic form of the family name Woulfe, introduced into Ireland by the Normans, is found in The Surnames of Ireland, by Edward MacLysaght, p. 302.

I suspect that the shape of the “eye” will be deleted from the blazon and allowed to be expressed as artistic license, as it is virtually impossible to charge a “thin” charge such as a needle, a spear or a sword.

Steffan le Stalkere (Tir Ysgithr): BADGE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, 9/01

(fieldless) A sun per pale azure and argent.

The name was registered February 1997.

The original submission, Per pale argent and azure, a sun counterchanged., was returned for three conflicts: a badge of Atenveldt (Jan 73), Per pale argent and azure, a sun in his splendour, with the lone CD for the tincture of the sun; Lettice Godfree (Oct 00), Per pale argent and azure, a compass star and a ford counterchanged, with one CD for adding the ford but none for a compass star versus a sun; and Shron Ravenhair's badge for House Sun Star (Sep 84), Per pale argent and azure, on a sun a mullet of four points, all counterchanged, with one CD for the tertiary mullet. Making this a fieldless badge resolves these conflicts.

Tvoislava Michelovna (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per bend sinister wavy gules and sable, a decrescent and three mullets in bend sinister argent.

The name is Russian, using the period given name + patronymic construction. Tvoislava is a feminine given name (“A Dictionary of Period Russian Names,” by Paul Wickenden of Thanet (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/). Michelovna, “daughter of Michel,” seems to be a reasonable spelling variation of the masculine given name Michal (also in “A Dictionary of Period Russian Names”). The -ovna ending seems to be mostly post-period, although Wickenden cites a Marfa Ivanovna in 1618 (“Grammar of Period Russian Names,” by Paul Wickenden of Thanet, http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/zgrammar.html).

This is very close to Ceit Ailis nic Ardis: Per bend sinister gules and sable mullety argent, in dexter chief a mullet within a crescent pendant bendwise argent. There is 1 CD for the line of division. There might be a second CD for mullety vs. three large, countable mullets. Considering that Ceit's crescent thing is only 45 degrees from Tvoislava's, there won't be any difference afforded there, but with the mullet within the horns of the

crescent, there is probably the additional CD. It would be a courtesy to the submitter and to Ceit to let each of them know that each other “exists”–the shared use of tinctures, charges, field divisions and orientations are very likely to have people connecting to two ladies in some way. (I have contacted both ladies, and Lady Ceit doesn’t feel uncomfortable with the similarity to her registered armory.)

Vizlaw Ivanovitch Nevsky (Barony of Atenveldt): NEW NAME and DEVICE

Per pale vert and argent, a bear passant counterchanged.

The name is Russian, based on the 15th-16th C. naming traditions of a given name + patronymic + surname (“Grammar of Period Russian Names,” by Paul Wickenden of Thanet, http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/zgrammar.html). Vizlaw is a masculine given name, a variation of Voislav; Ivanovitch, “son of John,” comes from the masculine given name Ivan, a variation of Ioann (both are found in “A Dictionary of Period Russian Names,” by Paul Wickenden of Thanet (http://www.sca.org/heraldry/paul/). The surname Nevsky is a locative, “of/from the Neva River”; the Neva is located in NW Russia, with St. Petersburg at its mouth. An earlier name, one found in 11th-13th C. Russia, would most likely only be comprised of the given name and patronymic; adding a surname is uncommon until late period.

Ynez Chaiya Beneviste (Twin Moons): DEVICE RESUBMISSION from Laurel, 12/99

Purpure, two dolphins haurient respectant argent, on a chief embattled Or, three pomegranates vert, seeded gules.

The name was registered December 1999.

The previous submission, very similar to this, was returned for redrawing of the dolphins. The lady has remedied these issues.

The following submissions were registered by the College of Arms, March 2002:

Ann Busshenell of Tylehurst. Name.

Caisséne ingen Scandail. Name change from Máire inghean uí Dhonnabháin.

Submitted as Caisséne ingen Scandlach, the submitter requested authenticity for 12th C Irish Gaelic and allowed minor changes. Scandlach is a feminine given name in the nominative case. So the submitted name appears to be a matronymic with Scandlach as her mother's name. However, the submission form documents Scandlach as "Genitive case + lenited version of Scandal", which implies the submitter intended this name to be a patronymic byname with her father's name being Scandal. The submission form confirms this in the "If my name must be changed..." section. The submitter lists "meaning" as being most important to her, and gives the meaning as "Caisséne daughter of Scandal". This meaning is authentic for her desired time and culture, where a matronymic would not be. Additionally, her name is submitted in a Middle Gaelic form. Matronymics are not registerable in Middle Gaelic: Upon further review, the few examples of matronymics in Gaelic that are currently known are in Irish Gaelic and date from after 1200. Therefore, barring examples that such constructions were used in Old Irish or Middle Irish, matronymics are only registerable for Early Modern Irish Gaelic (after 1200). A matronymic construction using name elements dated only to before 1200 would add a lingual disparity and make the name unregisterable. (Ceara ingen uí Líadnáin, Atlantia-A, LoAR 10/2001) We have corrected the byname to match the submitter's

desired meaning. Her previous name, Máire inghean uí Dhonnabháin, is retained as an alternate name.

Dougal O'Sirideain. Device. Sable, on a plate between three Thor's hammers those in chief heads to center argent a Celtic cross gules.

Gabriel Kenrick. Name.

Galiena von Lüneberg. Name and device. Vert goutty d'eau, flaunches argent each charged with a leaf vert.

Gavin McLaren. Name and device. Per chevron gules and sable, two dragons combattant argent and a lion's head cabossed Or.

Harry the Hewer of Rimwood. Name and device. Argent, a chevron azure between three trees vert within a bordure sable.

Rimwood was submitted as a constructed locative. There was some doubt about the validity of Rim- as a protheme in a placename, since the submitted documentation only supported Rim- as a protheme in a feminine given name. Mills (p. 272 s.n. Rimpton) dates Rimtune to 938 and gives the meaning of this placename as 'Farmstead on the boundary' from Old English rima + t{u-}n. On the same page (s.n. Rimington), Mills dates Rimingtona to 1182-5 and gives the meaning of this placename as 'Farmstead on the boundary stream' from Old English rima + -ing + t{u-}n. Given these examples, Rimwood is a plausible placename.

Ignazio James. Name.

Submitted as Ignacio James, Ignacio was documented from Withycombe (p. 162 s.n. Inigo) as "a Spanish given name found since the 8th Century A.D.". The LoI also states that it is the submitter's legal given name but gives no documentation (such as a photocopy of a driver's license or other proof) to support a claim for the Legal Name allowance. Therefore, the name must be considered only on the merits of the documentation. As Ignacio was documented as an 8th C Spanish given name and James was documented as an English surname dating to the 12th to 13th C, this submission had two weirdnesses: one for a lingual mix and one for temporal disparity, since the elements were documented to more than 300 years apart. Since the submitter allows any changes, we have substituted the Italian Ignazio, which De Felice Dizionario dei nomi Italiani (pp. 208-9 s.n. Ignazio) cite in reference to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish saint who lived in the 16th C. Since Bardsley (p. 425 s.n. James) dates Alice James to 1566-7, Ignazio James has one weirdness for mixing Italian and English in a single name, but has no weirdness for temporal disparity.

José Felipe Sastre de Madrid. Name and device. Vert, a chevron fracted and in chief three crosses flory Or.

Submitted as José Felipe Francisco un Sastre de Madrid, the submitter requested authenticity for late 16th C Spain and allowed any changes. Additionally, he indicated that if the name must be changed, he cared most about the meaning, which he listed as "Joe - Tailor of Madrid".

This name could be viewed in one of two ways: as three given names followed by an occupational byname and a locative byname; or as two given names, followed by a patronymic byname, an occupational byname, and a locative byname. If the submission has three given names, there is a problem, because use of three given names has not been documented in Spanish:

Submitted as Rosalinda Francisca Gertrude Kesselheim, the submitter justified the name as a mixture of Spanish and German. In neither language are three given names justified, therefore we dropped the first middle name. This name still has a "weirdness", as Rosalinda has fallen out of use in Germany by the time double given names were in use. [Rosalinda Gertrude Kesselheim, 12/99, A-Ansteorra]’

If this submission has three bynames, there is still a problem. No documentation was provided and the College found none that three bynames consisting of a patronymic, an occupational, and a locative byname is a reasonable construction in Spanish. Additionally, the College was unable to find support for a Spanish name with five elements. Lacking such documentation, this name is not registerable as submitted.

Since the submitter allows any changes, we can drop an element and register the name. Clarion found documentation for sastre as a period occupation in Spanish:

'Interestingly enough, while the Catalogo does not give Sastre as a byname, but does include it as a word (i.e., "Francisco Martinez, sastre"). Given the use of occupational bynames listed in the LoI (and Diez Melcon has a whole section of them on pp. 258-262), Sastre should be registerable, although without the article (which means "an" in any case).'

Given this information, we have dropped un, which is undocumented in a byname. As the submitter indicated that the meaning "Joe - Tailor of Madrid" is most important to him, we have dropped Francisco in order to register this name.

Lavinia Betteresse. Name.

Lavinia is registerable under the guidelines regarding names from literary sources set down in the Cover Letter that accompanied the February 1999 LoAR. Lavinia is the daughter of Latinus and the second wife of Aeneas in the Aeneid. Metron Ariston stated that "As the Aeneid was a staple of medieval education, both in the original Latin and later in vernacular versions, the given name would certainly have been familiar."

Linnett Marie de Ryes. Name.

There was some question regarding the registerability of Linnett as a given name. The spelling Linnett was documented as a header form in Reaney & Wilson (p. 280 s.n. Linnett). All of the examples of this name listed in Reaney & Wilson, whether as a given name or a byname, had only one 't'. Since Bardsley (p. 486 s.n. Linnett) dates Ellen Lynnett to 1550-1, and the surname originated as an unmarked matronymic, Linnett is plausible as a given name spelling as well.

Mariana de Santiago. Name (see RETURNS for device).

Submitted as Mariana Vivia de Santiago de Compestella, no documentation was provided and none was found for Vivia as a feminine given name. Lacking documentation, it is not registerable. As the submitter allows any changes, we have dropped this element.

The byname de Santiago de Compostela (Compestella in this submission is a misspelling) was addressed in the January 2002 LoAR (Beatriz de Santiago de Compostela, Caid returns):

No documentation was presented, nor could the College of Arms find any, that de Santiago de Compostela was used in a locative byname. Previous precedent states:

This name is returned because no documentation can be found for the name de Compostela. People from Santiago de Compostela were known as de Santiago. [Livia Teresa de Compostela, 09/99, R-Atlantia]

Lacking documentation that compound forms of placenames like Santiago de Compostela were used in locative bynames, this cannot be registered.

We have dropped de Compestella in order to register this name.

MariAnn of Atenveldt. Holding name and device. Argent, on a fess between three trees vert three mullets argent all within a bordure sable.

Submitted under the name Aileann inghean Fhrancaigh, that name was returned in January 2002.

Minna Mary McGregor. Name and device. Argent, a cauldron sable and a chief embattled azure.

The LoI stated that “Minna comes from Old German, and is found in Scotland and Shetland (Withycombe, p. 220).” Withycombe gives no dates for the use of Minna in either Scotland or Shetland. The only evidence of Minna in use in the British Isles that the College was able to find was in England; specifically, Reaney & Wilson (p. 311 s.n. Minn) date Minna to 1202 as a feminine given name.

Morgan of the Oaks. Device. Sable, a claymore inverted proper overall a tree stump and on a chief indented argent three trees proper.

Muirgheal inghean Raghailligh mhic Seachnasaigh. Device. Argent, a fret gules surmounted by a badger statant sable and a chief indented gules. The fret was difficult to identify under the badger, but was sufficiently identifiable to people at the meeting (including non-heralds) to permit registration. It should be noted that in any case where a complex-outlined charge overlies a fret, there is danger of the fret or the overlying charge becoming unidentifiable.

The following submissions were returned by the College of Arms for further work, March 2002:

Mariana de Santiago. Device. Azure, a heart gules winged argent.

Many commenters raised questions about contrast concerning this device. Some asked if the charge could be considered to be neutral (an element equally divided of a color and a metal): it might be so considered because the wings are visually half the charge. RfS VIII.2 states "Good contrast exists between: ... ii. An element equally divided of a color and a metal, and any other element as long as identifiability is maintained." However, the winged heart does not have sufficient contrast with the field to maintain identifiability, because the heart is the primary identifying element of the charge, and the whole heart has poor contrast with the field. These cases must be determined on a case by case basis, and the consensus of the College was that the winged heart was not sufficiently identifiable due to contrast.

I remain,

Marta as tu Mika-Mysliwy

c/o Linda Miku

2527 East 3^rd Street, Tucson AZ 85716

bagbaazai@nexiliscom.com

Atenveldt Submissions Website: atensubmissions.nexiliscom.com

References

Bahlow, Hans. Deutsches Namenlexicon. 1967.

Black, George F. The Surnames of Scotland. The New York Public Library Press, NY.

Ó Corráin, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire. Irish Names. The Lilliput Press, Dublin, 1990.

MacLysaght, E. The Surnames of Ireland. Dublin, Irish Academic Press, 1991.

Morgan, T. J. and Prys Morgan. Welsh Surnames. Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1985.

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.