ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1175 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1175 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 26 Aug 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would have been used as a Welsh feminine name in the 14th century. You also asked about the arms "Argent, a cauldron sable, on a chief azure an increscent moon, a full moon, and a decrescent moon argent." Here is the information we have found. Mairwen> appears to be a modern name formed from the elements "Mary" and "white, blessed." [1] We have no evidence that it was used in period. was rarely used as a given name in period Wales, but it is a better choice than , which is purely modern. first appears in a late 16th century translation of the Bible. We also found the spelling in the early 15th century. [3] Unfortunately, we have not found any examples of used as a human name before the 20th century. It was the name of a Welsh legendary figure, and only came into use as a name for real people in the modern times. [2] Since neither of the names you asked about are appropriate, you might be interested in checking out the following articles in our library: "A Simple Guide to Constructing 13th Century Welsh Names" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/welsh13.html "A Simple Guide to Constructing 16th Century Welsh Names (in English Contexts)" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/welsh16.html Until later period, bynames that used the mother's name, such as , "daughter of Cerridwen," were rare, compromising less than 1% of bynames. It would be better recreation to use your father's name, and be known as your father's daughter, rather than your mother's daughter. You can find some ideas for your father's name in the two above articles. Your arms would be blazoned "Argent, a cauldron sable, on a chief azure a roundel between an increscent and a decrescent argent." While these arms are fairly good style, we have a few changes to suggest to make them more authentic. In your period, when three charges were put on a chief, they were almost always the same charge, not three different charges. We also have never seen a "phases-of-the-moon" motif such as this in period heraldry. It would be better style to change the crescents and the roundel to all the same thing, such as three increscents, or three roundels. You might also want to consider removing the chief, and instead of having one cauldron, having three. The design "Argent, three cauldrons sable" would be beautiful arms for your period. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegen, Margaret Makafee, Fergus Stout, Teceangl Bach, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Daniel de Lincolia, Felix MacAvady, and Rouland Carre. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael --------------------------------------- References: [1] Gruffudd, Heini, _Enwau i'r Cymry/Welsh Personal Names_ (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 1984). [2] _The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales_, trans. Patrick K. Ford. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977). [3] Roberts, Brynley F., "Gwassanaeth Meir" (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1961