ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1201 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1201 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 6 Sep 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if would be a Welsh masculine name used in 1100. You also asked about the arms "Per pall azure, sable, and gules, a pall Or and overall a centaur proper." Here is the information we have found. was the name of an early saint, circa 1000. [1] Based on spellings of names we've seen in the 1100, we would expect to find spelled as , or perhaps . [2] Both are fine names for your period. All three are pronounced \KAHD-vahrkh\, where the \kh\ represents the rasping "ch" sound in Scottish or German . We are unsure what you intended by . It does not look like any Welsh surname that we've seen. It could be that it is a Latin form of a Welsh placename, but we do not know what Welsh place that might be. As for other possible meanings, we can only speculate. If you send us more information on where you found this name, we'd be happy to research this further and see what we might find. In your period, most Welshmen were known as their fathers' sons. For example, if your father were named , you would be called "Catvarch, son of Catgual." You might also be known by your occupation or possibly by a descriptive epithet, but in formal circumstances, you would always be known as your father's son [3]. If you're interested in choosing a name for your father, you might be interested in the following article in our library: "First Thousand Years of British Names" http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/tangwystyl/british1000/ Heraldic arms first came into use in France in the late 12th century. Therefore, it is unlikely that a 12th century Welshman would have used arms. Of course, many Societyfolk use arms even though their personas would not have done so. For a few thoughts on how to resolve Society custom with historical accuracy, you could read our article "What Do I Use for Arms if My Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms?", available on the web at: http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/faq/nonheraldic.html The arms that you propose, "Per pall azure, sable, and gules, a pall Or and overall a centaur proper," are unlike any period arms that we've seen, for a number of reasons. Both the field division "per pall" and the charge "pall" were very rare in period armory. The practice of dividing a field "per " and then placing that charge over the division, as in "per pall. . .a pall," is also rare. Lastly, it was uncommon that one charge was placed across another, as your centaur lies across the pall. A charge was usually placed either entirely on the field or entirely on another charge. We have also found no examples of centaurs in Welsh armory, and in English armory, the centaur without his bow is an almost unknown charge. Centaurs holding bows and arrows, called , were found more often in English armory, and based on the examples we've seen, we can conclude that a sagittary would be a better choice for Welsh arms. [4] In order to get a few ideas for more authentic designs for your arms, you may want to look at pictures of period arms. A good book for that purpose is Joseph Foster's _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989), which contains several thousand color drawings of period English arms. Many Society heralds and many local libraries own copies, and although it is out-of-print, you may be able to find the softcover edition remaindered at a large bookstore. 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 Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, and Giles Leabrook. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy Prytydes merch Catmael September 6, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Gruffudd, Heini, _Enwau i'r Cymry/Welsh Personal Names_ (Talybont: Y Lolfa, 1984). [2] Evans, J. Gwenogvryn, _The Text of the Book of Llan Dav_ (Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales, 1979) (Facsimile of the 1893 Oxford edition). [3] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasfryn, "The First Thousand Years of British Names", (WWW; J. Mittleman, 1998), appendices IV and V. [4] Dennys, Rodney, _The Heraldic Imagination_ (New York: Clarkson and Potter Inc., 1975).