ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1297 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1297 ************************************ 25 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of the 13th century Scots name and of your design for your arms. Here is what we have found. In our previous letter to you [1], we noted that and appear as men's given names in the 14th century Scottish epic "The Bruce [2]. Your spelling adds an to the name. The earliest example we find of the name with that is in 1561, . Similarly, the names and seem to have been spelled without the in Scots until at least the 16th century [3]. We recommend, therefore, that if you want a name well-suited to a 13th century persona, you should use one of the spellings found in "The Bruce": , , , , and [2]. The surname appears in "The Bruce", so it is a fine choice for your period [2]. The two designs you described could be blazoned "Per fess argent and vert, a fret tenny (or gules)" and "Per pale argent and sable, a dragon rampant contourny vert within an annulet gules." Unfortunately, neither of these designs fits the heraldic style of 13th or 14th century Scotland. Your period is very early in the history of heraldry when arms still tended to be very simple, using a limited set of charges, colors, and design motifs. The color "tenny" (orange) was not used in heraldry in your period. In fact, it may not have been used in the Society's period at all. We definitely recommend that you avoid it. Divided fields like "per fess" or "per pale" were very rare in period Scottish heraldry. Dragons were also rare in English and Scottish heraldry in your period. The earliest Scottish examples of dragons that we've found are two wyverns (two-legged dragons, one without wings) in a 16th century roll of arms [4]. The earliest English example that we know is also a wyvern, c.1312. The four-legged winged dragon does not appear in British arms until quite late in our period [5, 6]. Using an annulet (a ring) as a frame from another charge is very common in modern art and Society heraldry, but almost unknown in period heraldry. It runs counter to one main thrust of early period heraldic design -- clear identification -- since it forces the central charge to be smaller and therefore harder to recognize. Aside from the colors, the elements of your second design are reasonable choices for your period. We haven't seen the fret in Scottish arms of your period, but it was common in13th century English heraldry [7]. At this point in the history of heraldry, "a fret" was simply an artistic variation on "fretty". All the 13th century examples we found have a fretty field or a single fret on the field; some of them add a chief or a canton. A few add a semy of charges, one placed in each of the gaps in the fretwork, and a few more have a single charge overall. The simplest designs with a single red or green fret are too similar to existing Society armory [8], but here are a few classic early heraldic designs that might appeal to you and that appear to be registerable. Argent, a fret and a chief gules. Argent fretty vert and a chief gules. Vert fretty and a chief argent. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Zenobia Naphtali, Talan Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, and Margaret Makafee. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 25 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Academy of Saint Gabriel report 1102 http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/mail/reports/1102.html [2] Symon Freser of Lovat, "13th & 14th Century Scottish Names" (WWW: J. Mittleman, 1996) http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/symon/scottish14/ [3] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Chrystal, Christie, Christison, Christopher. [4] Stodart, R. R., _Armorial de Berry_.Stodart, R. R., _Scottish Arms_, 2 vols (Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1881). [5] Brault, Gerald J., _The Rolls of Arms of Edward I_, Aspilogia III, 2 vols. (London: Boydell Press, 1997). [6] Dennys, Rodney, _The Heraldic Imagination_ (New York: Clarkson and Potter Inc., 1975), p.119] [7] Many examples appear in 13th century rolls of arms. The Herald's Roll (1279) and the earlier Glover's Roll have a dozen examples. Wagner, Anthony Richard, ed. Aspilogia II: Rolls of Arms: Henry III (London: The Society of Antiquaries, 1967). Examples from other rolls of arms are recorded by: Brault, op. cit. The Galloway Roll (1300) records the arms of Sir Johan de Scures "Azure, a fret Or". In the Stirling Roll (1304), his arms are given as "Azure fretty Or". Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977). Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). E.g. Nicholas de Audley, "Gules, a fret Or" (1298). Humphrey-Smith, Cecil R., _Anglo-Norman Armory Two_ (Canterbury: Institute for Heraldic and Geneaological Studies, 1984). [8] Badge of the Barony of Innilgard: Argent, a fret gules with a bordure embattled azure. Arms of Barianna of Kilkenny: Gyronny argent and sable, a fret vert.