ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1323 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1323 ************************************ 30 Nov 1998 From: Jodi McMaster Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You asked about using the name "Ronald of the Oakes" for a late period Northern English follower of John Knox. You also asked for advice about your arms, indicating you were interested in an oak leaf, oak tree(s), Celtic crosses or other period symbols of faith. John Knox was active in the second half of the 16th century; we are assuming you are interested in a name and arms suitable for a Northern Englishman living during that time. The Scots given name developed from the Old Norse name (the represents an with a reversed comma hanging from its lower edge). Scots is a language closely related to English and spoken in Lowland Scotland during your time period. We found spelled in Scots as in 1539 and in 1540, but no instances of it as in period. [1] We found a man from Yorkshire named living in 1429, which is probably a Latinized version of the Scots name, so we think it is quite possible that the Scots versions of the name were used in Northern England. [2] The usual English form is (with some variation, of course), and we found 1541, apparently the name of a man from Westmorland. [2] Your chosen byname occurs in period, but only much earlier than the time you have chosen for your persona. That type of byname describes a particular individual, a practice that ended long before. The latest example we found of was in 1319, over 200 years before the decades in which you are interested. [2] By the end of the 16th century, English surnames were inherited, just as they are today, and the name had become simply , and probably some other forms, such as . [2, 3] Therefore, for the time frame you are considering, we recommend , , , or some other such combination. Your idea of oaks or oak leaves for your arms is great, as canting (or punning) on names is a very period thing to do. Although Celtic crosses are lovely and often seen in the SCA, we have not found them in any heraldic armory, period or later. A combination of a cross found in period arms and the oaks, however, would make very nice armory. A plain cross throughout, for instance, is not used very often in the SCA. Here are a few ideas that we believe are more typical of heraldry of your period: Gules, an oak tree between two crosses crosslet fitchy argent A red background with a silver tree and a silver cross to each side. Each cross has a small bar across each of its upper three limbs, with the bottom limb tapered to a point. Azure, an oak tree Or and on a chief argent three crosslets sable. A blue field with a gold tree. The upper third of the field is white, and on the white section is a row of three crosses. Each cross has a small bar across each of its limbs. Sable, a cross between four oaks trees Or. A black field with four gold trees around a gold cross. These are just some ideas to get you started; if you'd like more help once you've had a chance to look at some other crosses, please write us again. When we checked these, we found no conflicts with any currently registered SCA armory. You mentioned having difficulty picturing the arms from descriptions and in drawing the arms. Your local herald or library may be able to help you with illustrations of the arms. A good book to give you an idea of what period arms looked like is Foster's Dictionary of Heraldry. [4] Once you've gotten a good idea of what you'd like your device to look like, your local herald should be able to either draw it for you or refer you to someone who can. We hope this letter has been helpful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. Arval Benicoeur, Blaise de Cormeilles, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Elsbeth Roth, Zenobia Naphtali, Ceatta o Gulcleth, Evan da Collaureo, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, and Margaret Makafee contributed comments and/or research for this letter. For the Academy, AElfwyn aet Gyrwum __________________ References: [1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, s.n. Ronald (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). [2] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_, s.n. Oak, Noakes (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980). [3] Hitching, F.K. & S. Hitching, _References to English Surnames in 1601_ (Walton-on-Thames: Chas. A. Bernau, 1910). [4] Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989).