ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1370 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1370 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 23 Dec 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You wanted to know if or would be an appropriate name for a Dutchman. You also asked about the arms "Sable, on a pile throughout Or, voided vert, a mill-rind Or," or something incorporating these elements. , the Dutch form of , was a common name. It's an excellent choice. [3] Before 1400, the surname would have been spelled or [4]. These are pronounced \fohn der MO:HL-eh-neh\, where the \O:\ is pronounced as Germanic o-umlaut. would make a fine Dutch name before 1400. Unfortunately, we feel that your arms would not be possible in your culture. We did not find any examples of piles in armory from the Low Countries or France. If they were used at all in Dutch arms, they were extremely rare. [1,2,6] If you would like to consider an alternative, here are some ideas: Sable, three millrinds Or This has the millrinds arranged with two on top and one on the bottom; any color combination of sable and Or, or vert and Or would be acceptable for this. Sable, on a fess Or three millrinds vert Or, on a chief vert, three millrinds Or Vert, a fess between three millrinds Or A fess is a horizontal stripe across the middle of the shield; a chief is a horizontal stripe across the top of the shield. Any of these choices would be appropriate with any combination of Or, vert, and sable, so long as you don't place a green charge on a black background or vice versa. If you'd like to keep the look of the pile, but in a different format, here are two ides: Vert, a chevron throughout and in base a millrind Or A chevron is an upside down "V" that comes to approximately 1/3 of the shield away from the top. A chevron throughout extends all the way to the edge of the shield; it looks somewhat like an inverted pile. If you wish to register your arms with the SCA College of Arms, we suggest you avoid the choices Or, on a chief sable three millrinds Or Vert, a chevron throughout between three millrinds Or as these are both too similar to other, registered arms to be registered by the CoA. [5] 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 Ceatta o Gulcleth, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, and Blaise de Cormeilles. For the Academy, --Aryanhwy merch Catmael Caermyrdin December 23, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] Bergmans, Paul, _Armorial de Flandre du XVIme Sie\cle_ (Bruxelles et Paris: Commission des Monuments de la Ville de Gand, Librairie Nationale d'Art et d'Histoire, 1919). [2] Bibliothe\que royale Albert Ier, _Gelre_ (Leuven: Jan van Helmont, 1992, ISBN 90-74318-03-7). [3] G.M. Van der Velden, _Het Oudste Cijnregister van de Abdij van Berne uit 1376_ ('s-Hertogenbosch: Rijksarchief in Noord-Brabant, 1982) [4] Beele, Wilfried, _Studie van de Ieperse Persoonsnamen uit de Stads- en Baljuwsrekeningen 1250-1400_ (Handzame, 1975). [5] The first conflicts with Graham, Duke of Montrose, "Or, on a chief sable three escallops Or" and the second conflicts with Penelopee of the Quill, "Vert, a chevron between two hawk's bells and a quill pen Or." [6] Woodward, John and George Burnett, _A Treatise on Heraldry British and Foreign_ (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1969). p. 148