ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1416 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1416 ************************************ 13 Jan 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about or , a name for a late 13th or 14th century Scottish Highlander, and about your design for your arms. Here is what we have found. In your period, several languages were spoken in the area that is Scotland today. At the beginning of your period, the major ones were: * Norse, spoken in the far north and the western isles; * English, spoken mainly in the southeast; * Gaelic, spoken through much of the country. * Norman French, spoken by Norman settlers and their Scoto-Norman descendents, mostly in the south. By the end of your period, Norman French and English had merged into a new language, Scots, which was very similar to contemporary Middle English. Over time, Scots became the dominant language of the Lowlands, including the towns and the royal court, while Gaelic survived mostly in the Highlands. The various languages were very different and had different naming customs. There was some mixing of names from the different cultures, but most names were not adopted into all of the cultures. As a result, the culture you choose to re-create will determine how your name should be constructed. You can find a more detailed explanation of this linguistic history, as it relates to names, on the web: Scottish Names 101 http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/scotnames101.html Forms of were used in Norman French, English, Scots, and Gaelic. The spelling and one very similar to your could appear in any of these languages except Gaelic. We found these examples in your period [1]: Andreas clericus Moraviensis, before 1242 (a Latin form) Andrew, a bishop, 1296 Duncan fiz Andrew, or Andreu 1296 David le fiz Andreu 1296 John son of Andree de Huchtirardor 1330 The spelling was probably not used in Norman French or English around the year 1300; we find the name spelled with an in the second syllable until the appearance of in 15th century Scotland. The attested would be a better choice. That spelling was also used in English in 1273 [4]. In Gaelic, the name appears in various forms, given here with their approximate pronunciations: Aindrias, 12th century \EN-dr@s\ Aindrea \EN-dr@\ Anndra \AHN-dr@\ The symbol \@\ represents a schwa, the last sound in [1, 2]. We're not sure that any form of this name was in common use in Gaelic Scotland; it may have been used exclusively among the clergy. The rest of the population may have been more likely to use , a given name that literally meant "servant of [Saint] Andrew". In general, Gaels didn't name their children for important saints in our period. Instead, they used devotional compounds like this one. is pronounced roughly \GUL-l@ AHN-drays\. is a modern English spelling of the Gaelic patronymic . A patronymic is a surname which identified a person as his father's son, so a Gael would have been called only if his father's name were . The modern practice of using surnames to indicate clan membership did not exist in our period [1]. is pronounced roughly \m@ GRIG-@r\, where the \I\ is pronounced somewhere between the vowel sounds of and [3]. was a Gaelic adaptation of the Latin saint's name , which was common among the Normans. It appeared in Scotland as c.1240 and in English as 1273 [1, 4]. The name appropriate to your period and most similar to one the asked about is the Gaelic , which would have been understood to mean "Anndra, son of Griogair". or would be a fine Scoto-Norman name for the early part of your period. Toward the end of the 14th century, would be a fine Scots name. Heraldry was quite widespread in the Lowlands in your period, but was rare in the Highlands. Some Highland chieftains used arms, and we have evidence that some of their relatives did, too; but we do not have evidence of heraldry used by lesser noblemen [5]. Given the ample evidence in the Lowlands, one might conclude that heraldic display in the Highlands was restricted to the higher nobility. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't use heraldry: Many people in the Society use arms even though their personas would not have done so. You can find a few thoughts on this issue on the web: What Do I Use for Arms if my Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms? http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/faq/nonheraldic.html The arms you sent us could be described "Or, on a fess enhanced purpure between two wolves statant respectant and a gauntlet sable maintaining a thistle proper, three plates." The word "enhanced" means that the fess (horizontal purple stripe) is shifted upward from its normal location. It's usually just about halfway down the field. Enhancing a fess is very unusual in period heraldry, and we recommend against it. If the fess were at its normal, central location, then this design would be reasonably consistent with English heraldic style of the Tudor period. Unfortunately, that style is a couple centuries too late for your period and was not adopted in Scotland, as far as we can tell. Scottish (Lowland) heraldry was generally simpler than your design. You've used five different tinctures and five different types of charge; we recommend that you reduce both counts. Most arms of your period used only two or occasionally three tinctures, and no more than three types of charge. It was unusual for a single coat of arms to have both charges _on_ a fess and charges around it; it was far more common to have one or the other, but not both. For example, here are a few simplifications of your design that would be entirely appropriate for your period: Or, a fess between two wolves statant and a gauntlet sable. Both wolves are standing and facing to the right. Or, on a fess sable three plates. Very simple and elegant. Or, a fess engrailed between two wolf's heads and a gauntlet sable. "Engrailed" means that each edge of the fess is patterned with deep, cup-shaped indentation. Wolf's heads are more common than full wolves in Scottish heraldry. We believe you could register any of these designs. In refining your design, we have a few other suggestions that you may want to keep in mind. * Purple was quite rare in period armory. We have never seen it in Scottish arms of your period. * The Scottish thistle was not found in the arms of private persons in our period, except for one late 16th c. example which was an augmentation from the Crown of Scotland. In modern insignia, it is commonplace to use a thistle to say "I am Scottish", but this sort of nationalist symbolism was not used in period heraldry. In your period, the thistle was used only as a royal badge [7]. We recommend that you avoid it. * In medieval heraldry, it was more common for a pair of identical charges to face the same direction rather than facing one another. To get a better idea of the kinds of arms that were used in Scotland in your period, you may want to look at Joseph Foster's Dictionary of Heraldry, which many Societyfolk own and which you can probably find in a good library or even in a good bookstore [6]. It contains several thousand color drawings of arms from England in your period. English heraldic style wasn't exactly the same as Scottish in your period, but it was fairly similar. There are books which discuss period Scottish heraldry, but they aren't as easy to find. You can find a list of sources on the web: An Annotated Bibliography of Scottish Heraldic Materials http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/bib0409.html We 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 Talan Gwynek, Giles Leabrook, Zenobia Naphtali, Walraven van Nijmegen, Brad Miller, Margaret Makafee, and Rouland Carre. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 13 Jan 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.nn. Andrew, Andreson, MacGregor. [2] Krossa, Sharon L. (Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte), "A Simple Guide to Constructing 12th Century Scottish Gaelic Names", (WWW: Privately published, 18 June 1997). http://www.stanford.edu/~skrossa/medievalscotland/scotnames/simplescotgaelicnames12.html [3] A more accurate pronunciation is \m@g-GRIG-@r\, where the two \g\ sounds are really a single, longer sound, without a pause between them. [4] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.nn. Andrew, Gregory. [5] Campbell of Airds, Alastair, Unicorn Pursuivant of Arms, "A Closer Look at West Highland Heraldry", _The Double Tressure_ (#19). [6] Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). [7] Burnett, C. J., "The Thistle as a Symbol" in _Emblems of Scotland_ (Heraldry Society of Scotland 1997).