ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1484 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1484 ************************************ From: 22 Mar 1999 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked us about your name , and the arms "Sable, a sheaf of three holly leaves fructed within a bordure argent." With a small grammatical correction, your name is a plausible choice for an Irish man living after 1200 or so. Your first name should be spelled , where the '/' represents an accent over the preceeding 'a'. The spelling is a possessive form in Gaelic, and while it is appropriate for constructions such as , meaning "Fionnaga/n's son", it is not the correct form for use as a first name. We found only one example of recorded in Ireland before 1600 [1]. This suggests it was a rare name, and though it is a reasonable choice, it is an unusual given name. Your byname means "black", and is one of the most common descriptive bynames in period Ireland [1,2]. Your full name , pronounced \FINN-uh-gahn DOOV\ is thus a reasonable name and the spelling is appropriate for late period Ireland (after about 1200 or so). If you would like your persona to date earlier than that, we recommend the spelling or . You blazoned your arms as: "Sable, a sheaf of three holly leaves fructed within a bordure argent." We understand this as a black shield with a white bordure around the edge of the shield and a white sprig or twig bearing three holly leaves and berries in the center. The overall simplicity of your device is very good, but we were unable to find examples of sprigs or twigs as charges in period armory. The usual heraldic depictions of vegetation are of (1) individual leaves, (2) a wreath of leaves, (3) a branch, or (4) the entire plant, such as a tree. We did find examples of individual holly leaves [3], but not of holly sprigs, so we cannot recommend a holly sprig as good recreation. On the other hand, acorns are often drawn with leaves and a bit of twig attached. Like the oak, the holly is a common and familiar tree. We would not be surprised to find a similar depiction of a holly sprig, and such sprigs do appear in some 16th century English crests [4]. Our only recommendation is that you try to register these arms without the bordure. A bordure is often a mark of cadency, a kind of armorial inheritance, and the bordure is a way to difference your arms from your father's and his legal heir. In effect, the bordure lessens the impact of your arms, so we would recommend simply using "Sable, a sprig of three holly leaves fructed argent." However, your design with or without the bordure may have a conflict that would prevent it from being registered [5]. We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you. Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Zenobia Naphtali, Arval Benicoeur, Teceangl Bach, Blaise de Cormeilles, Evan da Collaureo, Talan Gwynek, and AElfwyn aet Gyrwum contributed to this letter. In service, --Walraven van Nijmegen Academy of S. Gabriel [1] M.A. O'Brien (ed.), _Corpus Genealogiarum Hiberniae_ (Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1976) [2] Lughaidh O/ Clerigh, _Beatha Aodha Ruaidh Ui/ Dhomhnaill -- Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell_ ed. Paul Walsh (Irish Texts Society, 1948). [3] John W. Papworth, _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977) The Ordinary includes: "Argent three holly leaves barways the stalks toward the dexter proper" and "Argent, three holly leaves conjoined in fess vert", both from Glover's Ordinary [4] While we did not find examples of holly sprigs as charges in armory, we did find a few examples in 16th century English crests including three crests consisting of a human arm holding a bunch of holly These crests are punning (canting) on the names Chrystmas, Hollys, and Grene. These crests appear on p.65 of Henry Bedingfield & Peter Gwynn-Jones, _Heraldry_ (Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1993) [5] This may be a conflict with Minowara Kiritsubo: "Sable, three paulonia tendrils conjoined in pall surmounted by three paulonia leaves conjoined in pall inverted, the upper two tendrils and the lower two leaves embowed to the chief in annulo, argent." You may wish to contact your local herald or SCA-HRLDS for a discussion on this matter.