ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1560
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1560
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* NOTE: Later research turned up additional     *
*       information relevant to this report.    *
*       See the end of the letter for details.  *
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From: Cardinal Ximenez 
14 Jun 1999

Greetings,

Here's the information we found on <Giric mac Arcill mec Finguni>,
which you wanted to use as as Highlands Scottish Gaelic name from
between 1150 and 1250, and your arms, "Per fess argent and vert, a
fret counterchanged."

We're happy to say that your name is a /p/e/r/f/e/c/t/ reasonable Scottish
Gaelic name for your period.  The only note we can add is that the
distinction between "Highland" and "Lowland" didn't develop until the 14th
century.  Your persona could certainly be from the part of Scotland we now
call the Highlands, but he wouldn't have thought of himself as a
"Highlander."  All the elements of your name can be found in a single
document. [1]

We also wanted to include a proncunciation for your name:

\GEER-ick mahk AHR-kill veck FIN-gh@-nyee\

* The \G\ is hard, as in "good."

* \gh\ represents the voiced version of the harsh <ch> sound in the
  modern Scottish word <loch> or the German <Bach>.  

* \@\ represents the schwa.  It is pronounced like <a> in <about>.

For your arms, we have some suggestions.

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 nobles [2].  Thus your
persona would not have used armory.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't
use arms in the Society: Many Societyfolk use arms even though their
personas would not have done so. Whether you use arms or not depends
on how you think about authenticity and your persona. You can find a
few thoughts on this issue in an article we've posted 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 

We haven't seen the fret in Scottish arms of your period.  It arose as
an artistic variant of fretty in England sometime in the 13th century.
The fret probably isn't historically accurate for the very earliest
period of heraldry, but it was used interchangeably with fretty by
1300. [3] If you want to use a design that would be appropriate for
early-period heraldry, we suggest:

"Per fess argent and vert, fretty counterchanged."

If you'd like a design with more visual similarity to your original design,
you could also use a "mascle," which is a hollow diamond-shape (like the fret
without the stripes running through the middle).   These arms would be 

"Per fess argent and vert, a mascle counterchanged."

Both of these are more consistent with the early Scottish heraldic style.
We checked them both for conflict, and did not find any.

Talorgen nei Wrguist, Blaise de Cormeilles, Effric neyn Kenyeoch,
Aryanhwy Prytydes verch Catmael Caermyrddin, Arval Benicoeur, Talan
Gwynek, and Zenobia Naphtali contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel 

[1] 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

[2] Campbell of Airds, Alastair, Unicorn Pursuivant of Arms, "A Closer
Look at West Highland Heraldry", _The Double Tressure_ (#19).

[3] Many examples appear in English 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, Gerard J., _Eight
Thirteenth-Century Rolls of Arms in French and Anglo-Norman Blazon_
(University Park, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1973).
Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint
(Five Barrows Ltd., 1977).  Humphrey-Smith, Cecil R., _Anglo-Norman
Armory Two_ (Canterbury: Institute for Heraldic and Geneaological
Studies, 1984).

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Correction, Arval, 30 Oct 2001: More information about <Giric> is available
in report 2376.  The name may well not have been used after the 12th
century, and even then it was rare.