ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1749 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1749 ************************************ 6 Jul 1999 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether is an appropriate name for an Englishman in the first half of the 15th century. You also asked our opinion of your design for your arms, "Per pile, argent and vert, in chief a goat (or a sea goat) rampant vert", with the appearance of a goat climbing a hill. Here is what we have found. Your name is exemplary. was one of the most common names in England from the 13th century onward [1], and as you know is recorded on a list of English participants in the battle of Agincourt [2]. We also found examples 1339 and 1418-19, which show the spelling you want was available in your period [3]. (Don't worry about conflict with the first of these examples; he's not important enough to be a problem.) Your armory, unfortunately, is not quite as good. We're not precisely sure what picture you have in mind: "Per pile" is not a standard term of blazon. You may mean "Vert, on a pile argent a goat rampant vert". A pile is a charge, a triangular wedge issuing from the top edge of the field and stopping a little short of the bottom. Or you may mean "Argent chausse' vert, a goat rampant vert", which describes a very similar design even though the words are quite different. A field chausse' is drawn by connecting each upper corner of the field with the middle of the bottom edge. The two lower triangles are the chausse'. In your case, they are green and the middle section is white. The two possibilities are pretty similar, but they are heraldically different. We recommend you use the first, with the lines of the pile noticeably displaced in from the corners: Chausse' was quite rare in period English heraldry. The goat was not a common charge in English heraldry, but it was used as early as the mid-14th century [4]. The sea-goat, on the other hand, was apparently not invented until after our period. We recommend you avoid it if you want arms appropriate to 15th century England. Unfortunately, the particular design you suggested cannot be registered in the Society. It is too similar to the arms of Nicholos of the Hill Folk "Vert, on a pile argent a dragon rampant gules". However, we can suggest an alternative which might appeal to you. Instead of drawing the goat inside a wedge, you could draw it on top of a hill. The arms "Argent, a goat rampant atop a mount vert" would be an excellent choice for your period. The mount would have been drawn as a stylized hill issuing from the bottom of the field, with the goat standing on its peak. As far as we can tell, you could register this design in the Society [5]. 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 Rouland Carre, Marcello Caprioli, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Zenobia Naphtali, and Talan Gwynek. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 29 Jun 1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. William. [2] "The Agincourt Honor Rolls", _Family Chronicle_ (WWW: Family Chronicle, 1997). http://www.familychronicle.com/agincort.htm [3] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Leyland. [4] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992), p.204. Sir Adam Chefrevill sealed c.1290 and 1304 with "a goat salient". Note that the goat cants on his name: The Old French word for was or . [5] Don't worry if someone tells you that this is "landscape heraldry". Laurel and the College of Arms are considerably less concerned with landscape design than many people believe. This design mimics a common pattern in medieval arms, and the College of Arms will have no problem with its slight landscapiness.