ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2453
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2453
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28 Feb 2002
From: Julia E Smith 


Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You wanted to know if <Lewes ap Deykin> would be an appropriate name for
an 15th century Welshman.  In addition, you asked if fox tails were used
as heraldic charges before 1600.  This is the information we have found.

In the late Middle Ages and after, both Welsh and English were spoken in
Wales.  The two languages used different spelling conventions: Records
written by Welsh scribes tended to use Welsh spellings, while English
scribes used English spellings.  Most names thus appear in a variety of
forms appropriate to one context or the other.  English scribes also
tended to equate Welsh names with similar-sounding English names, even
though in many cases the two "equivalents" were etymologically
unrelated.

<Lewis> first appears in Wales as a substitute in English contexts for
the Welsh name <Llywelyn>.  By the 15th century, it was still mainly
used for <Llywelyn> (as in the case of the poet whose name is given both
as <Lewis Glyn Cothi> and <Llywelyn y Glyn>), but also began to appear
as an independent name.  We could not find any cases of the spelling
<Lewes> before the 16th century, and suggest that you consider the
spellings <Lewis> or <Lewys>, both found in the 15th century. [1]

The name <Deykin> is a diminutive of <David>.  This particular spelling
seems to be typical of the 13th century.  In the 15th century, we found
the spellings <Deikin>, <Deikyn>, and <Dykon>. [2]  We suggest you
consider one of those spellings.  A name like <Lewis ap Deikin> is a
fine 15th century Welsh name.

A fox tail was used as a badge by Henry IV and by Thomas of Woodstock,
Duke of Gloucester (both in the 14th century).  It is depicted as if it
were cut off and hung on a wall, with the bushy end at the bottom.[3,
4]  We have found no evidence of its use as a charge in arms, nor for
its use outside England.  Given this, we cannot recommend the use of
this charge as the best recreation.

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 Elsbeth Anne Roth, Arval
Benicoeur, Maridonna Benvenuti, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan
Gwynek, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Avraham ha-Rofeh and Adelaide de
Beaumont.

For the Academy,

  Juliana de Luna
  28 February 2002


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References

[1] Morgan, T.J. and Prys Morgan, _Welsh Surnames_ (Cardiff: University
of Wales Press, 1985), s.n. Lewis

[2] Jones, Heather Rose (aka Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn), "Names
and Naming Practices in the Anglesey Submissions of 1406", in "Y
Camamseriad" issue 4, Summer, 1996.

[3] Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme and Akagawa Yoshio, _A Pictorial
Dictionary of Heraldry as Used in the Society for Creative Anachronism_,
(privately published, 1988), s.n. tail

[4] Bedingfeld, Henry, and Peter Gwynn-Jones, _Heraldry_ (Secaucus, NJ:
Chartwell Books, Inc., 1993), p.127.