ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2621 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2621 ************************************ 18 Mar 2003 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for an Ulsterman living between 1370 and 1420. You also asked for help designing arms. Here is the information we have found. was an extremely popular name in Ireland throughout the Middle Ages; we find it recorded, among other times, in 1366 and 1413. It is an excellent choice for your given name. [1,6] is a modern English form of the Gaelic clan byname , where the slashes represent acute accents over the previous letters. [2] The Gaelic form is a fine choice for your byname. was pronounced \KOR-mahk o MAH-n@- khahn~\, where \o\ stands for the sound of the in , \@\ for the sound of in or , \n~\ is the sound of in French 'mountain' and Italian , and \kh\ is the sound of in Scottish or German . Unfortunately, we cannot endorse your proposed arms, for a number of reasons. Arms were passed down from father to son, and thus were not meant to be descriptive of any specific person. You told us that the most important feature of your arms is that it represent two equal partners, and you wondered whether it would be appropriate to do that with a pair of identical primary charges. We can certainly suggest some designs that contain a pair of primary charges -- though that was a fairly rare motif in 14th century British heraldry -- but we doubt that it would have had the significance you intend; medieval arms were not designed to denote individual characteristics of the person who bore them. Rather they incorporated broader concepts like bravery, loyalty, piety, etc. In many cases, arms weren't symbolic at all: They were just an abstract form of identification. We found no example of a pair of horses as the primary element of a heraldic design. Since you said the choice of horses was not significant, we recommend against that choice. In medieval English arms, we found examples of two lions or two wolves passant one above the other, two dragons rampant back-to-back, and two fish haurient back-to-back. Among inanimate charges, we found pairs of crossed trumpets or keys and a pair of crescents. [3,4] You also said you added the chalice to represent the Church. A chalice is a fine charge, but a more common way to represent piety was with a cross. You had originally said that you chose green (vert) and gold (Or) to give your arms a Gaelic feel. Though these colors are associated with Ireland in modern times, they were not in the Middle Ages. With these points in mind, we've designed a few sets of arms that are good re-creation for your period and that we think might appeal to you: Vert, in pale two lions passant guardant Or. Vert, in pale two wolves passant Or. Vert, two wolves rampant addorsed Or. Or, two wolves rampant addorsed vert. Quarterly Or and vert, in chief two crosses formy counterchanged. Quarterly vert and Or, in bend two chalices Or. Vert, in chief two chalices Or. We included designs with wolves and lions above, because you said you were interested in arms that would be appropriate for a warrior; both of these charges were symbols of bravery and strength in medieval armory. Any combination of this type would be reasonable for your period. [5] Even though vert was not common, since it is the only unusual element on the designs we've suggested, we don't feel that its rarity is a problem. We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Adelaide de Beaumont, Arval Benicoeur, Walraven van Nijmegen, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, Julie Stampnitzky, Laurensa de Chambord, Blaise de Cormeilles, Juliana de Luna, and Iago ab Adam. For the Academy, -Argantgui filia Catmaili -- References [1] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Index of Names in Irish Annals" (WWW: Academy of S. Gabriel, 2001-2002). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/ [2] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3). s.n. (O) Monaghan [3] Jones, Evan John, _Medieval Heraldry: Some Fourteenth Century Heraldic Works_ (Cardiff: William Lewis Ltd., 1943; New York: AMS Press, undated re-print of 1943 edition). [4] Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). [5] As far as we know, you could register any of these designs with the College of Arms. [6] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Cormac