ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2922 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2922 ************************************ 26 Sep 2004 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an appropriate name for a man living on the northern coast of Ireland around 1540. You also wanted to know if the arms "Per fess wavy gules and azure, a grey wolf dormant guardant proper" would be appropriate for such a man. Here is the information we have found. is a modern English form of the Gaelic surname , where the slash represents an acute accent over the previous letter. [1] itself is derived from the Gaelic masculine name . [2] Though the surname remained in use through the 16th century and into modern times, the latest example we have of the given name is from 995. [3] If you'd like to chose a given name that was used in your time period, we recommend the following article: "Index of Names in Irish Annals: Masculine Given Names: 1501-1600" http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/AnnalsIndex/Masculine/1501- 1600.shtml (Note that the URL does not fit all on one line in this email, so you may have to cut and paste it). You may be interested in the names and , both of which were extremely common in your period. Once you've chosen a name, please write us again and we'll be happy to tell you how it was pronounced. is not quite correct; this combines English with Gaelic . The fully Gaelic form of this byname is . [1] This is a fine choice for your period. We found one in 1546, and in 1547. [4] As we said in our initial reply, your arms are not very compatible with Irish or English heraldic style from the 16th century, for a number of reasons. [5] It was not common to divide a field between two colors with a complex line, such as wavy. We also have very few examples of animals proper or animals dormant. While we find lions dormant by the 14th century, they were always rare. [6] Couchant appears to be somewhat more common: We find English examples of hounds couchant in the late 14th and late 15th centuries, in 1375 we find an English seal with three foxes couchant, and we found one excample of a wolf couchant in the 15th century. [8,9,10] We also found one example of "Per pale gules and azure, a wolf salient argent", an English coat of arms granted in 1572. [7] As Irish heraldic style resembled English at this period, based on these, we can recommend "Per pale gules and azure, a wolf couchant argent" as plausible arms for the late-16th century. [11] We hope that this letter has been useful to you and that you won't hesitate to write us again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Arval Benicoeur, Talan Gwynek, Mari neyn Brian, and Jillian Saint Andre. For the Academy, -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 26 Sep 2004 -- References: [1] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3). s.nn. Donovan, (O) More [2] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.n. Donnduba/n [3] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in & Mavis Cournane, "Annals of the Four Masters, vol. 2", six volumes (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1997-98), entries M903-M1171. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005B/. M995.4 Donndubha/n, mac Iomhair (this entry records his death) [4] Mavis Cournane, Donnchadh O/ Corra/in, ed., "Annals of the Four Masters, Volume 5" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 1998), entries M1501-M1588. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G100005E/. M1546.4 Ua Mordha Giolla Patraicc M1547.10 Ui/ Chonchobhair & Ui/ Mordha [5] Furthermore, they are not registerable by the College of Arms, because the Rules for Submission do not allow the placement of a charge over a complex line of division between two low-contrast colors, such as gules and azure. [6] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #1801 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1801 [7] Papworth, John W., _Papworth's Ordinary of British Armorials_, reprint (Five Barrows Ltd., 1977). s.v. Beast - Wolf [8] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992). Page 202 has 'a bloodhound couchant' (1478 seal), one coat with a greyhound courant in chief, a handful with a dog passant, three with a dog salient, a 1292 seal with a dog sejant but not on a shield and a 1507 seal with a greyhound sejant contourny, and two with a dog statant. Dogs collared (p.203) include a 1367 seal with a hound couchant, three coats with a dog passant, two coats with a hound salient, two with a dog statant, and one with a dog sejant regardant. Pages 292ff shows chiefly dogs courant, followed by passant, with a handful of coats with three dogs statant. [9] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #2481 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2481 [10] Chesshyre, Hubert & Woodcock, Thomas, _Dictionary of British Arms: Medieval Ordinary_, vol. I (London: The Society of Antiquaries of London, 1992). p. 207 [11] So far as we know this design is registerable with the SCA College of Arms.