ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 3185 http://www.s-gabriel.org/3185 ************************************ 25 Sep 2006 From: Aryanhwy merch Catmael Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel! You wanted to know if is an authentic name for an English Tudor woman. You also asked whether the arms "Per bend azure and vert, on a bend argent between two honeybees volant Or, a threaded needle bendwise sable" would be appropriate. Here is what we have found. is a Scottish form of . [1,2] While forms of were very common in 16th-century England, we have found no evidence that the spelling was used. We've found instead the following variants: [3,4,5] Elisabeth Elisabethe Eliz. Elizabeth Elizabetha Elizabethe Elizibeth Elsabeth Elsabethe Elsebee Elsebethe Elysabeth Elysabethe Elyzabet Elyzabeth Elyzbeth Elzabat Elzabeht Elzabehtt Elzabet Elzabeth Elzabethe Elzabett Elzabetth Helyzabethe You said that your persona was named after a Scottish relative. We believe that even in that case, you would not have been known by the spelling ; rather, an English form of the name would have been used. For example, we found an English record from 1563 which referred to Elspeth the countess of Angus, Scotland, as . [12] We therefore think that a spelling such as is much more likely for an English-woman, even if she was named after a Scottish relative. There is a place called Selwood in Somerset. We found a number of early-period references to this place, including the spellings 878, 894, c. 894, 1168, and the bynames 1189 and 1339. [8,9] While we don't have an example of this place name during your period, we have little doubt that the spelling is appropriate. We believe that is a plausible spelling of the place name because the modern spelling preserves and we have numerous examples of other place names which use the spelling <-wode>. Additionally, we found one who married in 1675. [10] There are various places named in England, and there are four different roots for these place names: [11] * Old English + 'wild, uncultivated settlement' is the root of two places in Yorkshire North Riding, spelled and in the Domesday Boke, or between 1086 and 1247, or from 1167, and in a 15th century copy of a 12th century document. * Old English + 'willow-tree farm' is the root of a place in Norfolk, recorded as 1086, 1121, and 1242. * The third is 'settlement on the river Wylye', and the place is in Wiltshire; most of our examples date from before the Norman Conquest in 1066. *Old English + 'wool farm' appears in the modern form from 1402 on. As you can see, the spelling is very old and is suitable for pretty much all of our period. Based on this, we can recommend both and as good names. The latter is perhaps even more likely because is a far more common a place name than . The construction + + is unlikely during your period; it's possible that you could have been recorded as , but in this type of record, functions more like an address than as part of the name. We therefore recommend you use either or , but not both. Unfortunately, we cannot recommend your arms as good re-creation, for a number of reasons. The use of a field division between two low-contrast tinctures (such as azure and vert) was fairly rare in medieval armory. Additionally, the only example of needles in English armory that we've found is in the arms of the Company of Needlemakers, established in 1656. [6] Lastly, while we have examples of flies and butterflies in English heraldry, we have not found any examples of bees (though there are examples of bees in Italian and German heraldry.) [7] 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 Talan Gwynek and Mari neyn Brian. For the Academy -Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 25 September 2006 -- References: [1] Uckelman, Sara L. "15th-Century Scots Names from Dunfermline" (WWW: Self-published, 2006) http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/scots/dunfermline.html [2] Talan Gwynek, "A List of Feminine Personal Names found in Scottish Records" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/talan/scottishfem/ [3] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Names and Naming Practices in the Registers of the Church of St. Mary's, Dymock" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/dymock/ [4] Mari Elspeth nic Bryan, "Name Distribution in King's Stanley Marriages: 1573-1600" (WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1999). http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/mari/kingsstanley/ [5] Friedemann, Sara L., "16th Century Gloucestershire Names" (WWW: privately published, 1999-2001). http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/english/late16.html [6] Parker, James, _A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry_ (Charles E. Tuttle, 1982), s.v. needle [7] Academy of S. Gabriel Report #1789, footnote 10 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1789 [8] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995), s.n. Selwood [9] Ekwall, Eilert, _The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names_, 4th edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), s.n. Selwood [10] _The Parish Registers of St. Michael, Cornhill, London, Containing the Marriages, Baptisms, and Burials from 1546 to 1754_, partly edited by Joseph Lemuel Chester. (London: Publications of the Harleian Society: Registers, Vol. VII, 1882), p. 40 [11] _Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society_, Edited by Victor Watts, Edited in association with John Insley, Margaret Gelling (Cambridge University Press: January 2004), s.n. Wilton [12] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980, s.n. Anguish