Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 394

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 394

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/394

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here are some comments on your arms. We also have information about your name which you may find interesting. We'll warn you that we're not just looking at whether arms will get registered; we look at whether they're historically accurate or not. It's possible that you can register arms which aren't historical, and you may want to consult another group (such as the SCA herald's list at http://listserv.aol.com/archives/scahrlds.html) if you're not worried about the historical accuracy of your arms.

"Samuel" is one of the few names from the Old Testament which was used in the Middle Ages. It appears to have been used occassionally around 1200, but it vanished until the Reformation, when Protestants began using a variety of Old Testament names. This name would be appropriate for around 1200 or after 1520, but not the period in between. (1)

"Piper" is first cited in 1185, and was used continuously since that time. (2)

We have never seen an example of musical notes in period armory, and this is not surprising--even common written symbols like letters are almost unknown in English heraldry. However, lozenges (the standard heraldic diamond-shape) are very common. We'd recommend either using standard lozenges or getting rid of them altogether.

If you decide to eliminate the lozenges, the arms "Quarterly gules and barry azure and Or" would be excellent.

If you decide to keep the lozenges, we'd recommend changing the field either to "Quarterly gules and Or" or "Barry Or and azure."

As an option, you could use "a bend of lozenges" (in which the lozenges are connected together at the points) instead of "three lozenges in bend." Bends of lozenges were not uncommon in medieval armory.

Thus, we can suggest some of the following arms:

Quarterly gules and barry azure and Or. Quarterly gules and Or, a bend of lozenges argent. Barry Or and azure, three lozenges in bend argent.

There are other possiblities, which we can investigate if you like.

Elsbeth Ann Roth, Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, Zara Zina Theanos, and Lindorm Eriksson contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Withycombe, E. "Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names."

(2) Reaney & Wilson, "Dictionary of English Surnames."