ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 811 http://www.s-gabriel.org/811 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Later research turned up additional * * information relevant to this report. * * See the end of the letter for details. * * * ************************************************* 4 May 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for our opinion of as a 13th or 14th century Anglo-Scottish name, and of your design for your heraldry, using a hill with a sword sticking out of the top and a raven sitting on the hilt of the sword. Here's what we've found. Unfortunately, is not a given name and it is not Scottish. It is an Anglo-Welsh surname formed by contraction of the Welsh "son of Owein." Originally, it was simply an English spelling of the Welsh patronymic byname. By the end our period, it had come to be used in some cases as a hereditary surname, in the modern style. We have found an example of as a surname in 1305 [1a]. was used in a couple different ways in your period. It is recorded as a given name in 1086 and as a patronymic surname in 1186 (i.e., it meant "son of Corbet"). It was also used as a descriptive byname in 1323 with the meaning "the raven", probably to describe someone with very dark hair [1b]. would not be a correct name for your period because was not a given name. However, because is a given name as well as a surname, would be correct and would have meant "Corbet son of Owen." It was not unusual in period for a man to be known informally by his surname, so it is possible that someone named might have popularly been called . If you like the name , then you could also consider "Owein son of Corbet" or "Owen the Raven". Any of these names could have been used along the English-Welsh border in your period. If you want a Scottish name, then you could still use as a given name, but or would not be appropriate since those are Welsh names, not Scottish names. If you'd like to consider some Scottish names, you could flip through _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ by George F. Black (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). It is an excellent dictionary of surnames, available in many local libraries. It contains thousands of dated examples of Scottish names, so you could easily pick out the names that are appropriate for your period. The heraldic design [2] you described could be blazoned ", a raven close sable perched upon a sword proper issuant from a mount vert." This design is not typical of early-period heraldry, which most often used charges independent of one another, not organized into a picture. Arms also tends to be fairly simple, using only one or two types of charge. Using all the major charges you have proposed in your arms would make your arms overly complex for early-period armory. One very common design for arms in your period was three charges on a field, two above and one below; another common design was a single charge between a set of three identical charges. For example, "Argent, three ravens sable" and "Argent a chevron between three ravens sable." As far as we can tell, you should be able to register either of these designs. I hope this letter has been useful. Please write us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions. We were assisted in researching and writing this letter by Lothar von Katzenellenbogen, Talan Gwynek, Zenobia Naphtali, and Maryn. For the Academy, Fridrikr Tomasson and Arval Benicoeur 20 Apr 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1a] Reaney, P. H. & R. M. Wilson. _ A Dictionary of English Surnames, 3rd ed._ Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, s.n. Bowen. The 1305 example is recorded in York, i.e. in an English-language context. The bearer may have been a Welshman living in York. [1b] Reaney & Wilson, s.n. Corbet. [2] The word "crest" isn't the right word for a heraldic shield design. A heraldic crest is a different design, displayed above the shield and often shown resting on a helmet. A real crest is a three-dimension insignia that a fighter wears on top of his helmet. The best word for the thing we paint on our shields is "arms". - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Modified 10 Feb 2005, Arval: Clarified the references to R&W in notes [1a] and [1b] (formerly a single note [1]).