ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 939 http://www.s-gabriel.org/939 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* 11 May 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for advice choosing a 5th century Scottish name appropriate for a descendent of Picts and Romans, and wondered whether would be a proper choice. You also asked our opinion of your heraldic design. Here is what we have found. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service the Academy provides. We do not judge whether your name or arms will be acceptable to the Society College of Arms. We offer advice on choosing a name and armory that it appropriate to the historical culture you are trying to re-create. Our advice can often be used to support a submission to the College, but that is not our focus and our advice is often not consistent with the approach taken by the College. If your primary goal is to register a particular name and arms, then our advice may not be helpful to you. If you are interested in choosing a name that fits your persona, on the other hand, we will be happy to help as much as we can. A couple historical notes are in order: Rome cut its contacts with Britain by the year 409. Some historians believe that many of the Roman troops remained behind and there is evidence of occupation of sites along Hadrian's Wall in the 5th century, so it is not implausible that your persona could have been the son of a soldier who had married a local woman in that area. Note though that a Roman soldier could have been from almost any ethnic group within the Empire, including the British [2, 3]. Such a child could have used a native name or he might have used a Roman name [4]. However, any contact with the Picts is unlikely in your period: The Picts were living north of the Antonine Wall (further north than Hadrian's Wall) in the 5th century. The Romans had abandoned the territory north of Hadrian's Wall long before, and the region between the walls was inhabited by Britons [5]. There was no distinction between the "Scottish" and the "Irish" in your period. The word actually meant "Irish" in Latin. We use the word to mean "someone living in Scotland", but the Gaelic-speaking Scots in your period were the Irish immigrants and their descendents who had founded the kingdom of Dalriada, on the west coast, roughly in modern-day Argyll. The natives of Scotland were Picts and some areas were also inhabited by Britons. Names related to were used in your period by the Picts and the Gaels living in Scotland. This particular spelling did not exist at the time, but others probably did. We don't have an actual example, but is a good guess at what the name might have been in your period [1]. Records of names from your period are extremely sparse. As best we can tell, men in both Pictish and Gaelic culture were known as their father's sons. If your father's name were , for example, you might be known in Gaelic culture as "Ungust son of Drust" [1]. Note that the two names are joined with the Latin word "son". We don't know what word the Gaels or Picts would have used in their own languages at this point in history; the Britons were thoroughly Romanized and would certainly have been comfortable with the Latin form. If you want to pick a different name for your father, you could consider the names in the article that is reference [1], available on the web. The byname "of the Dark Forest" is modern English, of course, which couldn't have been used by a 5th century Pict, Briton, or Gael. As far as we can tell, the people of your region and period did not name themselves for the places where they lived, so the translation of that phrase into the right language would unfortunately still not be an appropriate name for your persona. The only alternative we can suggest to a patronymic name (i.e. one that identifies your father) is a Roman-style name. If you are interested in that possibility, please write us again and we'll send you some information. Heraldic arms did not exist in your period. Although various kinds of identifying insignia existed in many early cultures, heraldry as such did not appear until the mid-12th century, 600 years after your persona lived. Therefore, the best historical re-creation would be for you to use no heraldry at all. Of course, many Societyfolk in a similar situation have decided to use arms anyway, and you could do so as well. The problem is common enough that we've written a short article about it, which you might find useful. What Do I Use for Arms if my Persona Wouldn't Have Used Arms? http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/faq/nonheraldic.html If you do decide to use arms, then either a rampant bull or a stand of trees (called "a hurst" in heraldic language) would be a fine central element. We know of no example of a triskelion in period heraldry. We recommend that you choose the bull or the hurst; trying to fit both into a single design will very likely result in a design that it too complicated to be compatible with medieval heraldic style. In particular, the design you suggested, which can be described in heraldic language as "A triskelion, a hurst, and a brown bull rampant contourny proper", is not the kind of design found in medieval heraldry, which tended to use balanced groups of identical charges rather than several different charges. Before you design arms, you may want to take the opportunity to look at a collection of picture of medieval arms, so that you see what kinds of designs they used and perhaps find some patterns that appeal to you. A very good book for this purpose is Joseph Foster, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). It contains several thousand color drawings of period arms. Many Society heralds own copies, and it is occasionally available in bookstores. 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. I was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Alan Fairfax, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Walraven van Nijmegen, Zenobia Naphtali, Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Talan Gwynek, and Teceangl Bach. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 11 May 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Tangwystyl verch Morgant Glasvryn, "A Consideration of Pictish Names" (Y Camamseriad, Issue 4, Summer 1996, pp.29-56; WWW: Academy of Saint Gabriel, 1996). http://www.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/pictnames.html [2] Johnson, Stephen, _Later Roman Britain_ (Scribner's: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980). [3] Salway, Peter, _Roman Britain_ (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984). [4] Birley, Anthony, _The People of Roman Britain_ (London: B T Batsford, Ltd, 1979). Cunedda, leader of the Votadini who were transplanted to North Wales early in the 5th century, was the son, grandson, and great grandson of men with Roman names (Aeternus, Paternus, and Tacitus). He came from the eastern end of the area between the walls. [5] Morris, John, _Age of Arthur; a history of the British Isles from 350 to 650_ (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1973; London: Phillimore, 1977). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -