ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 953 http://www.s-gabriel.org/953 *********************************** ************************************************* * * * NOTE: Some of the Academy's early reports * * contain errors that we haven't yet * * corrected. Please use it with caution. * * * ************************************************* From: 11 Jun 1998 Greetings, Here's the information we found on your name "Malcolm Hawke" and your arms "Per pale sable and gules, a hawk displayed argent," which you wanted to use for a Scottish person from between 1300 and 1500. In your period, a Scottish name could be either Scots or Gaelic. Scots is closely related to English and was spoken primarily in the lowlands. Gaelic was spoken in highland Scotland, and also in Ireland. is an English name meaning (predictably enough) "hawk," which we dated to 1379. (2) We didn't find in Scotland, but we did find the name (probably pronounced ), which also means "Hawk," dated to 1245. (3) Because there was considerable overlap between Scots and English it is possible that was used in Scotland, but we recommend since we know that it was used in Scotland. is a Scots rendering of the Gaelic name . It was used by Scots speakers, as (1) Macolmus de Hadingtouna (1317) Malcolmi Bolgy (1317) Malcolmi de Polgoueny (1317) Malcolm Marchel (1405) The names from 1317 are from a Latin document, and the endings were added to fit Latin grammatical rules. The citation from 1405 is from a Scots-language document. It is actually very common in period for people to design arms that refer to their surnames, so it is historically accurate to use a hawk in your arms. However, the difference in appearance between a hawk and an eagle is so slight that in period, they were distinguished by their posture. Eagles were generally shown displayed, and hawks were generally shown "close" (from the side, with wings folded). Often they also were shown with a jess on one leg. In medieval heraldry, a "hawk displayed" is an eagle--so if you specifically want to use a hawk, you should change its posture to close. If you want to use a bird displayed, we recommend that you call it an eagle. Unfortunately, your arms do conflict with the arms of the King of Poland, "Gules, an eagle displayed argent, crowned Or." We developed some alternative suggestions. Based on our research into Scots heraldry, we can make some suggestions that will make your arms, like your name, distinctively Scottish. First of all, fields divided in half are very rare in Scots armory. It is more common to find solid fields, or occassionally fields divided into stripes or checks. We suggest that you use just a solid background, either red or black. (4) Hawks were quite rare in medieval Scots armory. But since your surname is Hawke (or Hawoc), it would make sense for you to have arms with a hawk in them. Thus, we don't see this as a problem. Eagles are not uncommon in Scots armory, so this would also be historically accurate. We can suggest the following designs: * Gules, three hawks argent. * Gules (or sable), a chevron engrailed between three hawks argent. * Argent, a fess sable between three hawks gules. * Argent, three hawks within a bordure gules. * Gules, a fess checky sable and argent between three hawks argent * Gules, a saltire engrailed between four hawks argent * Sable, a fess checky gules and argent between three hawks argent * Sable, a saltire [engrailed] between four hawks argent Any of them would be equally appropriate if you used eagles (in a displayed position) instead, although "Gules, three eagles argent" would conflict with the arms of Poland. Zenobia Naphtali, Arval D'Espas Nord, Talan Gwynek, Rouland Carre, Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, Teceangl Bach, Felix MacAvady, and Elspeth Anne Roth 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) Dickinson, William Croft, ed., _Early Records of the Burgh of Aberdeen: 1317, 1398-1407_, vol. XLIX, _Publications of The Scottish History Society_ (Edinburgh: The Scottish History Society, Third Series, 1957). (2) Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986). (3) Reaney, P. H.,& R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). (4) Schweitzer, L. & Hunter of Montlaw, D. Unpublished Research, 1998.