ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2410 http://www.s-gabriel.org/2410 ************************************ From: Lisa and Ken Theriot 18 Jan 2002 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked whether or is an appropriate name for a man living in the Scottish borders between 1500 and 1600. You also asked for our evaluation of an idea for a motto, and of several ideas for arms. Here is the information we have found. Beginning around the 14th century, the two main languages spoken in Scotland were Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles, and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands, including the royal court and towns. Gaelic was the same language spoken in Ireland at this time; Scots was closely related to contemporary English. Norn (a form of Norse) as well as Scots was spoken in the Northern Isles through the 16th century. These languages were very different and had different naming customs. There was some mixing of names from the different cultures, but most names were not adopted into all of the cultures. Therefore, the culture you choose for your persona will determine how your name should be constructed. You mentioned the borders; a person living in the Scottish borders during your period would definitely be a Scots speaker. was a popular name throughout the Middle Ages in many countries, probably due to the famous hero of the name [1]. We find no examples in Scotland in your period, but we find record of a man named (described as a pet form of ) in 1488 and 1586 [2]. The citation appears in full as in Liddesdale, in the Scottish borders. This person was likely a Scots speaker who had some form of as his given name. Just over the border in the North of England, the name was quite common; we find the following forms recorded in your period in the parish registers of Durham and Northumberland [5]: Rowland, 43 examples Roland, 7 examples Rowlande, 6 Rolande, 2 Rollande, 2 Rowlandus, 2 Rolland, 1 Roweland, 1 Rowl, 1 Rouland, 1 Many of these forms are also found as surnames in both England and Scotland [5, 6]. We believe that is a plausible given name for a Lowlander, though given the English examples, might be a more typical spelling. is a fine Lowland Scots name; we find the following forms recorded around your period [7]: William Graa, 1427 Robert Gray, 1497 John Gra, 1531 or is an excellent recreation of a 16th century Lowland Scots name. By your period, it would have been pronounced roughly as it is today [8]. You didn't mention where you found the name , but we're fairly sure that it has nothing to do with either killing or cannons. Names in Scotland and Ireland beginning in generally come from one of two sources. Some are placenames from regions which were home to Gaelic speakers when the names were coined; the Gaelic word 'church' is used to form names of churches dedicated to a particular saint [9]. For example, is often an Anglicized form of 'the church of (Saint) Bridget' (the slash represents an accent over the preceding letter). Other modern names in are derived from Anglicized forms of Gaelic bynames. We have no evidence that any names were coined by this method in Scotland until well after your period. We find (from mac Giolla Ghanna/in) and (from mac Giolla Choma/in> in Ireland, undated, but we believe the forms are modern [10]. We have not found the name in either Ireland or Scotland for your period [11]. The closest form we have found in Scotland is in 1583, apparently an Anglicized form of [12]. The only names we found in used by people we believe to be Lowlanders around your period are , , and [12]. These are all derived from placenames; Gaelic origin placenames are found in some parts of the Lowlands that had been Gaelic-speaking centuries earlier. The places called and are near Fife, and were Scots-speaking in the 16th century. , for example, is a plausible 16th century Lowland Scots name for a man living in the Borders whose family came from the area around Fife (which is just north of Edinburgh, not in the Borders). We believe we may have sufficient evidence to justify as a constructed placename, referring to a church. A constructed name would obviously not be as good a recreation as a name that actually existed in your period, but it would be plausible. If you are interested in this possibility, please write again. You mentioned using "Honor the Fallen" as a motto. We have found no examples of 16th century Lowland mottos. It's possible that they existed, but we have no basis for offering advice on what they were like. We have found some modern Scottish mottos, none of which is much like the one you've chosen, but modern heraldic practice is not a reliable guide to 16th century customs. The modern Scottish mottos we studied tend to be short, more often in Latin than other languages [13]. The word is used in several of these modern mottos, but as a noun rather than a verb [14]. Several mottos have meanings similar to "Don't forget", but we saw none that were more specific [15]. We can't say whether these observations apply to 16th century mottos or even whether there were mottos in your culture. You offered several ideas for arms; in earlier correspondence, you suggested a design which we would blazon "Vert, in bend a decrescent and an increscent argent." We told you that your idea of offsetting two crescents, horns in, was a poor recreation because of the strong tendency towards symmetry in period heraldry. Remember that a heater-shaped shield is symmetrical from side to side, but not from top to bottom; accordingly, we see very few "rotational symmetry" designs like this one (i.e., it would be identical on a round shield if you spun it 180 degrees). The same is true of your design with axes where the right-hand ax is inverted (upside down); it only results in symmetry by rotation. We do not believe that either of these designs is consistent with period heraldic style. Mirror symmetry, as in your design with two axes back-to-back, both upright, is not uncommon in medieval heraldry though we have no similar example from Scotland. Further, "vert", or green, was extremely uncommon, though not unknown, in Scottish heraldry [16]. You expressed interest in another design with crescents, or a design with single-bladed axes "black/silver", presumably meaning either one black and one silver, or black handles and silver blades. You also mentioned a field divided per pale argent and vert. We'll address your elements one at a time. As we mentioned before, crescents are a fine choice as they are quite common in Scottish heraldry; however, they are nearly always borne with the points upward. In Scottish heraldry for your period, we find charges borne either singly, in threes (two above and one below), or in combination with an ordinary (such as a fess or a bend) [16]. If you intend axes "black/silver" to mean one black axe and one silver axe, you have a problem: one of the most basic rules of heraldry is that you cannot place a metal on a metal or a color on a color. A black axe cannot lie on a green field. If you meant that the axes have a black handle and a silver blade, each axe is half metal and half color; therefore, whatever field you choose, half the charge will have poor contrast. Either entirely silver or entirely black axes are more typical of period style. Weapons were not common charges in Scottish heraldry, so we cannot recommend axes as a good recreation in any case [16]. Divided fields were quite rare, though not unknown, in Scottish heraldry [16]. A design incorporating a simple division, such as "per pale", and a common charge, such as a crescent, is possible, though not typical. In such cases, the charges would normally be counterchanged, or colored with the tincture of the opposing half of the field [16]. For example, there would be a white crescent on the green half and a green crescent on the white half; a charge lying over the line of division would be colored half white (on the green side) and half green (on the white side). The following designs incorporate some of your ideas: "Vert, three crescents argent": A green shield with three crescents, horns upward, arranged with two side-by-side in the upper half of the field and one centered below. It is a fine recreation, though vert was an unusual color in period armory. "Argent, on a bend engrailed vert three crescents argent": A bend is a broad stripe running from upper left to lower right, as you look at the shield. The shield is white or silver with a green bend whose edges are scalloped inward. Three white crescents are spaced along the bend with their horns pointing toward the upper left. Bends are common in Scottish heraldry, and "engrailed" (scalloped edge, points outward) is the most common complex line [16]. "Vert, a bend engrailed between six crescents argent": Similar to the previous design. In place of the crescents on the bend, there are three crescents in each half of the field, horns upward. "Per pale argent and vert, three crescents counterchanged": A field divided vertically, white on the left and green on the right; three crescents, horns upward, arranged with two side-by-side in the upper half of the field, the left green and the right white, and one centered below, divided vertically and colored green on the left half and white on the right. We believe that you can register any of these designs with the SCA College of Arms. We 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 Arval Benicoeur, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Catriona inghean ui Bhraonain, Effrick neyn Kenneoch, Elsbeth Anne Roth, Gunnvor Silfraharr, Juliana la Caminante de Navarra, Julie Stampnitzky, Mari neyn Brian, Maridonna Benvenuti, Pedro de Alcazar, Talan Gwynek, Ursula Georges, Will Dekne, and Zenobia Naphtali. For the Academy, Adelaide de Beaumont 18 January 2002 References: [1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), s.n. Roland. [2] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. Rowe. In the same source, under the name Macilvane, we find the following: Rolandus, 1566 Rollandus, 1570 Rollo, 1574 The first two, and possibly the third as well, refer to the same person, a student at St. Andrews University; we also find him recorded as in 1569, all from Latin records. He was likely a Gaelic speaker, as his surname is a form of the Gaelic ; accordingly, his name is not a good model for a Lowlander [3, 4]. [3] Barrow, G. W. S. _Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000 - 1306_, edited by Jenny Wormald, Vol. 2, The New History of Scotland (London: Edward Arnold, 1981), p. 52, reads, "Its lord, Roland (otherwise Lachlan) son of Uhtred, experienced in hill warfare...". ]. There was a strong association between the Gaelic name and the Latin or French ; the student recorded as and the like was probably known in Gaelic records as rather than . [4] Duncan, A. A. M. _Scotland: The Making of the Kingdom_, edited by Gordon Donaldson, Vol. 1, The Edinburgh History of Scotland (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1978), p. 182, reads "Yet his charters suggest that his following was native Galwegian rather than immigrant, and we can perhaps see his state of mind in the fact that his son appears in two guises in his charters -- the Gael as 'Lachlan' and the French as 'Roland'." [5] Stampnitzky, Julie, unpublished research. Given name research on data online transcribed by Pears, Brian, at GEN UKI (UK and Ireland Genealogy), (WWW: GENUKI, 1996), http://www.genuki.org.uk/ [6] Black, s.n. Roland. [7] Black, s.n. Gray. [8] In the 16th century the sound would have been somewhat different from the modern pronunciation of \gray\; the vowel was pronounced more like the vowel of German and French 'fairy' and of German 'go!'. [9] Nicolaisen, W.H.F., _Scottish Place-Names_ (London: B.T. Batsford Ltd., 1989), pp. 128ff. [10] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.nn. (Mac) Kilpatrick, (Mac)Kilcommon(s), (Mac)Kilgannon. Other names in are Anglicizations of Gaelic patronymics like "son of Giolla Pha/draig", from the masculine given name "servant of (Saint) Patrick". The process by which Gaelic became English is a bit complicated; the byname was Anglicized, and over time bits of the name were left out. Initially, English or Scots speakers might have recorded as since the sound of the in would have been more prominent than that of the in . Eventually, the initial \m\ sound dropped out leaving \k\ from the in , \il\ from and , making . We do not know when this might have occurred, but we suspect it was well after 1600, at least in Scotland. We find no forms of names from appearing without an initial in your period in Scotland. [11] does not appear in any of our authoritative sources. We searched a variety of websites, and we could not find record of the byname or before the early 19th century; it is possible that this form was not extant before then. We found as the name of an alleyway behind Christ Church, Oxford (at www.chch.ox.ac.uk ); accordingly, we looked for similar-sounding English bynames for your period, but we did not find any. [12] Black, s.nn. Macgillecanniche, Kilgour, Kilwhiss, Kilpatrick. [13] Fulton, Alexander, _Clans and Families of Scotland_ (Quadrillion Publishing Ltd, Surrey, 1999). Of approximately 200 mottoes cited, around 57% were Latin, 27% were English/Scots, 11% were French and 5% were Gaelic. This book includes important families from both Highland and Lowland areas of Scotland; we noted no particular difference in the mottos of Scots-speakers versus Gaelic-speakers except that we would not expect a Gaelic motto from a Lowland family. [14] Examples include:"Clarior hinc honos" 'Brighter the honor hence' (Buchanan), "Virtutem coronat honos" 'Honor is the crown of virtue' (Drummond), "Candoris praemium honos" 'Honor is the reward of integrity' (Dunbar), and "Decori decus addit avito" 'He adds honor to his ancestral honor' (Erskine). We have no idea whether any of these mottos were used in your period. [15] Examples include: "Ne obliviscaris" (Campbell), "Ne oublie" (Graham of Montrose), "Nunquam obliviscar" (MacIver), and "Non oblitus" (MacTavish). Note that in none of these cases were we directed what it was we weren't supposed to forget. Again, we have no idea whether any of these mottos were used in your period. [16] Schweitzer, Leslie A., and David Hunter of Montlaw, "Late Medieval Scottish Heraldic Design", Proceedings of the XXIII International Conference of Genealogy and Heraldry Sciences, 1998.