The personal heraldic title which I submitted earlier this year was accepted and registered on this month’s LoAR, which has prompted some to ask: “why a gadfly?”
I chose the name Gadfly not because of a particular affinity with the family of insects also known as horse-flies, but rather for its metaphorical connotations.
Continue reading “Gadfly Herald Extraordinary”I waited until almost the last possible minute, but still managed to snag a room for two nights at the Sheraton around the corner from the University of Pennsylvania library where the Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium will be held next month.
I’m looking forward to hanging out with my fellow nerds and talking about heraldry and the various crazy things we do and make to support our little corner of the SCA.
And I’m loving the fact that despite being in another barony eighty miles away, this event is fully transit accessible, with just two inter-rail transfers to get door-to-door in under two hours.
I look forward to seeing a bunch of you there!
When Wilhelm Laurel established the rank of Herald Extraordinary, he began the practice of personal heraldic titles:
Each Herald Extraordinary shall have a title that is his/her own personal title that s/he shall hold so long as s/he remains active.
Cover Letter, July 1981 Letter of Acceptances and Returns
Over the year since my elevation, I’ve struggled to think of an appropriate title to take on, until I was startled awake this weekend with a stroke of inspiration. The submission form has now been sent off and we’ll wait to see if the College will accept me as the “Gadfly Herald.”
Continue reading “Personal Heraldic Title”During the Known World Heraldic and Scribal Symposium this weekend, I learned from Master Yehuda ben Moshe that, as one of his final actions as Brigantia, I had been elevated to the rank of Herald Extraordinary, a recognition for which I am deeply grateful.
Unlike nearly all of the awards and honors of the Society, this rank can not be bestowed by royalty or their representatives in the baronage; instead it stems from the authority of the Sovereigns of the College of Arms and the Principal Heralds of each kingdom.
Continue reading “Extraordinary Recognition”As we approach the fifth anniversary of my Traceable Heraldic Art project, and given how terribly overcommitted I am with numerous projects underway, I wanted to let folks know that if someone with a strong software-development background was interested in developing the next generation of the system that hosts that collection, I’d be open to collaboration and eventually turning it over to someone else to run.
This recent blog post lays out some of the background on how the current system works and what I hope might some day replace it, and links to the source code and data files I use to build and update the site. A successor system might be coded very differently, but I would hope that it would still support the current functionality and enable the development of new capabilities, so it seems likely to be of similar complexity.
This doesn’t mean I am about to abandon the project, but I have spent somewhere about four thousand hours on it already, and would like to free up some time to work on other things. If you’re a combination web-development nerd and armorial-art nerd, and you’re interested in spending years of your life improving and maintaining a much-valued community resource, drop me a line!
The above social media post marks the five-year anniversary of my having joined the heraldic community.
I had started researching names and device designs for my own submission the previous December, getting some very helpful Irish onomastic advice from Mistress Alys Mackyntoich, and some armory feedback from the Facebook Heraldry Chat group.
I spoke to the former heralds of my canton and province that spring, but they weren’t submissions experts, so rather than mailing in the forms I filled them out as best I could and brought them to the Heralds Point tent at Pennsic that summer.
By happenchance, the herald who I was routed to was Meisterin Gisela vom Kreuzbach, who looked over the large pile of poorly-summarized documentation I had handed her and decided nonetheless that I had some promise, and invited me to come around the desk to sit by her and watch over her shoulder as she entered the records into the forms interface. I wound up shadowing her through several consultations that afternoon and returning for more a couple of days later, and by the end of the week I was hooked.
Little did I know that moment would set me on a path to spending literally thousands of hours working on this esoteric corner of our peculiar hobby. Thank you to everyone who has given me a hand up over the last five years, and to the many who went before us and paved the way for the world we now inhabit.
During the five years in which I’ve been thinking about medieval armory, I’ve registered four different designs with the College of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and as I’ve started thinking about further registrations it seemed prudent to pause and take stock of my current inventory. Continue reading “Armorial Catalog for Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin”
Earlier this year, Alienor and I submitted a pair of very simple field-only badges.
Per pale vert and Or… & Per pale purpure and Or.
I believe these were the last uncharged, plain-line, no-fur, per-pale designs remaining open for registration. Continue reading “Family Per-Pale Badges”
Although devices (or “coats of arms”) are the most recognizable form of armorial display, their cousins the fieldless badges were equally common during the medieval period and renaissance.
We’ve recently registered a fieldless badge for each member of our family incorporating a distinctive animal and color. Continue reading “Family Animal Badges”
Sixteen months after being made the Herald of the Canton of Whyt Whey, I have been appointed the Herald of the Crown Province of Østgarđr, whose title is Seahorse Pursuivant. My report from the meeting of the Provincial Officers Council follows.
To the populace of the Crown Province of Østgarðr, on behalf of their Viceroy and Vicereine, does Mathghamhain Ua Ruadháin send his greetings.
Following this evening’s Commons meeting, the Provincial Officers Council gathered to review the candidates for those offices whose terms expire this month.
Continue reading “Appointment as Seahorse Pursuivant”