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The Æthelmearc Gazette

~ Covering the Kingdom of Æthelmearc of the SCA

The Æthelmearc Gazette

Tag Archives: Silver Buccle

Court Report, Ӕtherial Court January 30, A.S. LV

02 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by aethgazette in Court Reports, Heraldry, Kingdom News

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Silver Buccle

The Report of the Ӕtherial Court of Their Sylvan Majesties, Maynard and Liadain, King and Queen of Ӕthelmearc held on the thirtieth Day of January anno Societatis 55, Baron Brandubh O’Donnghaile, Jewel Herald.

Baron Brandubh O’Donnghaile begged a boon of Their Majesties, that he might be allowed to pass the Office of Silver Buccle Principal Herald of Ӕthelmearc to his successor Jorundr hinn rotinn. Their Majesties Maynard and Liadain gave their assent and invite Drotinn Jorundr hinn rotinn into Their Court.

Drotinn Jorundr did confirm that is was his wish to take up the mantle of Silver Buccle Herald of Ӕthelmearc, and Their Majesties received his oath of Service as King of Arms for the Kingdom of Ӕthelmearc.

Baron Bramdubh then stepped back to join the Brotherhood Of Old Buccles, Silver as a past Silver Buccle Herald, and he invited THLady Sophie Davenport to join him with the order of the B.O.O.B.S. in thanks for her service to the Kingdom of Ӕthelmearc as Silver Buccle Principal Herald.

Their Majesties thanked both Baron Brandubh and THLady Sophie for their support of the kingdom.

Court Closed.

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New Silver Buccle Kingdom Herald Appointed

10 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by aethgazette in Heraldry, Kingdom News, Officer Announcements

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Silver Buccle

Greetings Fair Æthelmearc from Baron Brandubh O’donnghaile, Silver Buccle Herald.

The call for letters for Silver Buccle Herald has closed, and the Kingdom received many letters of intent from interested members of the Kingdom wishing to serve in this office.  I met with Their Majesties Maynard and Laidain to review all applications, and after deliberation we chose Don Jorundr hinn rotinn to serve as the next Silver Buccle Herald of Æthelmearc.  Jorundr has served as Comet Pursuivant of the Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands, and will be stepping down from his Deputy Kingdom Office of Golden Alce Herald in order to take the Kingdom Office of Silver Buccle.

At this point, I name him Kingdom Deputy Sigil Herald to serve as the
Emergency Deputy to Silver Buccle.  Jorundr will hold the Office of Sigil
Herald until Their Majesties’s Court at Æcademy in January when the office
will be officially transferred.  Congratulations to Don Jorundr, and thank
you to all of those who had applied for the Office.

Cheers,
Brandubh, Silver Buccle

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Call for Letters for Silver Buccle Herald

14 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by aethgazette in Officer Announcements

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Silver Buccle

EKOFFICERS_herald_colorUnto the Kingdom, greetings from Kameshima Silver Buccle!

It has been nearly 3½ years since Their Majesties Maynard III and Liadain II graced me with the opportunity to serve the Kingdom as Silver Buccle Principal Herald. However, time marches ever on, and it is nearing time for me to pass this responsibility to another. Thus, Their Highnesses — once they are determined at Crown Tournament — and I are accepting letters of intent for the position of Principal Herald. This office holds a 2-year term, commencing at Spring Crown 2017, serving through Spring Crown 2019.

The position requires:
* Valid SCA membership;
* An extensive knowledge of the workings of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds as well as the SCA College of Arms;
* Strength and skill in vocal heraldry;
* Sufficient knowledge of the heraldic submission process to communicate with submitters as well as oversee the workings of the submission office, including how to use the online Ordinary and Armorial;
* Knowledge of the awards of Æthelmearc, the structure of award precedence, and how to use the online Order of Precedence;
* Reliable access to, and proficient usage of, e-mail (approximately 8-10 hours a week);
* The ability to manage the Æthelmearc College of Heralds in all of its various duties;
* The communication and diplomatic skills to appropriately serve as Æthelmearc’s liaison to the College of Arms as well as foreign royalty, heralds and ambassadors.

As per Æthelmearc Financial Policy, the Principal Herald holds one vote on the Kingdom Financial Committee. For more details of the responsibilities of the office of Principal Herald, see The Corpora of the SCA and The Administrative Handbook of the SCA College of Arms.

The deadline for applications is *2017 Kingdom 12th Night* (currently unscheduled as of the writing of this announcement) or *January 15, 2017*, *whichever
comes first*. Applications should be sent to Their Majesties, Their Highnesses and myself at resume.herald@aethelmearc.org.

If you have any questions about the duties of this office, please contact me privately at ae.herald@aethelmearc.org.

In Honor and Service,
Kameshima Zentarō Umakai
高貴国境の王国の治部卿
Silver Buccle Principal Herald, Kingdom of Æthelmearc

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Everything You Never Knew You Wanted to Know About Precedence

09 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by aethgazette in Heraldry

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Heraldry, Precedence, Silver Buccle

EKOFFICERS_herald_colorUnto the Kingdom, greetings from Kameshima Silver Buccle! With the recent announcement by our Eastern neighbors regarding the precedence of some of their awards, there have been a lot of questions raised about exactly what precedence is, and how it is applied in certain technical situations. Never fear, your Friendly Neighborhood Kingdom Herald is here with the answers!


What exactly is precedence, anyway?
Remember that the SCA attempts to recreate a Western European style medieval society. In that time, we were a much more class-oriented society than we are now, so people were defined a lot more by their rank in society. Now, in the SCA we assume that everyone is at least a minor noble so that nobody has to be a peasant, but we’ve defined three general “ranks” of precedence:

  1. An Award of Arms (or “AoA”) is the first rank, and allows you to use the title of “Lord” or “Lady.” Most people will receive their Award of Arms by itself. However, if you are made a member of the Order of the Golden Alce, Golden Stirrup, Keystone or Sycamore, membership in those orders conveys an Award of Arms if you don’t already have one. For this reason, those four awards are known as “AoA-level orders.”
  2. A Grant of Arms (“GoA”) is the second rank, and allows you to use the titles of “Honorable Lord/Lady” or “Lordship/Ladyship.” Some Kingdoms will give lots of what are called “naked Grants” — how scandalous! — which means the recipient is given a Grant of Arms without membership in one of the “Grant-level orders.” In Æthelmearc, however, that is relatively rare; most people receive their GoA along with membership in one of the Grant-level orders: the Fleur d’Æthelmearc, the Gage, the Golden Lance of Æthelmearc, the Millrind, the Scarlet Battery, the Scarlet Guard, the White Horn, and the White Scarf of Æthelmearc. Landed Barons and Baronesses are also given Grants of Arms, if they don’t already have them, when they are invested.
  3. A Patent of Arms (“PoA”) is the third and highest rank, and is reserved for members of the Peerage Orders (Knights, Laurels, Masters at Arms, Masters of Defense, Pelicans, and the Royal Peers). Each of these Orders has its own titles that go along with it.

It can’t be that easy.
Well… it’s not. Within each rank, there are further levels. Each Kingdom has the right to rank these slightly differently, but in Æthelmearc, here’s the much more detailed breakdown, from highest to lowest:

  1. Dukes and Duchesses
  2. Counts, Earls and Countesses
  3. Viscounts and Viscountesses
  4. Other Peerages (Knights, Laurels, Masters at Arms, Masters of Defense, Pelicans)
  5. Those with Patents of Arms but no Patent-level Orders (there are none that I know of, but it could happen)
  6. Ladies of the Rose and Garnet
  7. Landed Barons and Baronesses
  8. Former Landed Barons and Baronesses
  9. Grant-level Orders (see above)
  10. Those with Grants of Arms but no Grant-level Orders
  11. Court Barons and Baronesses
  12. AoA-level Orders (see above)
  13. Those with Awards of Arms but no AoA-level Orders
  14. Those with “non-armigerous awards” (awards that have no precedence attached to them)
  15. Those who have not yet received any awards

What category am I in, and where do I fit within it?
You’re in whatever category corresponds to the highest award you’ve gotten in the SCA. If you have an AoA and nothing else, you’re in category 13. If the next thing you get is a Millrind, you’ve jumped up to category 9. If you then get a Sycamore, you’re… still in category 9.

The people in each category are ranked by seniority, based on the first time you got into that category. So, if you got your first Grant-level award 5 years ago, you’d be above someone who got their first Grant-level award 2 years ago, but below someone who got theirs 10 years ago. The number of Grant-level awards you have doesn’t matter. If you have 2 and I have 1, but I got my 1 before you got either of yours, I still outrank you.

Peerages, and even Royal Peerages, work the same way. No matter how many times someone serves as monarch, for example, once they’re a Duke or Duchess, that’s where they’ll be in the Order of Precedence (or “OP”). If I’ve been King five times, and you’ve been King twice, but you became a Duke before I did, you outrank me, period, end of story. Similarly, no matter how many different Peerages someone has, it’s just the date of the first one that counts.

How can I see my awards and who’s around me?
Go to the Order of Precedence page of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds web site. Click the “Alphabetically” link on the left side to see everyone’s awards listed alphabetically by name, or the “Order of March” link to see everyone listed in Precedence order. Search for your name to find out where you rank!

This is also great when you’re thinking about writing a letter to the Royalty to recommend someone for an award. You can use this to check who already has an award, and who might have been overlooked! (“What do you mean, this person’s been playing for 15 years and don’t have an AoA?!”)

What about people from out of Kingdom? How do their awards equate?
Each Kingdom has their own AoA and/or Grant-level awards. (Some Kingdoms have one or the other; some, like us, have both.) All Kingdoms observe the same Peerages. So, if someone who became a Duke in, say, Atenveldt 40 years ago moved to Æthelmearc, their “spot” in the OP would still have those 40 years of seniority. A Grant of Arms in one Kingdom is just as good as a Grant of Arms in another, and all those with Grants of Arms are treated equally within a Kingdom.

That means it’s very important that, if you move to a new Kingdom, you should look on their Kingdom Heraldry web page, find their Deputy Herald for the Order of Precedence, and make sure they know that you’ve moved in and where they can find your current Precedence Listing.

(Remember what I said earlier, though, about different Kingdoms ranking the categories slightly differently. A Court Barony, for example, might be ranked higher or lower in another Kingdom than they are here!)

Each Kingdom’s awards, protocols, the reasons behind why they made the precedence and award decisions that they did, and so on, are a few fascinating facets of what we call Inter-Kingdom Anthropology, which is a fancy term for “being an SCA geek about more than one Kingdom.” Inter-Kingdom Anthropology, or IKA, is one of those things that people like heralds and historians love to dig into. If it’s something that interests you too, talk to your local herald or historian, or your Kingdom Herald or Historian, for more details.

OK, I’ve got the basics. Now tell me about what the East just did.
So the East Kingdom has the Orders of the Tygers Combatant, Silver Crescent, Maunch, Golden Rapier, Golden Lance of the East, and Sagittarius. Up until now, those were AoA-level Orders. However, recently, Their Majesties Brennan and Caoilfhionn — for those of you not familiar with Gaelic, by the way, that’s pronounced “KEE-linn” — decided to change East Kingdom law and make them Grant-level Orders instead. That’s the easy part.

The tricky part is this: “Furthermore, included in this change, the existing Companions of the aforesaid Orders shall be considered to have received a Grant of Arms retroactively to the date of the original induction into their first Order of High Merit.” That means that, if you got your first Grant-level award (let’s say your Maunch) 10 years ago, and you haven’t gotten anything higher since, your place in the Order of Precedence will now change to reflect the fact that you got a Grant of Arms 10 years ago.

This can affect other Kingdoms because of what I said earlier about a Grant of Arms in one Kingdom being just as good as a Grant of Arms in another. If you’re that person I just talked about who got your Maunch 10 years ago, but you live in Æthelmearc now, your precedence order in our OP can change because now you’re higher in precedence than all the young whippersnappers who got their Millrinds and Gages last week.

So who does this affect?
This affects only those people who:

  1. Has one or more of those Orders, and
  2. Had no Grant of Arms or Grant-level Orders before that, and
  3. Has no higher-precedence awards (that’s anything in categories 1-8 of my list up above) either before or since.According to our Precedence Deputy Herald (Golden Alce Herald), that’s about 75 people in the entire Kingdom of Æthelmearc. So, not a whole lot of people. But for those people, it’s very important! I have other questions…Great! We love questions! (Why is the sky blue? So it will have good contrast with the clouds, of course!) If you’re interested in learning about precedence, or other aspects of heraldry, you can contact any of the following people:
  • Me! at silverbuccleherald@aeheralds.net
  • Baron Malcolm fitzWilliam, Keystone Herald (Education Deputy) at keystoneherald@aeheralds.net
  • Drotin Jorundr hinn Rotinn, Golden Alce Herald (Precedence Deputy) at goldenalceherald@aeheralds.net

 

 

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Officer Profile: Silver Buccle Herald

22 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by aethgazette in Heraldry, Interviews

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Interviews, Kingdom Herald, Silver Buccle

EKOFFICERS_herald_colorWelcome to our interview with the Kingdom Herald, whose title is Silver Buccle Herald. This is the second in our series of interviews with Kingdom officers, to learn what they do. You can read the first, an interview with the Kingdom Historian, here. 

The Gazette wishes to thank Master Kameshima for his thoughtful and well-written answers to our questions!

What is your SCA Name and persona?

Kameshima Zentarō Umakai is a government official in 16th century Japan, serving in the Department of State and Ceremony.

How did you become a herald?

When Dame Elsbeth Anne Roth was Laurel Sovereign of Arms (the chief herald of the SCA), her staff mainly consisted of people from the Debatable Lands. She, along with Lady Juliana de Luna and Lady Richenda du Jardin, saw this as an excellent opportunity to train a new generation of heralds, and invited me to start attending her staff meetings. I fell in love with so-called “book heraldry” (the study of how names and coats of arms existed in period, and helping other SCAdians to design theirs) at those meetings.

My interest in Court Heraldry stemmed from my love of theater, which goes back to when I was a child. Mistress Giulietta da Venezia, who was Comet Pursuivant of the Debatable Lands at the time, helped teach me all the things I needed to know to conduct Baronial and Royal Courts.

Kameshima KQ 12th Night 1

Photo of Master Kameshima by Master Augusto Giuseppe da San Donato.

What does the Kingdom Herald do?

The Kingdom Herald is in charge of coordinating all the Heralds in the Kingdom (called the “College of Heralds”). This includes overseeing the process of name and armory submissions within the Kingdom, coordinating heralds to conduct Royal Courts, and making sure that martial tournaments such as Crown Tournament and the Queen’s Rapier Championship are called by heralds if they so desire.

Each Kingdom’s College works a little differently. In Æthelmearc, at least for the last several years, the Kingdom Herald (who has the title of Silver Buccle Principal Herald in Æthelmearc) has had the responsibility of being the primary Court Herald, but that will be changing. Starting with Their Highnesses, each set of Royalty will have a primary Court Herald (who will have the title of “Jewel of Æthelmearc Herald”) as part of their Reign Staff.

What kinds of heraldry are there in the SCA?

Heraldry in the SCA is divided into three major categories:

Book Heraldry is the study of names and armory as they were used throughout SCA period. Heralds help people come up with the names and coats of arms that they use in the SCA.

Court Heraldry is the practice of conducting Royal Court. That means a lot more than just reading scrolls out loud! There’s a lot of protocol and ceremony that goes along with Royal Court, plus you need to work with the Royalty to make sure that Court remains interesting and doesn’t drag on too long.

Tournament Heraldry is helping to “emcee” martial tournaments, which includes making sure that the fighters know when and in which “list” they’re going to be fighting, making sure the audience knows who’s fighting, and making sure that the traditions of the list are followed (like the conducting of “honors,” which are where the fighters pay honor to the Crown, to their inspirations, and so on).

Who are your deputies, and what are their roles?

I have a lot of deputies! And most of them have titles that, like mine, are named after awards here in Æthelmearc.

There are Regional Deputies for each of the 5 Regions of the Kingdom who are in charge of keeping closer tabs on what’s going on with the local groups in their regions than I’m able to. Their titles are Millrind (Region 1), Gage (2), Scarlet Guard (3), White Horn (4) and Fleur d’Æthelmearc (5).

I also have deputies who are in charge of various specific aspects of heraldry. Garnet and her deputy Cornelian are in charge of the submissions process (which I’ll explain in more detail below). Keystone is my Education deputy, and he organizes heraldic education classes for Heralds & Scribes Symposiums and Æthelmearc Æcademies, as well as local educational opportunities. Sycamore is in charge of Tournaments, organizing heralds to emcee Crown and other tournaments. Their deputy Seedling is in charge of the Crown Tournament Shield Trees, from which you’ve seen the combatants’ armory hanging at Crown. Golden Alce is the deputy for the Order of Precedence, which is the list of who has what awards and when they got them.

Crown Tourney Tree

Finally, the College of Heralds has a Silent Heraldry deputy, in charge of providing sign language interpretation during Courts, a College Webminister, and, because we maintain our own bank account, a College Exchequer.

What is the College of Arms? How does it operate?

The College of Arms is the collective name for all the heralds in the SCA! But you’re probably asking how the submission process works. When you submit a name or armory, first it gets sent to Garnet. Garnet puts it out on what’s called an “Internal Letter of Intent,” where heralds throughout Æthelmearc (and a few from other Kingdoms) get about a month to do extra research, make sure that the names and armory don’t “conflict” (they’re not too close to names and devices that are already registered), and so on. Then Garnet will decide whether it needs to be returned for more work, or whether it can get sent in an “External Letter of Intent” to the Laurel Queen at Arms and their deputies, the Pelican Herald (who makes name decisions) and the Wreath Herald (who makes armory decisions). Then heralds throughout the SCA get another chance to look at it, do more research, or anything else that is needed. Finally, Pelican and Wreath will make decisions on all the names and armory that were submitted in a given month from all around the SCA, whether it is returned, or registered for all time. A few months later, their decisions are published in a “Letter of Acceptances and Returns” (“LoAR”) which are posted on the LoAR page of the SCA heraldry website.

The whole process takes about 9 months. I know that sounds like a long time, but the SCA is a big place, and we want to make sure we get it right!

Do only Kingdom-level heralds get to do courts?

Nope! While Silver Buccle does the majority of Courts (and the Jewel of Æthelmearc Herald will be taking over that job), that’s just so that the Royalty have a primary point of contact to develop a smooth working relationship. When I can’t make it to an event, I’ll ask one of the local heralds to conduct Court. And when I am at an event, usually I’ll have another herald assist me as a “Second Herald,” helping me to keep everything organized, read scrolls, and generally make Court interesting for the populace, and a special moment to remember for those getting recognized.

Anyone who’s interested in giving Court a try should ask Silver Buccle or Jewel of Æthelmearc. We’ll work with you and train you so you know the things you’ll need to know. How else do you think you get good at this job?

What kinds of things can people find on the Æthelmearc College of Heralds website?

The College of Heralds website contains all sorts of heraldic resources, including submission forms, links to Internal and External Letters of Intent, the Order of Precedence, past Court Reports, and the Kingdom Roll of Arms, which contains pictures of all the names and coats of arms used by the Royalty, Groups and Populace of Æthelmearc. There’s also a Staff Roster of all the heralds in Æthelmearc.

The site’s going to be going through a lot of updates and upgrades in the next few months, which started with the brand new Order of Precedence page put in place a few months ago. Stay tuned!

College of arms website

What makes for good heraldic design?

Good heraldic design, by and large, is simple. For most of period, coats of arms had one or two types of charges, and no more than two or three colors. Remember, not only did these need to be easily recognizable through a helmet while on horseback, but people needed to remember the heraldry of the people they were fighting with, so they knew who was trying to kill them and who wasn’t. Here in the SCA, because we have so many people who have armory, sometimes our armory gets a little more complex than what you saw in period, so that it doesn’t conflict with someone else. But simpler is always better.

Heralds describe armory using a special language technique called blazoning. It’s a standardized way of describing the colors and charges of armory. A lot of people find it a little bit intimidating, but heralds love to teach people how to blazon heraldry!

What are the best ways to choose an SCA name?

Start by talking to a herald. There are few things that make heralds sadder than having to tell someone that the name they picked out of a fantasy book can’t be registered. You should, however, have some general idea of where you want to start. Some people choose a time and culture (“I want to be Italian, maybe 15th century; I love the clothing!”), and heralds can show you lists of names that were used in that time and place. Some people choose a name (“My grandmother was named Anna, so that’s what I want my name to be”), and heralds can do their best to find times and places that name, or something like it, was used. Other people have a certain meaning they like (“I want a last name that means ‘dark wolf’), and heralds can help you translate that into different languages and try to find names that get close to that meaning.

My lady wife, Isabel, says the best advice she ever got about choosing a name in the SCA is “Make sure it’s something that you’ll answer to when you’re on fire.” Sound advice, but let’s hope we never have to test that out!

Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Donnchadh.

Photo by Mistress Rowena ni Donnchadh.

How can I become a herald?

Just speak up. If your local group has a herald, talk to them and ask how you can help. If you want to learn book heraldry, Garnet holds her monthly decision meetings on Google Hangout, so if you have a Google account, you can get an invitation to sit in and listen. Not only will you learn a whole lot about name and armory research, but you’ll get an inside view on how the decision process is made. If you want to get involved in tournament heraldry, find a tournament that’s being heralded and ask to help. That includes Crown Tournament! If you want to give Court a shot, again, find Silver Buccle or Jewel of Æthelmearc and just ask. We LOVE getting new people involved in heraldry.

If I’m not good at designing devices but I want to herald courts or tourneys, can I still be a herald? Or what if I like the device and name parts, but don’t want to do courts?

Sure! Very few heralds do all three (much less do all three well). Some of the most famous heralds in the SCA have never heralded a Court or a tournament; others have never done any research into names or armory. It’s all about doing what you love, so find what you love and do it.

Why did my submission bounce, and what can I do about it?

If your submission gets returned for any reason, the most important thing to remember is that you have one year to resubmit without having to pay again. We’re not in this for the money, our job is to get people historically reasonable names and armory that they like.

The most important thing to do is talk to a herald and show them the return letter that you got from Garnet. A lot of times, the reasons for return are written for heralds, and people who haven’t learned name or armory research might not understand what it means. Your local herald, or the herald that helped you with the original submission, can go over with you what went wrong, and what you can do to fix it and get it back into the process.

Submission form

My device submission bounced but I still want to use it anyway. Will I get in trouble?

Well, there’s not really all that much “trouble” you can get into. As cool as I think it would be to be the “heraldry police,” we tend to err on the side of playing nicely with each other. So, that being said, that depends on why it got returned. If it got returned because it can’t be registered, then at least you can be sure that nobody else is using it either. So yes, you can use it, and while heralds might look at it and try to teach you why it’s not registerable, nobody’s going to tell you that you can’t. If, on the other hand, it got returned because it was the same as, or too close to, someone else’s heraldry, then yes, that person does have the right to demand that you stop using that heraldry. You can refuse, of course — like I said, we’re not the heraldry police — but since the SCA is about promoting honor, courtesy and chivalry, that would be counter to the spirit of the game that we all play.

When does your term end? How will your successor be chosen?

The Principal Herald, like all Kingdom officers, serves a maximum of two two-year terms. I started my second term this past May, so my term will end in May 2017. Also like all Kingdom officers, my successor will be chosen by whoever will be King and Queen for the Summer 2017 reign.

Where do you see heraldry in the SCA going? Are there any changes we should expect coming?

I’ve already talked about the biggest change: the fact that Silver Buccle won’t be the primary Court Herald. As a result, I’ll have a lot more time to concentrate on two things that have always been very important to me as a herald: education and recruitment. The Regional Heralds will be working with local groups to encourage heraldic workshops, consultation tables, and other opportunities for more people to learn and practice heraldry.

Heraldry — be it the use of names, the display of armory, or the pageantry of Court and tournaments — is one of the primary ways of making what we do in the SCA feel more “real.” Just as a fighter likes their kit to be authentic, or someone who makes garb wants to get the garment right, or a scribe wants their scroll to look like it came out of a medieval manuscript, we heralds love to see banners hanging in the hall, and we love to hear names ring loud and clear through the hall. More than anything, though, we love to teach others what we’ve learned and encourage people to love heraldry as much as we do.

Why not give it a try?

All photos not otherwise credited are by Mistress Arianna of Wynthrope.

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Who Are the Heralds, and What Do They Do?

06 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by aethgazette in Heraldry

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Heraldry, Silver Buccle

EKOFFICERS_herald_colorUnto the Kingdom of Æthelmearc, greetings from Kameshima Silver Buccle!

Those of you who were at Crown Tournament this past weekend may have seen a number of people in heraldic tabards. You may have even recognized the designs on some of those tabards as being the badges of the awards of Æthelmearc. Ever wonder what those mean, and what those people wearing those tabards do? Maybe you might even be interested in becoming a herald yourself, and having one of those to call your very own? Well, read on!

Silver Buccle Principal Herald: The Principal Herald is responsible for overseeing all heraldic activities within the Kingdom, including education, submission and registration of names and devices, keeping the Order of Precedence, etc. Unlike in most Kingdoms, in Æthelmearc the Principal Herald is also the primary Court Herald for the King and Queen, responsible for conducting the business of Their Majesties’ Courts. (In most Kingdoms, the Principal Herald has a deputy who is responsible for conducting Court, which means that skill in vocal heraldry is not a requirement for the job of Principal Herald. If a future Principal Herald does not want to conduct the business of Kingdom Court, such a deputy could certainly be named.) Once every three months, Silver Buccle must submit a report to the Laurel Sovereign of Arms (the head herald of the SCA) detailing the heraldic activities within Æthelmearc.

Silver Buccle’s tabard bears the arms of the Kingdom because when they are wearing that tabard, they are speaking as the Voice of the Royalty. Silver Buccle is the only person other than the King and Queen who is allowed to wear the Kingdom Arms.

Deputy Titles and Positions: When each new Principal Herald assumes the office, they have the option to change the duties or title of any deputy. However, the Æthelmearc College of Heralds has traditionally used the following titles for the following deputy offices, and why mess with what works?

Regional Deputies: Silver Buccle has a Regional Deputy in each of the 5 Regions of the Kingdom. (Not sure which region you live in? Look here.) These Regional Deputies are responsible for overseeing heraldic activity in their area, encouraging the interest and education of new heralds in their area, and reporting activity within their area to Silver Buccle to help create the quarterly report to Laurel. In addition, the Regional Deputies may be given “right of first refusal” to conduct Courts in their region when Silver Buccle cannot attend. The Regional Deputies are Millrind Herald (Region 1), Gage Herald (Region 2), Scarlet Guard Herald (Region 3), White Horn Herald (Region 4) and Fleur d’Æthelmearc Herald (Region 5).

Sigil Herald: Sigil Herald is the emergency deputy to Silver Buccle. If Silver Buccle is for some reason unable to fulfill the duties of the position, it will fall to Sigil to fill in until a suitable replacement can be named by the King and Queen. Usually, Sigil is either the previous Silver Buccle, or someone who is very strongly interested in being the next Silver Buccle.

Garnet Herald: Garnet Herald is responsible for managing the submission process for names and armory within the Kingdom. Garnet (with the help of their deputy,

Cornelian Herald – the job is usually too big for one person!) collects all the submissions made to Æthelmearc every month and creates an Internal Letter of Intent which is available for heralds within Æthelmearc to comment on. Garnet and Cornelian then decide whether items should get returned in-Kingdom for further work, or get listed on an External Letter of Intent which is sent to the Sovereigns of Arms for further commentary and, ultimately, registration or return.

Golden Alce Herald: Golden Alce Herald is responsible for keeping the Order of Precedence (or “OP,” available here.), which is the listing of all the awards that subjects of Æthelmearc have received from royalty here and abroad. This information is crucial for anyone who wants to recommend someone to Their Majesties for an award, and is available in several different orderings to help you find exactly who you’re looking for, what awards they’ve received and when they got them.

Keystone Herald: Keystone Herald is the Education Deputy, responsible for encouraging new people to come and learn the basics of heraldry, as well as offering opportunities to experienced heralds to broaden their knowledge of the heraldic arts. Keystone is responsible for organizing heraldic classes for the Æthelmearc Heralds & Scribes Symposium and Æthelmearc Æcademy.

Sycamore Herald: Sycamore Herald is the Tournament Deputy, responsible for organizing heralds to assist with the Crown Tournament, Queen’s Rapier Champion Tournament, and any other tournaments that would benefit from the pageantry of heraldic announcement.

Seedling Pursuivant: Seedling Herald is responsible for maintaining the Shield Trees that we use during Crown Tournament. This job involves regular maintenance to the physical tree hardware, as well as creating new shields for new entrants to Crown Tournament, or entrants who have recently registered arms with the College of Arms.

Jewel of Æthelmearc Herald: Jewel of Æthelmearc Herald (or “Jewel Herald” for short) is the Consultation Deputy. Depending on where Jewel and Garnet decide to draw the line, Jewel can be responsible for organizing and executing Heraldic Consultation Tables within the Kingdom, or if that is an obligation that Garnet would rather handle, Jewel will serve as the primary point of contact for those gentles who cannot attend a consultation table and would rather receive help in designing and documenting their name and armory through online means.

Silent Heraldry Deputy (no title at present): The Silent Heraldry Deputy is responsible for organizing Silent Heraldry (ASL interpretation) for Kingdom Courts, as well as educating other heralds who have an interest in learning this skill. After many years left vacant, the Silent Heraldry position was recently re-introduced in Æthelmearc, and we hope to see the program grow and flourish.

Golden Thorn Herald: Golden Thorn is the College Webminister, responsible for maintaining the College’s Web presence and working closely with Golden Alce Herald to maintain the online OP. Depending on how much of the work Golden Thorn wants to undertake directly and how much they want to delegate, very little heraldic knowledge is actually necessary to do this job, though it does require being a warranted Webminister.

College Exchequer (no title at present): The College Exchequer is responsible for maintaining the financial records of the College. This generally involves receiving and depositing checks from consultation tables, issuing a check to the Laurel Sovereign of Arms office periodically, issuing reimbursements to Æthelmearc heralds for expenses related to their heraldic duties, and issuing a report to Silver Buccle Herald and the College Financial Committee. Much like the College Webminister, this position does not actually involve any heraldic knowledge, though it does require being a warranted Exchequer.

At Crown Tournament, Their Majesties Timothy and Gabrielle renewed my term as Silver Buccle for another two years. With the beginning of this term, I would like to help people who have an interest in learning and growing into these positions to do so. If you have any questions about any of these positions, or you read one and thought “Hey, now, that’s the job for me!” contact me via email at ae.herald@aethelmearc.org.

In Honor and Service,

Kameshima Zentarō Umakai

高貴国境の王国の治部卿

Silver Buccle Principal Herald, Kingdom of Æthelmearc

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