ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1336 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1336 ************************************ 30 Oct 1998 From: (Josh Mittleman) Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the name , which you'd like to use for a woman in 16th century Scotland. You also asked our opinion of your arms. Here is what we have found. Before I start, I'd like to clarify the service that the Academy offers. We try to help Societyfolk in choosing and using names that fit the historical cultures they are trying to re-create. Our research can sometimes be used to support submissions to the College of Arms, but that it not our goal and our results are often incompatible with the College's needs. If your main goal is to register a particular name and arms, then we may not be able to help you. In your period, there were two languages spoken in Scotland: Gaelic, spoken in the Highlands, and Scots, spoken in the Lowlands and the towns. Gaelic is the same language spoken in Ireland at this time; Scots is closely related to contemporary English. Names were formed quite differently in the two languages, and the two styles of naming did not mix. Therefore, the culture you choose for your persona will determine how your name should be constructed. is a modern Scottish name, but we find no evidence that it was used in our period. In English, or is a pet form of , recorded as early as the 13th century. or probably also originated as pet forms of , though all these names were also influenced by the word , the name of a flower that was an important Christian symbol. was used in Scotland in the 16th century, however it is important to note that it was a Scots name, not Gaelic [1, 2]. is an English form of the Irish Gaelic surname or (two spellings of the same name) [3]. Both forms mean "son of Aodh". is a Scots or English form of the same Gaelic name as used in Scotland. The name appears in 16th century Scots records in a variety of spellings [4]: McCay 1506 Makie 1558 Makkcee 1506 M'Akie 1559 Maky 1513 Makky 1567 Makke 1538 McKe 1575 McKe 1538 Mackkye 1588 Makhe 1538 Makkie 1600 In Gaelic in your period, surnames were still used literally: A man called was the son of a man whose given name was . ( is the possessive form of , just as is the possessive of in English.) The modern practice of using surnames to indicate clan membership didn't exist in period. It is an 18th or 19th century development. A woman would never have been called -anything; it wouldn't have made sense. Aodh's daughter Ealusaid would have been called . The word means "daughter", just as means "son". It was pronounced \IN-yen\. In Scots, by the 16th century, some surnames came to be used as inherited surnames , so that the daughter of a man named might have been called . The surname still carries no suggestion of clan membership; it just means that Ellene's father's surname was . Since was used in 16th century Scots, a name like would be an appropriate choice for your period. is not correct, since is not a Gaelic name. Names were written either in Gaelic or in Scots, not both together. could only have been spelled this way in a Gaelic context; but in a Gaelic context a woman could not have been called -anything. If you want a Gaelic name, then you'll need to choose a Gaelic given name. Unfortunately, there is limited evidence of Gaelic women's names in Scotland. Gaelic was rarely used as a written language in Scotland, and women's names were recorded less often than men's. We have collected a short list of Scottish Gaelic women's names that we've found in use in period. You can find it on-line: Some Scottish Gaelic Feminine Names http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/arval/scotgaelfem/ We can supplement this list with names found in Ireland. We can't be certain that those names were also used in Scotland, but it's not an unreasonable supposition. We don't find any Irish names that sound much like or , but if you'd like to consider some other names, we'll be happy to send you a list. Let us know what letter or sound you'd like your name to start with. Thank you for sending the drawing of your design for your arms. While it is a lovely design, we're afraid that it really isn't anything like period heraldic arms. Beasts and monsters in period heraldry were drawn in a few standard postures, chosen to fit well into the shield-shaped background most often used for heraldry and to show off the beast's identity to best advantage. The lion rampant, for example, fits neatly into the shield and displays the shape of the body, the four limbs, the head, and the tail. While your dragon is very stylish, it is a modern artistic style, not one appropriate to a re-creation of 16th century heraldry. Dragons were rare in Scottish heraldry in your period. The earliest Scottish examples of dragons that we've found are two wyverns (two-legged dragons, one without wings) in a 16th century roll of arms [5]. The four-legged winged dragon does not appear in British arms until quite late in our period and we haven't found it in Scottish arms until well after our period [6]. As you work on your arms, you may find it helpful to look at examples of arms from your period, so that you can see what sort of designs were used. Here are a few books that contains pictures of arms that you can use as models for your re-creation. Pinches, Rosemary and Anthony Wood, _A European Armorial: An Armorial of Knights of the Golden Fleece and 15th Century Europe_ (London: Heraldry Today, 1971). This book contains arms from all over Europe, but they are organized by country and there is a section of Scottish arms. Foster, Joseph, _The Dictionary of Heraldry_ (New York: Arch Cape Press, 1989). The examples in this book are from England and a bit earlier than your period, but it's still a good reference. It contains several thousand color drawings of arms from period English rolls of arms. We know a couple other books which contains lots of pictures of 16th century Scottish arms, but they're not widely available. If you can find copies, you'll probably find these useful. Stodart, R. R., _Scottish Arms_, 2 vols (Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1881). Lindsay, David, Sir, _Fac simile of an ancient heraldic manuscript, emblazoned by Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount 1542_, ed. David Laing (Edinburgh: W. Patterson, 1878). 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 Zenobia Naphtali. For the Academy, Arval Benicoeur 30 Oct 1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - References [1] Morgan, Peadar, _Ainmean Chloinne: Scottish Gaelic Names for Children_ (Scotland: Taigh na Teud Music Publishers, 1989). [2] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). [3] MacLysaght, Edward, _The Surnames of Ireland_ (Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd., 1985, ISBN 0-7165-2366-3), s.n. MacCoy. [4] Black, George F., _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_, (New York: The New York Public Library, 1986), s.n. MacKay. [5] Stodart, R. R., _Armorial de Berry_.Stodart, R. R., _Scottish Arms_, 2 vols (Edinburgh: William Paterson, 1881). [6] Dennys, Rodney, _The Heraldic Imagination_ (New York: Clarkson and Potter Inc., 1975), p.119]