Heraldry
Aodhan Ite an Fhithich
aodhan at dobharchu.org
Wed Apr 5 21:40:08 PDT 1995
Dia duit!
[Replying to a message of Leslie Miller to All]
LM> Isn't it Duke Lloyd who has a diamondback rattlesnake as part of his
LM> device? And somebody has a scorpion... and the Barony of Eldern
LM> Hills has a buffalo as part of theirs... Duchess Rowan has a polar
LM> bear... So Western hmispheric *critters* seem to be widely
LM> acceptable and frequently used. (I'm assuming that you're talking
LM> heraldry here, and not actual people.)
Re: rattlesnakes and buffalo (specifically the American Bison). Vasquez de
Coronado explored New Mexico and Arizona in 1540 (New York Library Desk
Reference, 2nd. ed., p. 880) and would have encoutnered *many* rattlesnakes
and buffalo, so they were not *unknown* to Europeans in period, however I
doubt they would have considered them for use in their armory within period.
There were buffalo (water buffalo) known to Europeans. In the specific case
of Duke Lloyd's arms, these were registered in 1980; we are not obligated to
repeat past mistakes.
Re: scorpions. Every hear of the Zodiacal Constellation Scorpius? So named
by the Greeks because of its obvious resemblance to a scorpion? If scorpions
are not actually indigenous to Europe, the Crusaders certainly became fatally
familiar with them.
Re: polar bears. Ever hear of the Rus or the Vikings?? Guess what sort of
bear they were most likely to run across.
LM> I think I've seen actual period
LM> arms that had supporters which were Native Americans holding spears
LM> (when I was in Denmark, perhaps), so they might go for your Maori
LM> king.
What you probably saw was a "savage" or a "wild man". The former, in
particular, was used as a supporter in period by the Earls of Errol (A
Pictorial Dictionary of Heraldry, 2nd. ed., under entry for Human Figure). As
I stated in my reply to the post to which you were replying, the first
European did not visit New Zealand until 1642, so a Maori king would certainly
not be allowed.
LM> I mainly just wanted to point out that non-continental
LM> animals are used fairly often in SCA heraldry.
Two citations do not constitute a trend.
Feicfidh me' ari's thu',
Aodhan
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Baron Aodhan Ite an Fhithich aodhan at dobharchu.org
Master of the Laurel Lough na Dobharchu' BBS 1-713-338-2570
Dobharchu' Herald "Your Information Roman Road"
mka David H. Brummel 1:106/22 180:11/22 762:2200/2
SCA Member 02245 Barony of Loch Soilleir, Ansteorra
http://www.phoenix.net/~dbrummel
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plummety sable and argent on a sun of eight rays or a feather bendwise
sinister sable
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