Heraldry

[Aodhan Ite an Fhithich]

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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