ANSTHRLD - Conflict Check and Name question

Teceangl tierna at agora.rdrop.com
Tue Apr 11 21:33:39 PDT 2000


> I need help checking a device for conflicts. The blazon is Per Saltire sable
> and Ermine a cross bottony (sp?)

Spelling is fine, you only need to capitalize the first word in the blazon 
(SCA standard is that only Or gets the capital letter), and we'll need a
tincture for that cross before it can be checked.
 
> Also, I am trying to submit my name as Rufus Guthrie. The persona would be
> lowland Scots Late 14th Century. Would Rufus be to early? I can find a
> source saying William II was nicknamed Rufus approx. 1118. Is there too much
> of a gap here?

Lowland??  Cool!
Guthrie is great.  Black's _The Surnames of Scotland_ has a large entry on 
the name, dating it first from 1299, through the middle ages after that, and
giving quite a few alternative spellings throughout.  No worries on that,
the spelling "Guthrie" is dated 1299, 1348, 1388, the spelling "Guthre" is
found in 1464 and 1473, and back to "Gutherie" in 1624.  Your chosen spelling
should be very acceptible for the late 14th century (see 1388 dating above).

Rufus, unfortunately, is a problem.  It seems to have been used exclusively 
as a nickname before the 19th c.  You could then be <Something> Rufus Guthrie,
but Rufus won't fly as a medieval personal name.  Allow me to suggest the
article "13th & 14th Century Scottish Names" at
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/symonFreser/scottish14/
as a place to peruse dated Scottish names which would make good personal
names.

Here's what the Academy of Saint Gabriel had to say on <Rufus>:
   <Rufus> was originally a Latin byname meaning 'red(-haired)'; it
   survived as a rare surname at least into the 19th century. [3]
   We have no evidence that it was used as a given name much before
   the 19th century [4].  Therefore, we cannot recommend that your
   friend uses <Rufus> as a given name, no matter what his hair
   color is.

   [3] Bardsley, Charles, _A Dictionary of English and Welsh
   Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1980);
   s.n. Rufus.

   [4] Dunkling, Leslie and William Gosling, _The New American
   Dictionary of First Names_ (New York: Signet Books, 1983); s.n.
   Rufus.

Of course, a man with a very common personal name, like Ihon (John) or
William or Thomas, would most likely be known by his nickname more than
his given name for the same reasons that modern men named John or Robert
often have nicknames.  So the name "William Rufus Guthrie" is not only
a fine Scottish Lowlands name for the late 14th century, it's also one
which would result in the bearer being called Rufus to difference him
from all those other Williams out there.

- Teceangl
-- 
                Gwell car yn y llys nag aur ar fys
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