[ANSTHRLD] Heraldic staff

Jay Rudin rudin at ev1.net
Sat Feb 7 06:47:44 PST 2004


An Unofficial and Thoroughly Incomplete Early History of Heraldic Staffs in
Ansteorra

When I became a herald in the 1970s, heralds were expected to carry a staff
and wear the crossed trumpets -- as a baldric if a cornet, a tabard if a
Pursuivant Extraordinary, a cloak if a Pursuivant, etc.  Of course, you only
wore them when heralding court and making announcements.

Heralding court meant holding a staff and simply remembering what business
you had to do.  It wasn't that hard; there were usually only  three to five
pieces of business, and the Crown would often prompt you.  Often, the Crown
didn't even tell you the business in advance.  They'd say "Call up Tessa,"
and you'd announce "Will Her Excellency, Viscountess Tessa of the Gardens
come before Their Majesties."  (No, not Countess -- not yet.)  One of the
measures of a good herald was the ability to immediately announce the proper
name and title.  You still wouldn't know what was being given, until the
Crown handed you the scroll -- on those occasions when a scroll was even
present. I received scrolls with only three of my first eight awards.  (I
try to say "charter" rather than "scroll" these days, because a scroll means
something to roll up, but rolling it up is exactly what the new armiger
usually did back then.)

Heralding the field meant carrying a staff and the stack of 3"x5"cards --
loose, but in order of the fights.  Sometimes you'd borrow a marshal's
rattan staff, just to have a staff.  Flipping through the cards required
both hands, and we all got moderatetely proficient at leaning the staff
against our shoulder while doing so.

When we got court books, the staffs disappeared.  That was too much to
juggle.  If I had a staff today, I'd probably use it to open court, then put
it down and pick up the book.  I still know how to lean it against my
shoulder, but a herald with a tabard and book looks properly official, and
any other business is unnecessary.

And the cloaks with crossed trumpets on them?  Well, that dates back to the
fact that the herald of the first May Day tournament was Harold Greencloak,
so everybody assumed that OF COURSE heralds wore green cloaks.

Robin of Gilwell / Jay Rudin
The Wizard of Arms




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