[ANSTHRLD] Pursuivants/Heralds at Large

Paul E. Kiefer, Jr. rapierman at yahoo.com
Sun Nov 2 21:19:55 PST 2008


Honestly, I'd want there to be a test, with a requirement to repeat at certain intervals.  However, one must keep in mind that there are rare individuals that transcend whatever limits a structure could contain, and thus are assumed to be "permanently affixed within the pantheon" (for lack of a better phrase).

As to the ones who are simply in to get the "merit badge", I'd have to question their dedication, not in terms of their determination to get the badge, but in terms of being the best they can be, in terms of their commitment, and in terms of making heraldry the best possible.

As an example, in my mundane job, there are minimum production standards and quality levels that I must meet.  Sure, I can choose to achieve just those levels, but I prefer to go beyond them.  Why?  The answer is:  I am very dedicated, not just to the job that I perform, but to achieve the best level of expertise in my field and to maintain, even improve, that level of expertise.  I am driven to improve, to succeed, to be the best I can be, and then get better.  Obsessive?  Perhaps, but that's because I care about the work I perform, and, at every turn, I constantly watch for ways to improve the system, because millions of people depend on the work I and my fellow co-workers do, and I hope that each and every one of them have the same dedication.

I approach heraldry the same way I approach my mundane job, and I certainly hope that whoever I work with will take the same approach (and I do find that there are such heralds that are similarly dedicated, perhaps even moreso than I), because there are people, even though not on the same scale, that depend on us.  Because of that, it is my duty to improve, to strive for a certain level of quality, to ask questions where necessary, and to see if there are ways to improve things.

But how do you quantify this expertise combined with the dedication necessary?  The PE exam was probably designed to answer that question.  Like all things, it could stand improvement; but if it produces a person with a high level of expertise, then it's accomplishing part of its job...

...but how do you measure commitment, drive or dedication?  That's something that can't easily be quantified in a test.  Perhaps Tostig's answer could shed some light here.

Lord Johann Kiefer Haydon (Paul E. Kiefer, Jr.)
Plain ol' herald (and tax man)
(...dedicated fellow that he is....)



----- Original Message ----
From: robert segrest <aumbob at yahoo.com>
To: heralds at lists.ansteorra.org
Sent: Sunday, November 2, 2008 3:44:20 PM
Subject: Re: [ANSTHRLD] Pursuivants/Heralds at Large

I've only partially followed this discussion, and never saw the original tests but:

Daniel said
"Actually, I think the realer question is this: what would we want to
accomplish with such a system?

- Identify people who can and are expected to fill in as roving
  submissions heralds now that branch heralds are no longer entirely
  mandatory, as I first assumed from the question?

- Reward people who are learned so as to reward learning and thereby
  cause more of it, as "learning enough to pass the test and earn the
  merit badge became a goal for lots of people", as Robin suggested
  was the purpose in the past?

- Identify people's specialties so that they can be "listed as a
  source deputy to the appropriate regional herald for assistance
  in the area of heraldry for which they passed the test", as I later
  noticed Star had actually written?

My knee-jerk reactions for each purpose were "branch heralds' test",
"award recommendations for Sable Thistles", and "the marketplace of
ideas called the Ansteorran Heralds' List", respectively ...

but maybe other people can think of other purposes or can argue that
my knee-jerks are not useful for purpose."


While his points are valid, I can see at least one other legitimate use for a system of testing and identifying Heralds at Large.  Clients frequently consult with heralds other than their branch herald (i.e. Heralds at Large).  The client usually knows very little about the college of heralds.  Most of us have heard some of the ridiculous advice given by "heralds" unquote whose primary qualification as for the title herald is that they were a branch herald in 1982.  Even for those of us who attempt to keep our hand in, heraldically speaking, it isn't that hard to get tripped up on our facts from time to time.  A series of tests that established qualifications levels in different aspects of heraldry, combined with expiration dates for those qualifications if not renewed, would at least allow a few clients to be able to discern the sheep from the goats as it were.  It might also allow heralds to recognize some of their own shortcomings as their
 knowledge
passes out of date or their familiarity wanes do to lack of use.

This may or may not justify the administrative investment that such a system would entail, but I do think it weigh on these considerations.

Fattiopap Laszlo
Officeless Herald of Undefined Status



      
_______________________________________________
Heralds mailing list
Heralds at lists.ansteorra.org
http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/heralds-ansteorra.org



      



More information about the Heralds mailing list