Re: Family arms, OOP

[Kim.Salazar@em.doe.gov]

    As an aside, I'm no herald (nor have I played one on T.V.)
    but on the issue of these family arms history companies - I'm
    not at all sure of the integrity and quality of their research.
    If your mundane name is "Richards", they find a historical
    family with arms of the same name and provide you with their
    blazon.  As far as I can tell, no investigations of any
    real-world linkage occurs.

    Perhaps my skepticism has been fueled by Don Fernando's
    experience.  Mundanely, Don Fernando Salazar y Perez is just
    "Fernando Salazar" (if you've got a documentable period name,
    why change it?)  In Ancient Times, he and (then) Stephen
    Silverwing invented out of thin air the arms that Fernando
    finally got registered.  They consulted no historic sources -
    just let their creativity run.  The design they came up with
    was (pardon my bad heraldese):

    Sable, seme of estoilles of seven, argent, within a bordure
    embattled argent.  [Translation:  a black field with lots of
    wavy-armed silver stars with seven points insdie a silver
    embattled border].

    About two years ago we received an offer from one of these
    heraldry by mail places offering us the "ancient and honorable
    arms of the Salazar family as registered in England."  At first
    we scoffed at the thought of Salazars in England, then opened
    the envelope.  There inside was something suspiciously like
    Fernando's SCA arms:  Sable, seme of estoiles of seven argent.
    No bordure.  I can't beleive it was a coincidence.  The "stars
    over the battlements" idea has personal significance, and was
    not modeled on anything out of source material.

    I went drawer diving for the letter recently, and was not
    been able to find it.  I cannot recall the name of the company
    involved.  Neither can some of Fernando's brothers who received
    the same thing (and recognized his arms).  How did the SCA
    charge "migrate" out into the real world?  How can this company
    flog it?


    -Ianthe                     kim.salazar@em.doe.gov
    (heradicaly impaired but curious none-the-less)