Re: MR: Banter: bagpipes, AOAs, etc.

[edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Ed Hopkins)]

Poster: edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Ed Hopkins)

Bryn y Pobydd asks:
>  [...] since I don't have an AOA, and I was in court with my
> "weapons of war", am I in trouble?

When an Award of Arms scroll says the recipient now has
"the right to bear arms", it is NOT referring to weapons,
but rather to a particular heraldic coat of arms, which
would in fact be blazoned right after the word "arms" in
the scroll if the recipient had bother to have a device
registered.  Since he or she didn't, there's a big blank
spot in the scroll at that point.  If you listen closely,
you can hear the herald give a brief moment of silence
for the missing blazon before going on to the rest of the
scroll.

Where I came from, in the East, _everyone_ called before the
Crown would ceremoniously disarm himself or herself
before approaching the thrones.  Even people with A's O A.
On the other hand, ladies called into court would often
walk up to the thrones without a male escort.  Go figure.

I have a theory that the phrase "the right to bear arms"
in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution also is
referring to heraldic coats of arms.  Let me put the
question to the melee fighters in the Merry Rose: are
heraldic devices helpful in maintaining "a well-regulated
militia"?

-- Alfredo
 
Alfredo el Bufon
Elvegast, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia
edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com
______________________________________

A man held a makework political job, polishing the cannon in front of the
county courthouse. It kept him fed and let him put a little money aside,
but he wasn't getting ahead in the world. So one day he withdrew his life's
savings, bought a brass cannon -- and went into business for himself.
   -- Robert A. Heinlein, _The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress_

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