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Re: Laird




Poster: Robert J Welenc <rjwelenc@erols.com>

At 12:25 PM 2/1/99 EST, JBRMM266@aol.com wrote:
>
>Poster: JBRMM266@aol.com
>
>In a message dated 99-02-01 11:05:13 EST, cosby@erols.com writes:
>
><< I saw the term "Laird" prefixing a title.  When I looked it up,
expecting
>it to mean Lord, I found out it meant Landholder. (Source:  The
Writer's Guide
>to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages.)  I still am surprised.  Can
anyone
>confirm that laird
> indeed means landholder?   >>
>
>Responded to privately
>
>~Donal

If it please you, my lord, respond publicly!  I too would be
interested in the answer.

While the Writer's Guide mentioned above was written by a SCAdian, in
my opinion it is a very poor source.  The author is trying to cover
much too much ground too skimpily. Many of her statements are either
flat-out wrong or are so poorly written that they will do nothing but
confuse her readers.

For only one example, in the heraldry section she states:

Segreant -- a rampant griffin.

Someone with no more than passing knowledge of heraldry might take
this to mean that 'segreant' is another name for 'griffin', leading
to a passage like "The black banner with its white segreant flapped
in the wind."  

In fact, segreant is a *posture* common for winged monsters like
griffins -- up on one hind foot with the other three clawing at the
air (rampant), wings erect and back to back (addorsed) behind it.
Had the lady run that section by her local herald (or better yet, her
kingdom herald) it would be much  more useful.

Similar misinformation is (if you will pardon the expression) rampant
throughout the book.  The best things about it are the bibliography
lists at the end of each section.  Go straight to those and skip the
rest of the book.

Alanna
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