Christmas Greetings from the Committee

Heraldry at the Scots College, Rome

TRH the Duke & Duchess of Gloucester with Father John Hughes, Rector 

On St Andrew's Day, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited the Scots College in Rome to view the Stuart memorabilia. While there, they visited the new Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart Lecture Theatre and unveiled a print of the Cardinal's coat of arms, the use of which was kindly donated by the owner, the Comitato Enrico Cardinale Stuart, and the artist, Marco Foppoli. During the ceremony, the Duke of Gloucester made diplomatic reference to his royal "cousin".

Salve

We welcome Mr H. MacDougall of York.

St Andrews University 600

The much-anticipated Human Coat of Arms of the University as part of its 600th anniversary took place this afternoon in St Salvator's Quad:

Salve

We welcome Mr I. Laurie, of Elgin.

Arms of Dr.Douglas Files

Here is the splendid coat of arms of Douglas Files, beautifully painted by Laurent Granier. The arms are recorded with the American College of Heraldry.

Salve

Welcome to Dr. T. Spaulding of Louisville, Kentucky.

Human Coat of Arms for St Andrews 600

A large number of students and staff will assemble this afternoon on St Salvator's Quad as part of St Andrews University's 600 anniversary celebrations. A brilliant idea, real photograph to follow.
http://your600th.net/student-ideas/human-coat-of-arms/

Stop press: Human Coat of Arms postponed until wednesday 7th November due to inclement weather

Kenneth Trist Urquhart of Urquhart RIP

We record with sadness the death of one of our members, Kenneth Trist Urquhart, 27th Hereditary Chief of Clan Urquhart, who died on October 17th. A memorial service will be held on December 28th in Harahan, Louisiana. R.I.P. Mike MacKenzie MSP led a tribute to him in the Scottish Parliament:
"That the Parliament pays tribute to Kenneth Trist Urquhart, the 27th hereditary
 Chief of the Clan Urquhart, who sadly passed away on 17 October ..."

Cardinal Henry Benedict Lecture Room

The Pontifical Scots College, Rome, has recently opened a new lecture room dedicated to a former Cardinal Protector of the College, Henry Benedict Stuart, Duke of York. His portrait and coat of arms will decorate the room. Here is a version of his arms painted by Max Marnau. While there are other superb versions by Marco Foppoli and Andrew Jamieson, they both chose to use the English form of the royal arms.

 

As part of their training for the priesthood, the Scottish seminarians now have an annual Mass in the Cripta Borghese under the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, to this day the burial place of the Borghese family, and the tomb of the Scots College's founder, Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini, whose arms, as they appear on the ceiling of San Giovanni in Laterano are given below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salve

We welcome a new member. Michael T. McAlpin of Alpharetta, Georgia. His Arms, issued at the Lyon Court, July 10th 2008, are:

Salve

We welcome another new member, Robert Gillespie of Blackhall OBE. Here are his Arms, which await a pendant badge for his OBE.

Karl, Cardinal Becker SJ

The Jesuit theologian, Father Karl Becker SJ, was created Cardinal-Deacon of San Giuliano Martire on February 9th 2012. He is one of the intellectual giants of the Church and a long-standing friend and supporter of the Pontifical Scots College in Rome.  Here is my attempt at "painting" his chosen coat of Arms - he is not a bishop so no cross is required behind the shield:

Yvonne Holton, Dingwall Pursuivant

We were all delighted to hear on Saturday that an HSS member, Yvonne Holton, Dingwall Pursuivant and Painter to the Lyon Court, had won the prestigious International Heraldry Award for creating the heraldic art-work the committee adjudged, against stiff competition from a dozen or so other international artists, to be the finest submission of this year. The Award consists of a commemorative medal and the sum of 5,000 € for the laureate and is presented by de Moffarts Foundation, founded by Baron André de Moffarts (1925–2004), at the International Congress: Yvonne received her award in Maastricht.

Lecture - Saturday 29th September 2012

John Gaylor started the heraldic year very well for us with a stimulating talk on “Armory and Computer Aided Drawing“. John's rapid pictorial responses to questions on the Forum have long impressed us and he explained he had arrived at being what he humbly describes as an heraldic "draftsman" by way of Autocad software he had previously used in business as a cartographer. He made no claims to competition with brush-and-pencil artists but he did show us many ways in which the computer artist can experiment with proportions and styles and can do so quickly and economically. Indeed some heraldic artists try out their ideas first in computer graphics before putting brush or pen to parchment.

Our youngest member

Our youngest member, Julian Tristan Zrenner from Germany sends us the enclosed snap of the Arms of Castille and Leon on board the full-scale galleon which was built for the film "Pirates" of Roman Polanski in a shipyard in the village of Port El Kantaoui, Tunisia, adjacent to the Tarak Ben Ammar Studios. An accurate replica above the waterline, but sporting a steel hull and a 400 HP auxiliary engine, the "Neptune" was and still is entered into the Tunisian naval register and is currently a tourist attraction in the port of Genoa where Julian Tristan photographed it.

 

Arms of Brian Lambie

Brian  Lambie M.B.E., F.S.A. SCOT. and Churchill  Fellow.
      Date of matriculation 3rd June 1976.

Archbishop Tartaglia

The new archbishop of Glasgow, Most Rev. Philip Tartaglia, will be enthroned tomorrow, Our Lady's Birthday, at St Andrew's Metropolitan Cathedral, Glasgow.

I have had a go at cobbling together the revised version of his Grace's Arms - the bezants should actually be "barley loaves" in line with the parable of the loaves and the fishes. The arms were designed by Monsignor Charlie Burns, who is a Canon of St Peter's Basilica. I like the Glaswegian fish with the ring in its mouth.

Members' Countries September 2012

Salvete

We welcome five new members to the Society:
Ms R. Kent from Smyrna, Georgia, USA,
Dr R Devine from Fort Worth, Texas.
Lt Col. I. Shepherd from Edinburgh,
Mr D. Bellamy of Newark, Notts.

We are especially delighted to welcome a new Junior Member - Julian Tristan Zrenner from Bavaria.

We do not have a lot going on for younger members in the HSS so I propose to start an online newsletter directed at a younger age-group but which might also be useful for people who have just discovered an interest in Heraldry. All contributions welcomed!

Salve

Ms R. Kent, New York.

Membership Subscriptions

Membership Subscriptions are due on April 1st. The new rate is £35 per annum.

You can pay by Paypal here

Alternatively, you might prefer to pay by Standing Order; the form for this can be downloaded HERE..

Or you can send a cheque, payable to "The Heraldry Society of Scotland" to:
Liam Devlin
Membership Secretary HSS,
93 Lomondside Ave
Clarkston
Glasgow G76 7UH

However you pay your subscription, if you are a UK taxpayer, you can greatly increase its value to the Society at no cost to yourself if you fill in and return a Gift Aid form. It can be found HERE.
Overseas members may need the following information for bank transfers:
IBAN no: GB50 RBOS 8306 0800 1759 11
BIC reference: RBOSGB2L

Archbishops of Glasgow

A new Archbishop of Glasgow, Most Rev. Philip Tartaglia, will be enthroned on Our Lady's birthday, September 8th. Here is his coat of arms which illustrates the biblical text of the Loaves and the Fishes, one of the fish bearing the ring from the legend of St Mungo. As the text is seen as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, Archbishop Tartaglia has chosen a text from the Benediction hymn, O Salutaris Hostia of St Thomas Aquinas as his motto: "Give strength, give help". His arms were designed by Monsignor Charles Burns, formerly of the Diocese of Paisley and now a Canon of St Peter's, Rome.

The former archbishop, Most Rev. Mario Conti, for long a member of the Society, continues to live in Glasgow. His coat of arms, based on the ancient Conti arms of Italy, was designed by Archbishop Heim and revised by the Lord Lyon on the grounds, apparently, that a field chequy is not encouraged in Scottish heraldry. Here is the version of Archbishop Conti's arms by Marco Foppoli:

Salve

We welcome another new member: R.K. Cameron, Edinburgh.

Blazon Competition (sort of...)

Would anyone care to have a go at a blazon for this lovely achievement from Nova Mutum, Brazil? Boa sorte!

Jamaican Independence

On Monday 6th August, Jamaica celebrated 50 years of independence, with Olympic gold medals in the men’s and women’s 100m sprints giving them further cause for celebration. Granted by Royal Warrant in 1661, Jamaica’s coat of arms features pineapples on the shield, and a crocodile in the crest.

Programme 2012-2013

Once again Mr Mallinson has produced an excellent programme for the new session:
Saturday 29th September 2012
Armory and Computer Aided Drawing - John Gaylor, Esq.
Saturday 27th October 2012
The St Andrews Fund for Scots Heraldry 2001 – 2011 - Charles Burnett, Esq. Ross Herald Extraordinary
Saturday 1st December 2012 St Andrew Lecture 2.00pm Why do we build heraldry? Taking Alexander Marshall Mackenzie's example - Gordon Casely, Esq.
followed by
St. Andrew Dinner - 7.00pm for 7.45pm - Speaker: John Malden, Esq. , Unicorn Pursuivant
Black Tie & Decorations - Royal Scots Club, Abercromby Place, Edinburgh.
Saturday 19th January 2013 The Lymphad of the Isles and the Origin of Somerled: Second Thoughts on Moncreiffe’s Theory - Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard
Saturday 23rd February 2013 The College of Arms during the Second World War - Peter O'Donoghue, Esq, - York Herald
Saturday 30th March 2013 The Guardians of Chivalry: Medieval Heralds and their Legacy - Dr. Katie Stevenson, Lecturer in late medieval history - University of St. Andrews
Saturday 27th April 2013
Excursion to Aberdeen. Details to follow.
Saturday 25th May 2013
AK Bell Library Theatre, Perth - 11.00am Members Miscellany 2.00pm - Annual General Meeting AK Bell Library Theatre, Perth.

President of the American Heraldry Society

Many congratulations to HSS member, Joseph McMillan, who has been elected President of the American Heraldry Society.

Olympic heraldry

For the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the IOC issued a large series of FDCs from countries that issued stamps for the Olympics. For each country one FDC was made, showing an heraldic design and one of the stamps.
Strangely, the heraldic design was rarely identical to the national arms of the country, but most often a new design, which sometimes did not even bear a resemblance with the official arms.
Every FDC had an inlet describing the country, its history in the Olympics as well as the base of the heraldic design. Here is the Belgian one:

Salve

Another new member, the Kungliga Biblioteket of Berghman, Finland. Good to see our publications reaching such an international and scholarly audience: a great credit to editor Professor Floyd.

Salvete

Two new members have joined us so far in July:
Lt. Col. Binks, Edinburgh, and J.R. Struthers, Surrey.

Earl of Strathearn

HRH The Earl of Strathearn was installed as a Royal Knight of the Thistle on Thursday 5th July 2012. A large complement of heralds and pursuivants was fielded for the occasion including the Linlithgow Pursuivant Extraordinary (Christopher Roads, Esq., TD) and the Falkland Pursuivant Extraordinary (Peter de Vere Beauclerk-Dewar, Esq., RD). Here is a picture of the latter escorting the Countess to her pew.

The event was coordinated by Snawdoun Herald who was interveiwed about it both on television and in the Scotsman. A newspaper account of the event appears HERE.

Unicorn and Ormond at Royal Jubilee

The Lyon Court was in full attendance this morning at HM's Diamond Jubilee service in Glasgow Cathedral. In this snap Unicorn and Ormond can be seen behind the royal couple.

HSS Members at Brompton Oratory

A sizeable gathering of HSS members turned up at the London Oratory for the St John's Day celebrations (anticipated) of the Order of Malta. Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Mario Conti, while the congregation included: Liam Devlin,Peter McCann of Castlecraig,Thomas Leslie, Lord Norreys, Paul Sutherland, and David Waterton-Anderson,

Salvete

we welcome two new members this month: David Rodearmel, USA, and Malcolm Coutts, Australia.

Snawdoun Herald LVO

Many congratulations to committee-member, Mrs Elizabeth Roads, Snawdoun Herald, on being advanced to LVO in the Honours List.

Arms of Fra' Paul Sutherland

Fra’ Paul Andrew Sutherland FSA
Arms: Gules, three mullets Or, on a chief of the Last a battleaxe blade downwards in bend Proper, shaft Sable; a bordure indented Argent, charged in centre chief with a crescent of the First.
The Arms are placed on a Maltese cross Argent, with which is interlaced a watered silk riband Sable, from which depends the insignia of a Professed Knight of Justice (denoting one in Simple Vows) of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Matriculated: 18th February 1999 (Lyon Register LXXXlll, 52).
The rendering of the Arms shown here is by David Waterton-Anderson.

The Lord Lyon at St Paul's

More flotilla pics

A few friends ...

AGM - Perth

The Society's AGM was held today in Perth on a glorious day. The event was great fun, beginning with a scholarly lecture by Dr David Bertie and concluding with a brilliant account of Actuaries and Heraldry by Alan Watson. The highlight of the formal AGM proceedings was the creation of two new Fellows of the Society: Eilean Malden and John Malden who will receive their insignia at a later date.

Members will be sorry to hear of the death, on Sunday night, of JOHN GEORGE, quondam Kintyre Pursuivant and later Linlithgow Pursuivant Extraordinary. RIP.

Peter Esslemont RIP

We are sorry to record the death of Peter Esslemont FHS, a long-standing member of the Society. His grant of arms was recorded at the Lyon Court in 1979 and contains a pun on his name: "Or, on a rocky mount with verdure its base in the form of an "S" the convex part to the Dexter and the concave part to the sinister all proper" The boars' heads in chief are a reference to the Gordons of Aberdeenshire of which the Esslemonts were a sept.

Archbishop William Aquin Carew RIP

Archbishop William Aquin Carew, former Nuncio to Japan, died on May 8th in Canada. Arms by Taisei André Miyagawa

Duke of Argyll signs petition to lift Jacobite attainders

HERE is the article in today's "Scotland on Sunday" referred to below.

Jacobite Forfeitures

If you are not a regular subscriber to that recondite journal "Scotland of Sunday", be sure to secure a copy this weekend (Sunday 13th May) when the ever-green Peter Drummond-Murray of Mastrick, quondam Slains Pursuivant to the Earl of Errol, is interviewed on the subject of the Jacobite forfeitures.

More heraldic instruments ...

Royal timpani in Versailles.

Another heraldic instrument

Here is a Hunting Trumpet in F in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, sneakily snapped when the attendant's back was turned. It was made in Belgium in the second half of the 19th century.

New Macer for the Lyon Court

The Lord Lyon has appointed Mr Roderick Macpherson, Messenger-at-Arms, of Rutherford and Macpherson, Messengers-at-Arms, Glasgow, as his Macer. It is thought that this is the first time a macer has been appointed from the West of Scotland. Mr Macpherson is a doughty defender of the traditional rights and privileges of the Messengers-at-arms as can be read here.

St Bavo Church, Haarlem

One of the Meccas for organists is the magnificent instrument in St Bavo's Church, Haarlem. The 18th century case is as magnificent as the instrument it houses and it is surmounted by the coat of arms of the city of Haarlem.

Society AGM May 26th 2012, Perth

Saturday, 26th May 2012
AK Bell Library Theatre, Perth - 11.00am.
“The Campbell of Lundie Connection” - Dr. David M. Bertie
2.00pm - Annual General Meeting
followed by
"Actuaries and Heraldry" - Alan Watson, Esq. Secretary, Heraldry Society of Scotland.
AK Bell Library Theatre, Perth.

New members

We welcome the following three new members:
Mrs S. Miyaki, Japan
M. P. Neve, Belgium
Mr D. Birtwhistle, Canada

Arms of member Jean-Yves Sainte-Croix de la Sablière

Here are the Arms of member Jean-Yves Sainte-Croix de la Sablière, Baron of Kirkbuddo - the Lyon Court did not accept the design previously granted by the College of Arms.

Arms of Brown McCallum Jr

Arms of US member Brown McCallum Jr.

Arms: Argent on a Saltire Azure between in chief an open cotton boll proper, in base a cross crosslet and in the flanks two stags heads erased gules, a bezant between four Mullets Or.
Crest: a tower Argent, windows and port Azure, standing on a mound vert charged with three springs of bog cotton Proper
Motto: DEUS ET LIBERTAS
Grant: Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, Volume 87, Page 30, 19th December 2004.

Papal Easter Egg 2012

An heraldic hostess

Brocchi Colonna, Bassano del Grappa

Johann Sebastian Bach

Wednesday of this week, 21st March, is the 327th anniversary of the birth of J.S. Bach. Here is the coat of arms of his birthplace, Eisenach, in Thuringia.

100 renewals!

Now passed 100 renewals for 2012-2013, not counting Standing Orders. Many thanks, keep them coming!

Ten days in Rome - Colonna

From: Margaret Sainte Claire

After enjoying a ten day holiday to Rome in November 2011, I have lots of photos to share. There are many fine examples of the arms of the Colonna family, this one is in the cloister of The Basilica of St John the Lateran.

Scots Heraldist made a Canon of St Peter's

Arms of the Pontifical Scots College, Rome.
The first Scots-born prelate was made a Canon of St Peter's Basilica in February. A former pupil of St Aloysius' College, Glasgow, Monsignor Charlie Burns OBE, was ordained priest for the Diocese of Paisley and worked for 35 years at the Vatican Secret Archives. He was also Professor of the History of Papal Diplomacy at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (the Holy See’s diplomatic academy) for nearly 25 years. He is a noted heraldist, having designed, among others, the arms of Bishop Tartaglia of Paisley. Whether or not Mons Burns is the first SCOTTISH canon of St Peter's depends on your definition of Scottishness as the Rome-born Cardinal Erskine of Cambo, a kinsman of the Earl of Mar and Kellie, was a canon of the Basilica as was, of course, His Majesty King Henry I and IX (quondam Henry, Cardinal Duke of York), who was also born in Rome.

New Early-Bird Total

2012-2013 subscriptions have now passed 70 (+ Standing Order people). Well done and thank you. Keep them coming.

For your interest, I recently had my Arms painted by a very talented Greek artist called Ioannis Vlazakis. He paints in a very florid style and the image does not do justice to the beauty of the final result.

Earlybirds

Many thanks to the 50 members who have renewed early, either by Paypal, Standing Order or cheque. In the last case, I have been advised by the auditors to retain the cheques until April so that they appear in the accounts for the correct financial year. I hope this will not cause any inconvenience to members.

Members by Country

I thought it might interest members, as we approach annual renewal, to see how membership of the Society breaks down by country.