[antir-heralds] [STEPS] title of Dame

[Owen ap Morgan]

Nancy Carr Zupanic wrote:
 > Which brings up an interesting matter.  Don and Dona are listed, and
 > therefore reserved, equivelents to Lord and Lady for Spanish personas.
. . .
 > Does anyone know how this happened?  That the Order of the White Scarf
 > was given this "right" to these alternate titles to the point that some
 > have been unkind to others who have used them?

Going to the record:

In the cover letter to the February 1989 LOAR, Laurel discussed "Don" at
some length, noting an existing use in the fencing community (albeit 
apparently not an entirely consistent one) but concluding that the title 
should be reserved for knights.

After the Laurel office passed to new hands, those dissatisfied with the 
decision raised the issue again.  The new Laurel issued a call for 
commentary in the cover letter to the July 1991 LOAR, announcing the 
resulting decision in the cover letter to the November 1991 LOAR (again at 
some length, hence not quoted here.)  That decision was to extend the 
titles to all armigers; as far as I know, it has stood unchanged since.

Any attempt by the fencing community to reserve the use of these titles to 
itself is thus utterly without the sanction of the Society officer whose 
prescribed duties include regulation of such matters (i.e., Laurel.)  Lack 
of that particular sanction, however, is widely ignored, and with almost 
total impunity.

Owen ap Morgan