Just since the launch of this site less than a month ago, two important finds have come up:
The first is a possible coat of arms specific to McCandless, though it is known so far only from a gravestone (of a currier named Thomas McCandless) as published here by Seamus Bellew, and has no colour information or a proper blazon (textual description). This is covered in all the detail available yet at the “Heraldry” page. 2023-05 update: This turned out to be the arms not of an individual, but of the Worshipful Company of Curriers, a livery company with which the deceased was connected. Mystery solved (thanks to sleuthing by Peter McCandless).
Next, we have found a 19th-century bookplate of one William McCandlish, probably the original holder of the McCandlish coat of arms, that proves use of the “Sola Nobilitas Virtus” motto. This is also illustrated at the “Heraldry” page.
In other news, incorrect McCandlish tartan thread counts (i.e. badly wrong tartans) have been corrected at Clan.com, the Scottish Register of Tartans, and Scottish Tartans Authority (though the green tartan example there really shows too little differentiation between the two shades of green in it). Similar problems at the DC Dalgliesh website are slated to be fixed, according to e-mail from them yesterday.
The “Forums” section of the site is also now open. You can participate by clicking the “Register” link near the search box above the forums.
Oh, and the Heraldry page now features pretty good images. Between buying some heraldic art from an online vendor and using design elements from Creative Commons-licensed images on Wikimedia Commons I was able to put together a combined coat of arms that is heraldically correct and looks good enough to print out. It’s not ideal, but it will do for now. At some point, I would like to commission custom art so it’s just perfect. 🙂
