What is a Bard ?

Introduction.

The word Bard is used in English and other Indo-Euopean languages chiefly to denote a Celtic poet (and musician). Musicians and poets comparable to the Celtic Bard have also been found in other cultures. Bards have greatly influenced the musical and general histories of their peoples, among the Celts they were mainly responsible for the development of secular music.

The Bard was a repository of histories, stories, legends, songs and poetry of his people. Wherever the bard travelled, he was honoured and given certain diplomatic impunity. Before the invention of the printing press, books and scribes were very costly, and recently news travelled very slowly and inaccurately. The bard, due to his education in oral tradition, could be relied upon to know the latest news from his court, whether crops had failed to the south, or which roads were safe to travel. For some villages and towns, the bard was the only reliable source of information.

The above is a very rough outline of bards and their history. Below, is a more detailed explanation of the evolution of the Bard in different Celtic Cultures:

Bards in Medieval & Post Medieval Wales and Cornwall.

Throughout the British Isles local kings, princes and chieftains maintained bards, bestowing gitfs upon them for their services. The bards played the harp, and sang elegies and eulogies on famous men, composed proverbs, and recited sagas. Monasteries also occasionally maintained bards as historians and genealogists. The high esteem in which the bard was held is evident in the early legal codes of both Ireland and Wales. The Laws of Hywel Dda (Howel the Good), distinguish two classes of bard: the bardd teulu, who was a permanent official of the king's household, and the pencerdd ('chief of song'), or head of the bardic fraternity in the district. These classes of resident and itinerant bards, also found in Ireland and Scotland, are similar to classes found amongst other Indo-European ethnic groups, e.g. in Anglo-Saxon England the classes of scop and gleeman. These classes, like the Scandinavian skald and other poet-musicians of early nations, have sometimes been termed 'bards' in English literature.

During the 12th and 13h centuries in Wales, bards no longer came to be appointed to the King's household; and their position changed greatly after the ending of native rule. They become more numerous, and just as in France some of the nobility became troubadours and trouveres, so some Welsh princes became bards. (The poetic forms of the troubadours and trouveres influenced those of the 14th Century Welsh bards.)

The bards were highly organised into various grades, and were required to serve a long apprenticeship, and to acquire much skill and learning before they were allowed to serve professionally.

The bards had always encouraged their peoples in the face of hardship, but under the growing influence of the English monarchs their incitements to liberty came to be regarded as incitements to rebellion. In consequence, numerous laws were enacted to put them down. Laws represented the bards as degenerate, and a royal proclamation known as the Commission of the Caerwys Eisteddfod, issued by Elizabeth I, complained of 'vargraunt and idle persons naming theim selfes mynstrelles Rithmers and Barthes'. In Cornwall, 'bard' came to mean 'mimic' and 'buffoon'; and in other Celtic areas 'bard' in English writings often carried a pejorative meaning. Nevertheless, in all the Celtic countries the household bard continued in function - and often in name - until quite recent times: harpists were still active in some large houses up to the 19th Century.

The poet-musician of early times had, however, virtually vanished. Although poetry and music long remained undivided, a partial separation between them occurred at an early period (varying from country to country) and even in the Middle Ages musical and poetical bards were to some extent recognized as seperate classes.

Today the term 'bard' in Wales means the victor at an eisteddfod, whether in poetry or music. Although the bardic rites and customs of the modern Welsh eisteddfod and the Cornish gorseth, cannot claim historical continuity with those of the Medieval bards, there is still some similarity between the modern and medieval customs.

Bards in Medieval & Post Medieval Ireland and Scotland.

In medieval society in Ireland and Scotland, professional men of learning were organized into a caste system, under various descriptions: draio (the Gaelic equivalent of 'druid'), fili, later file (poet-seer), breitheamh ('brehon', or lawgiver) and seanchaidh (historian-antiquarian). These terms possibly denoted various offices or duties of the highest orders in the professional hierarchy.

The bard occupied a lower position. Until the Norman Conquest, the filidh (plural of fili) specialized in a form of poetry which drew on the high learning, historical and mythological, of the Gaels, which was called seanchas; and the filid appear to have maintained some vertiges of pagan religion. The bard however, according to 10th Century Irish tradition, had an honour-price only half that of a fili, and could claim nothing on the grounds of his status as a man of learning.

Both the filidh and baird (plural of bard) were divided into classes by the jurists. The two main classes, soerbaird (honoured bards) and doerbaird (base bards), were each subdivided into eigth further grades. It would seem likely that a general distinction was observed between bards of good family, or of special genius, and others less respected, but the precision of the grades may have been little more than theoretical.

The original function of the bard was to compose eulogy, his craft, bairdne (bardic verse) contrasting with the filidecht (sanchas poetry) of the fili. With the social changes after the Norman invasion of Ireland however, patronage for the filidh disappeared, since there was no longer any audience for the ancient high learning; but bardic praise-poetry continued to exist where Gaelic kings or petty rulers succeeded in saving some part of their ancient lordships from the general ruin. Before this time (late 12th Century), filidh had occasionally composed panegyric (praise-poetry), but after this time it appeared to have become their primary function.

From about 1200 to 1650, these composers used a highly elaborate and subtle metric system and a standard language (classical Gaelic). Poets were taught in schools, and it is believed that the period of training was seven years. Much of the poetry survives from Ireland to Scotland (classical Gaelic was common to the two countries); it comprises not only panegyric but also religious, love and Ossianic verse. It is known in English as 'bardic' verse, although its composers called themselves filidh, not baird; they knew that the word bard had connotations of low rank. To the present day, the Irish word for 'poet' is file (plural fili; and the file is said to still possess the power of wounding, or even killing, through satire.

The bard was mentioned within the surviving poetry above in Ireland and Scotland in the 17th Century, but in a subordinate role. He was assigned various roles, such as a kind of literary retainer, or to recite poetry, or to take charge of musical accompaniment.

The highly literate tradition of classical Gaelic 'bardic poetry', cultivated by the fili, ceased in Ireland in the 17th century; in Scotland it persisted to the mid-18th century. However, there are fewer survivals of it in Scotland, at least from the 16th Century.

With the social changes that followed the introduction of the feudal system to Scotland, during which the court language changed from Gaelic to Norman-French and later to Scots the classical tradition began to disappear, but the status of the panegyrist bard improved, although not in an identical manner in every location. The Scots Gaelic term for a poet is bard to the present day, and by the 17th century, Scottish bardic poetry was dominated not by the stric measures of classical Gaelic but by vernacular Scots Gaelic. Unlike their classical counterparts, the vernacular poets were mostly illiterate until the 18th Century, although some earlier bards who recited for poets may have been partially literate. Literacy has, however, been unusual or largely irrelevant until the 20th century, for vernacular Gaelic verse has developed an oral tradition. Some of there vernacular bards had patrons, some did not, but Gaelic makers of verse have always enjoed both honour and a kind of diplomatic immunity. The essential structure of this poetry derives from panegyric, although its subject matter is very varied. Since th 20th century revival of Scots Gaelic literature, contemporary literary poets may be distinguished from the semi-literate or illiterate 'bards' of the Gaelic-speaking areas of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The latter continue to bring traditional attitudes to bear upon topical events at local or national level, with praise, rebuke, humour, etc; they also compose more personal poetry such as love-poetry or elegy, and there is a continuing output of religious verse. Like the vast bulk of traditional Gaelic poetry, these compositions are all designed for singing or chanting, and the melodies are drawn from the still considerable mass or orally transmitted song.

Were there any Non-Celtic bards ?

In short, yes. The term bard has sometimes been extended to refer to epic singers of non-Celtic peoples, such as the aoidoi of the Homeric epics and the bards of Eastern and Western Central Asia. Singing long narrative poems of the great heroes of the past, these epic singers were also poets, composers, instrumentalists, and story-tellers. The many sided nature of their role goes back to a past when their function were in some ways comparable to those of the old Celtic bards.

What about modern day bards?

Singers, musicians, storytellers, poets - anyone whose art is more than mere entertainment. Whose performance captures your imagination, making you forget you are being performed to, that has that touch of magic you can't quite describe. They are the true modern day bards.

Er..ok, so what if I want to become one ?

If you want to be a minstrel/bard, the SCA has a great page called The Bardic Primer, for people who wish to know what being a bard entails. Although it is written specifically for the SCA bards, it is equally applicable to those outside of the SCA who are interested in learning more about becoming one. However, if you wish to be a proper druidic bard, try The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, which provides a college accredited course on becoming a bard.

Are you a bard ?

No, just a musician with an interest in bards and medieval/celtic music. I have applied for the introduction package from the course mentioned above and found it quite interesting. I am also hoping to play a minstrel/bard in a Renaissance Faire in the near future. I will keep you posted.

I want to know more, MORE, MORE!!!

The information above was mainly from the 'Music and Musicians' Encyclopedia. Other pages with information specifically on bards are: The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, The Gyldenholt Circle of Bards, The Rowanhold Bardic Circle, The Minstrel's Gallery, On Bards, and Bardic Circles, The Bardic Craft

BARDS | MINSTRELS | TROUBADOURS

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