Bardic History

Not much has to be said about the bards. Strabo (IV, 4) describes them as "singers and poets" (hymnetai\ kai\ poietai\), which fits quite well with what we know about the Irish bards. As a possible etymology for *bardos could be derived from the IE root *gur-d(h)o-s which is translated as "Praise Giver" this function could have been religious as well.

The current standard English definition of a Bard (Bardd, Welsh; Barzh, Breton; Bardus, Latin; Bardos, Greek) denotes a poet of exalted status, such as the voice of a nation or people, it dates from Thomas Gray's us of it in his poem "The Bard" (1757).  Although Gray's borrowing of the word seems to owe most to Welsh tradition, the role and status of the bard varied from one Celtic nation to another.  Among the ancient Continental Celts, according to Roman commentators, the bards were singers and poets who occupied a lower status than the *vates (interpreters of sacrifice) or the *druids, who commanded the highest esteem.  In Ireland the bard held a lower rank in the seven orders of *fili (poet), of which the highest was the *ollam; the bard had not mastered the 350 stories and twelve years of study required to become an ollam.  In Wales the power and high position of the bard preceded and outlasted that of hereditary princes.  The earlies bards, dating from the 6th century included *Aneirin, *Taliesin, Blwachbardd, *Cian, and Talhearn Tad Awen; they were known as the *cynfeirdd (early or original poets), and their poetry as hengerdd.  In following centuries, only the *pencerdd (chief poet or musician), whose training lasted nine years, was allowed to teach a bard in Wales.  In time Welsh bards formed the Bardic Order or Bardd teulu (household poet, poet of retinue), serving kings and princes for more than 1,000 years, forming a distinct segment of society with its own privileges.  A bard might have assumed the role of the cyfarwydd (storyteller), although this is not certain.  great assemblies of bards began as early as 1176; the assembly later became known as *eisteddfod.  A great flowering of Welsh bardic poetry came in the 12th and 13th centuries, concurrent with the zenith of native political power before the Anglo-Norman conquest.  bards of this time were known as gogynfeirdd (Welsh, rather early poets).  Elements of Welsh bardic philosophy were mixed with Christian belief by Llywelyn Sion in Barddas (late 16th century).  The 18th-century *Iolo Morganwg placed the seat of bardism in Glamorganshire in south Wales.  In Gaelic Scotland a bard was a highly trained poet in the service of an hereditary chief.  Bards were generally men of considerable status and authority in Celtic literature, although impoverished bardic scholars appear in a number of Irish narratives.

More than 1,000 bards are cited in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh literatures, and there are numerous claimants tot he titles of 'Bard of Ireland' and 'Bard of Wales'.  Perhaps *Amairgin and *Dallan Forgail were denoted by 'Bard of Ireland' more often than others.  The title 'Last of the Bards' has been given posthumously to several poets, notable Fearflatha O Gnimh (c.1540-c.1640), bard of O'Neills of Clandeboye, and Domhnall Mac Mhuirich (d. c.1745), the last with classical rather than vernacular training.

Reference: The Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology by James MacKIllop

Bardic History Links:

The Bards
The Bardic Institute pages
http://home.earthlink.net/~alferian/BARDS.HTML

On Bards, And Bardic Circles (SCA) 
 http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/articles/onbards.html

Irish Bardic Poetry
CELT Corpus of electronic texts: http://www.ucc.ie/celt/index.html 

The online resource for Irish history, literature and politics.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/bardic.html

SCA Minstrel Site
 http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/minstrel.html

The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids
http://druidry.org/