| Citation |
VGW(DN.780.007
22 Jan 1780:11, 12 (50)
Bard. The word Bard being a primitive noun, neither divided
nor compounded, it can neither be traced [ ] root, nor
resolved into its parts. It signified one who was a poet by
his genius and profession, and who employed much of his time
in composing and singing verse on many various subjects and
occasions. The Bards constituted one of the most
respectable orders of men in the ancient British states, and
many of the greatest Kings, heroes and nobles esteemed it an
honour to be enrolled in this order. . . [20 lines,
describing use of Bards in courts.]
The Bards, as well as the Druids, were exempted from
taxes and military services, even in times of the greatest
danger; and when they attended their patrons in the field,
to record and celebrate their great actions, they had a
guard assigned to them for their protection. At all
festivals and publick assemblies, they were seated near the
person of the King, or chieftain, and sometimes even above
the greatest nobility, and chief officers of the court. Nor
was the profession of the Bards less lucrative than it was
honourable; for besides the valuable presents which they
occasionally received from their patrons, when they gave
them uncommon pleasure by their performances, they had
estates in land allowed for their support; nay, so treat was
the veneration which the Princes of these times entertained
for the persons of their poets, and so highly were they
charmed and delighted with their tuneful strings, that they
sometimes pardoned even their capital crimes for a song.
We may very reasonably supposed, that a profession that
was at once so honourable and advantageous, and enjoyed so
many flattering distinctions and desirable immunities, would
not be deserted. It was, indeed, very much crouded; and the
accounts which we have of the numbers of the Bards in some
countries, particularly in Ireland, are hardly credible. We
often read, in the poems of Ossian, of one hundred Bards
belonging to one Prince, singing and playing in concert for
his entertainment. . . [13 lines]
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