282 



BARD. 



E;ird. which it assumed, in order that its members might 

 ~"~v assemble in secret, and-unsuspected. The term ovi/z, 



or ovale, by which the third class of bards wa3 dis- 

 tinguished, has the meaning of artisan or mason ; 

 and the free-masons preserve a traditionary memorial 

 of their meeting anciently on tlie tops of the highest 

 hills, and in the bottoms of the deepest vallies, and 

 when the sun was Jh its due meridian. 



It was the cruel policy of Edward I. to command a 

 general massacre of the Welsh bards, persuaded that 

 nothing was more likely to maintain among the peo- 

 ple a sentiment of military valovr, and a passion for 

 national independence, than the traditionary legends 

 of this class of men, who, like the ancient Tyrtasus, 

 employed their animated strains, as a means of exci- 

 ting the courage of their countrymen against the 

 common enemy. The system of bardism, however, 

 recovered much of its ancient vigour in Wales, du- 

 ring the short, but spirited, insurrection of Owen 

 Glendower. But when that effort for restoring the 

 independence of the country was crushed, the bards 

 were again proscribed and persecuted. They, how- 

 ever, again made their appearance, as the genealo- 

 gists and minstrels of the great Welsh chieftains ; a 

 capacity in which they have enjoyed great honour 

 and emolument, in every country where tradition was 

 not entirely superseded by the general diffusion of 

 letters. \a Ireland, and in Scotland, every great fa- , 

 mily was possessed of its bard, almost down to the 

 present day. In the Highlands of Scotland, parti- 

 cularly, every regulus or chieftain had his family 

 bard, who was regarded as filling a very important 

 office, and who had lands assigned him, which de- 

 scended regularly to iiiS posterity. 



The bards of ancient times do not appear to have 

 been so highly honoured, or so liberally remunerated. 

 We read, that Alexander the Great was accompa- 

 nied, in his expedition to India, by a poet, or bard, 

 named Cherylus, who proposed to the hero to cele- 

 brate, in song, his mighty exploits. Alexander per- 

 mitted him, only on condition, that the poet should 

 receive a piece of gold for every good verse, and a 

 blow for every bad one. The scholiast Horace, to 

 whom we are indebted for this anecdote, adds, that 

 the unfortunate minstrel was beaten almost to death, 

 in consequence of this singular convention. 



The khalifs, and other princes of the East, appear 

 to have had their bards, as well as the nations of the 

 North, and the ancient Greeks. There are bards, 

 too, in the Ladrone islands, and among other savage 

 tribes, according to the testimony of different voya- 

 gers. Sir John Mandeville, who travelled into the 

 rant in 13K), relates, that when the Emperor of 

 Cathay, or the grand Khan of Tartary, is at table, 

 with the great men of his court, no one is courage- 

 ous enough to address him, except his minstrels, 

 whose office it is to amuse him. 4a*The same traveller 

 adds, that these musicians of the court are considered 

 as officers of distinguished rank. Leo Africanus also 

 makes mention of poets of the court whom he found 

 I'agdad about the year 990. The institution of 

 hard*, therefore, may be said to have prevailed in 

 t every country of the world. 



Though we may presume, that the ancient Bri- 

 tons of the southern parts of our island had original- 



ly as fine a taste and genius for poetry as those of 

 the north, yet few or none of their poetical compo- v 

 sitions have been preserved, or descended to our own 

 times. This is to be accounted for, by the repeated 

 conquests to which this part of our island was sub- 

 jected by the Romans, Saxons, and Normans. But 

 in the mountains of Wales, and of Scotland, where 

 the aboriginal Celts were permitted to retain undis- 

 turbed possession of their territory, the native taste 

 for minstrelsy flourished without interruption ; and 

 gave birth to numerous productions, which time has 

 spared even to the present day. Nennius, who 

 wrote in the ninth century, in the reign of Prince 

 Mcrvya, makes honourable mention of several of the 

 Cambrian bards. He says, that Talhairan vas fa- 

 mous for his verses ; as also, Aneurin, Taliessin, 

 Llywarch-hen, and Chian, who flourished in the 

 sixth century. Of these bards, the compositions 

 of three are still extant ; viz. Aneurin, Talies- 

 sin, and Llywarch-hen. The minstrels of Scotland 

 were not less celebrated in their day, insomuch, that 

 it stamped reputation upon a proficient in this art to 

 say, " that he came out of the North countrie." A 

 great number of beautiful ballads, which we may 

 reasonably conclude to have been the production of 

 these ancient poets, have descended to our times ; 

 but, in most cases, the name of the poet has perish- 

 ed. To this, however, there is one very illustrious 

 exception, in the case of the poems ascribed to Os- 

 sian, the son of Fingal, who is said to have reigned 

 over a district of the Highlands of Scotland, in the 

 second or third century. If we admit these poems 

 to be genuine, or to have received but a few modern 

 additions and embellishments, they are calculated to 

 give us a very exalted idea of the powers and con- 

 ceptions of the ancient bards. It is not in this place 

 that we propose to discuss the much agitated ques- 

 tion, of the authenticity of these poems ; but there is 

 one remark upon the subject, made by Warton, 

 which may, without impropriety, be here introduced. 

 " Notwithstanding," says that author, " the difference 

 between the Gothic and the Celtic rituals, the poems 

 of Ossian contain many visible vestiges of Scandina- 

 vian superstition. The allusions in these poems to 

 spirits who preside over the different parts, and di- 

 rect the various operations of nature ; who send 

 storms over the deep, and rejoice in the shrieks of 

 the shipwrecked mariners ; who call down lightning; 

 to Mast the forest, or cleave the rock, and diffuse ir- 

 resistible pestilence among the people, beautifully 

 conducted and heightened under the skilful hand of 

 a master bard, entirely correspond with the Runic sys- 

 tem, and breathe the spirit of its poetry." Hist, of 

 . Poetry, vol. i. diss. 1. 

 As letters have become generally diffused, the in- 

 stitution of bardism has sunk in dignity, and become 

 Corrupted ; the exercise fil this profession having he- 

 come less necessary or important. It is, how 

 but a very few years since the Highland chieftains 

 ceased to have family barda ; and there are still re- 

 spectable remains of this institution in Ireland a-id in 

 Wales. Alter the reign of Henry VII. the British 

 bards seem to ha\e degenerated into troops ot strol- 

 ling minstrels and play-actors, disgraced by the 

 meanness of their conduct, and the licence of their man- 



6 



Brfrd. 



