Where Are the Bards?

When I first heard that the Bard was to be an issue topic in Mezlim, I thought I would have to write something about it. After all, the British Isles are rich in Bardic tradition. There must be something I could say about the subject from my perspective over here. indeed, since being here I have experienced the beauty of listening to a genuine lrish harpist as she sang her stories, enchanting all who listened, in the hall of a major pagan conference. I have heard the minstrels who grace the streets of the old city of York and watched the Morris Dancers practicing their ancient tradition. Britain is loaded with tradition of all sorts, not least of all the remnants of the old Bardic tradition.

The Druid Orders here help to keep the old Bardic tradition alive in its original form, or as near to it as can be done in these times of modern communication methods. The old Bards were the news carriers and social commentators of their time. We now have television, radio, hard-nosed journalists and all sorts of opinion makers to fill that purpose which has relegated the Bardic tradition to a less immediate position. The old Bards have become story tellers of past legends rather than wandering bringers of current news.

Of course the storytelling tradition comes from cultures all over the world, not just Britain. It is still actively practiced in Arab countries, American Red Indians and other tribal communities. It is the modern western world which has to actively remember and recover the storytelling tradition if it is to survive, because the original purpose has been usurped by technology.

So, where are the Bards in today’s western world?

Some of the old storytelling practices are revived through re-enactment societies, individuals with historic interests or old family traditions in some rural communities. If one restricts the definition of 'Bard' to a minstrel or poet, this is the answer. The Bards become a quaint custom from the past, an anachronism with enough charm to revive periodically, or a family custom. in the case of Druidic Orders and some Hereditary traditions, there is a deeper purpose. To memorize one’s history or magical lessons through song is also part of the Bardic tradition.

Still there is the question of the newsbringer and social commentator of the past. Music, now and in the past, frequently focuses on love from some perspective, yet sometimes broaches political opinion and current events. Could the folk singers of the ‘60’s, or even more modern groups like U2 or the Sex Pistols be accused of filling the purpose of the Bard? Perhaps, but there are many who will never swallow that idea. Somehow listening to modern ‘punk’ bands scream outrage at social injustice just doesn’t have the same feel of a harpist singing lyrically about the exploits of whatever king was current at the time the song was written, yet one could say that these two versions of current events in song have a common definition.

The Bard lives on, but not in the form that once was. We still have our storytellers and minstrels within small communities, and this is how we see the Bard. Yet the Bard also lives on in the modern music and in each story we make up for a child. The Bard is the creative essence within us that gives life to the lessons we learn and express through artistic creation. The Bard lives through our rituals and through poetry. The Bard changes with the times, yet we will always think of the Bard as the harpist or lute player who tells stories of the past, which are now legends rather than current events.

Not everyone has the gift for making music, so we will continue to revere our Bards who share this gift with us. It was always so, and so it will always be. There is magic in song and in poetry. We can be sure that the magic makers will keep the Bardic tradition alive within their own magical communities, but the Bards will not be seen wandering from one village to the next to bring news again. it is for us to see the Bard in the forms that are presented to us, and to keep the magic of the old storytelling tradition alive within us and among our own families and pagan communities. The Bard is still there for us, we only have to look a little harder to recognize him both within and outside of ourselves. Still, there’s nothing quite like listening to a good Irish harpist at a Pagan conference.