Quote:
|
although I must say you have me lost with the "Bard of Stratford upon Avon" comment, Mike. Translate, please.
|
Sorry, another cryptic reference.
The ancient Celtic peoples recorded no written histories; however, Celtic peoples did maintain an often intricate spoken history committed to memory and transmitted by bards. Bards facilitated the memorization of such materials by the use of poetic meter and rhyme. Bards were those who sang the songs recalling the tribal warriors' deeds of bravery as well as the genealogies and family histories of the ruling strata among Celtic societies. In other European societies, the same function was fulfilled by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels, etc.
The term "Bard," in Celtic, English medieval culture came to mean "professional poet." In modern times Shakespeare is often referred to as "The" bard.
I once had the pleasure of visiting Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of Wm. Shakespeare. The town of Stratford is located a bit Northwest of London on the Avon river.