Bardic Poetry refers to the writings of poets trained in the Bardic Schools of Ireland and the Gaelic parts of Scotland, as they existed down to about the middle of the 17th century, or, in Scotland, the early 18th century. Most of the texts preserved are in Middle Irish or in early Modern Irish. A bard is a poet or singer, in religious or feudal contexts. ... Gaelic as an adjective means pertaining to the Gaels, whether to their language or their culture. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... my children are my life ... Irish (Irish: Gaeilge), a Goidelic language spoken in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Australia, Canada, and the United States, is constitutionally recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland. ...

Irish file or bards (there was a technical distinction between the ranks, but the terms in later times were used interchangeably) formed a professional hereditary caste of highly trained, learned poets. The bards were steeped in the history and traditions of clan and country, as well as in the technical requirements of a verse technique that was syllabic and used assonance, half rhyme and alliteration. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles. They were chroniclers and satirists whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. See Fíli and Kíli for the Dwarves appearing in The Hobbit. ... A bard is a poet or singer, in religious or feudal contexts. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A clan is a group of people united by kinship and descent, which is defined by perceived descent from a common ancestor. ... Syllabic verse is a poetic form having a fixed number of syllables per line or stanza regardless of the number of stresses that are present. ... link titleAssonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within a short passage of verse or prose. ... Half rhyme, sometimes known as slant rhyme, sprung rhyme or less commonly eye rhyme, is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved. ... Alliteration is a stylistic device, or literary technique, in which successive words (more strictly, stressed syllables) begin with the same consonant sound or letter. ... Generally a chronicle (Latin chronica) is historical account of facts and events in chronological order. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ...

Much of their work would not strike the modern reader as being poetry at all, consisting as it does of extended genealogies and almost journalistic accounts of the deeds of their lords and ancestors: the Irish bard was not necessarily an inspired poet, but rather a professor of literature and a man of letters, highly trained in the use of a polished literary medium, belonging to a hereditary caste in an aristocratic society, holding an official position therein by virtue of his training, his learning, his knowledge of the history and traditions of his country and his clan (Bergin 1912).

References

• Osborn Bergin, 'Bardic Poetry: a lecture delivered in 1912', in Irish Bardic Poetry, Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (1970).

See also

• Early Irish literature

Old Irish and Middle Irish literature // Old Irish The earliest existing examples of the written Irish language as preserved in manuscripts do not go back farther than the 8th century; they are chiefly found in Scriptural glosses written between the lines or on the margins of religious works in Latin...

External links

• http://www.ucc.ie/celt/bardic.html