[Bards] Bardic college Events

[Darlene Vandever]

On 10/27/06, Simone Ui'Dunlaingh <simonemu at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> But as Bards If we are to expect the populace to recognize and suport
> Our estinfadd we too must take it seriously and suport it. And a
> showing of only a dozon bards to compete to be the kingdom bard is not
> showing suport for the competition.
>
> When participation at Canton shire and Barnial bardics are greater and
> more prestigious than the Kindom Estinfodd. we might want to look ast
> ourselves and not outside our selves. I have seen Local Bardic
> competions sport 30+ participants regularly when we cant get that many
> to show for kingdom..WHY? What is the diffrence? Why would a bard be
> willing to compete at a local level and not kingdom? these I think are
> the questions we  should ask.


*I have several thoughts on what you raise. First, I've never been to an
Eisteddfod that wasn't at Steppes, so bear with me that I can only speak to
that venue. I personally believe that part of the reason that Eisteddfod
isn't well known is because it is hidden upstairs away from where the
majority of people are. If a member of the populace wants to watch it, you
have that enormous steep staircase to climb. It just isn't accessable to a
lot of folks. When my knees and hips are acting up, there is no way short of
a harness and being hoisted thru the window overlooking the hall that I
could get there to view...let alone compete. Its a wonder we haven't been
taken to task on the subject of disablity access.  *
**
*I've also often wondered why the person who is chosen to be our Kingdom's
Bard is chosen in a closed room cloistered away from the public view. My
goodness, this person is going to be asked by Their Majesties to stand up in
Court or at Feast and command the attention of a group of people...sometimes
in a very busy and noisy atmosphere! *Why* isn't it held in the center of
the main hall? Let me tell you, if a Bard could stand up and deliver a piece
which made that whole hall go quiet, (which I've seen happen at one Baronial
event in the past) then that would be a strong indication to the Judges as
to their suitablity to be the Kingdom Bard!*
**
*Second, beyond the challenge of that staircase, is the fact that if you go
up there to watch or compete you are there *all day*. There is an awful lot
to see and do at Steppes. *Any* competion that lasts 7 or more hours  (in my
humble opinion) is about 3 to 4 hours to long! Most tournaments of chivalry
only last about 4 hours. King's Champion starts about 9 am after armor
inspection and most of the time is over by noon! Why then does Kingdom
Bardic competition last until nearly time for feast? I seem to remember
waiting *forever* for my friends in competition to finally walk down those
stairs and join us.*
**
*It is my firm belief that if it were in the main hall where the vocal
carrying capacity and abilty of the bard to command a hall could be judged
and if the competition lasted about 4 hours that you would have many, many
more people turning out to compete and to watch and the Kingdom would know
about Eisteddfod and what it means. There are many ways to make sure that
the competition is a speedy one. The simplest is to limit the Bard to 5
minutes or less....and use a time keeper! Every high school drama cometition
does this...why can't we? And as for the fact that more competitors means a
longer time period, if it were out in the public view, then the longer time
taken wouldn't be so important.*
**
*My 2 cents*
*Annes*
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