[Bards] Youth Bardic?

[Meggan Cividanes]

I agree completely! We have a good number of children of varying ages
that show interest in (and talent for) the bardic arts. I have seen
several who have competed along side the adults very successfully. 

In Mooneschadowe, we have a children's bardic competition. A tradition
I started a few years back (that was, unforatunately, sporadic after I
first ran it, but is now an annual event). Age catagories are
considered if the age gap between entries is particularly large (we've
had everyone from ages 3-12 enter). Though there is nothing keeping the
youth from entering our full competition. I have seen several do so at
our event (and at others).

Northkeep also offers the venue of a children's bardic competition as
part of their Children's Castellan competition. 

Our monthly bardic practices are child friendly, and the children we
have enjoy taking part in those a lot of the time as well. We do a lot
of group singing in Mooneschadowe (much credit to HE Rhiannon Redwulf
for encouraging this, teaching the songs, and providing us with a song
book from which to follow along!), and most of our children (at present
time, our youth population is mostly 8 or 'younger', with one that I
believe is 13) know several of the songs by heart and sing along.

We're definitely trying to encourage our children and give them venues
through which to practice and perform. Those who are interested take
advantage of it. Which, admittedly, is not a large number of children,
but I suspect the number may grow as our youth get older. 

Lillias 

> While we grownups have our fun drinking and crowing late into the
> night,
> what of the wee ones who start to drop before sunset? While the Bards
> are
> busy with their epic poems and randy rounds, have we no four-minute
> fairy
> tales and clever teaching rhymes for the bardlings? Isn't this an art
> we
> ought to encourage from early ages?
> 
> Just curious.
> /Quill
> (the apparently alliterative)

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