[Bards] No Sh*t stories

[Cisco CIvidanes]

Short and Sweet:

Anyone who even suggests that an eyewitness account of SCA history is 
categorically a lesser form of bardic has done nothing but tank their 
credibility in my mind.

Sorry to be blunt, but one of the oldest themes in the performing arts 
is the recording of history.

Ivo Blackhawk


Donnchadh Beag mac Griogair wrote:
> I fear that I did not clearly convey my meaning in my original post.  
> When I spoke of "There I was" stories, I was thinking of the relay of 
> personal experiences seen and heard at SCA events.  Not that I 
> necessarily prefer them in their most crude and unfinished form.  When I 
> spoke of whether or not a "There I was" story was a lesser bardic form, 
> I was comparing it to other areas, such as medieval history, or period 
> love sonnets.  In that case, think that none of these is lesser or 
> greater, only different.  Now are some of those stories presented with 
> greater or lesser skill?  Absolutely!
>
> There are many different ways to tell that same basic story.  Whether 
> set to prose or poetry, or just as a grizzled old veteran sitting by the 
> fire talking to a new recruit.  My purpose in using the Battle of 
> Thermopile was to show how such a moving story could have gotten its 
> start with such humble beginnings.  I was not in any way trying to 
> suggest that my little opener would be the most enjoyable way to hear 
> that particular story.
>
> Master Robin gave us an example of two different ways to tell the same 
> story, and I agree that the second would be much more enjoyable, in 
> fact, I can't wait to hear it performed.  But regardless of that, I 
> would still have welcomed the first example around my fire, because it 
> relays a piece of Ansteorran history I've never heard before.  I also 
> see nothing wrong with going up to a fellow bard and saying "Thank you 
> for sharing that piece of history with us.  By the way, have you ever 
> considered doing it in the <insert persona culture here> style?"
>
> After re-reading my original post I see that I didn't emphasize enough 
> on the importance of improving the delivery of those experiences, so I 
> can see how I was easily misunderstood (my excuse is that I was rushing 
> out the door to archery practice).  The point to my original post was 
> not to suggest that we should sit enraptured to stories of fiberglass 
> and duct tape, but that we should be encouraging people to relay those 
> stories of personal experiences and keep our history alive.
>
> Donnchadh
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