Brewer's: Bards

The oldest bardic compositions that have been preserved are of the fifth century; the oldest existing manuscript is the Psalter of Cashel, a collection of bardic legends, compiled in the ninth century by Cormac Mac Culinan, bishop of Cashel and king of Munster.

Bard of Avon.

Shakespeare, who was born and buried at Stratford-upon-Avon. Also called “The bard of all times.” (1564–1616.)

Bard of Ayrshire.

Robert Burns, a native of Ayrshire. (1759–1796.)

Bard of Hope.

Thomas Campbell, author of The Pleasures of Hope. (1777–1844.)

Bard of the Imagination.

Mark Akenside, author of Pleasures of the Imagination. (1721–1770.)

Bard of Memory.

Rogers, author of The Pleasures of Memory. (1762–1855.)

Bard of Olney.

Cowper, who resided at Olney, in Bucks, for many years. (1731–1800.)

The Bard of Prose

“He of the hundred tales of love.” Childe Harold, iv. 56.

i.e. Boccaccio.

The Bard of Rydal Mount.

William Wordsworth; so called because Rydal Mount was his mountain home. Also called the “Poet of the Excursion,” from his principal poem. (1770–1850.)

Bard of Twickenham.

Alexander Pope, who resided at Twickenham. (1688–1744.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Barebone Parliament

Bardolph