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One morning Pooh Bear was wandering through the thousand acre wood (sometimes
known as Rocks East), and as he walked, he hummed a little hum, and the
hum went like this -
They say Shakespeare wrote a poem
Tiddly Pom
Though I can't say that I know him
Tiddly Pom
Robert Burns wrote one on mice
Which I thought was rather nice...
When he suddenly bumped in to Christopher Robin draped from head to toe
in a Very Venerable Looking Robe. They hugged warmly before Pooh asked
Christopher Robin why he was wearing such a thing.
"It's because I'm attending a Bardic Gorsedd, Pooh."
"A bearded gorse bush?" he replied.
"No, a Bardic Gorsedd (pronounced Gor-seth) it's a gathering of poets
- a kind of competition where the best poet wins a special prize."
"Oh" said Pooh, after a short pause - "Can Bears take part?"
"Yes, of course," said Christopher Robin and as they walked
further Pooh added to his hum, though now in much more of a Grand and
Bardic sort of way, the following-
There was a man called Iolo
Tiddly Pom
Who lots of people tried to follow
Tiddly Pom
A man called Taliesin -
A funny robe he used to dress in ...
"What else can you tell me about this battered goatherd?" said
Pooh, interrupting himself.
"Bardic Gorsedd" corrected Christopher Robin, "Well, it
goes back a long way, back before..."
"Before breakfast?" Questioned Pooh.
"Well long before breakfast Pooh" Christopher Robin continued,
"before the Romans, back to a time when Celtic Kings kept a special
place in their courts for the most Prestigious Poets."
"That's like me!" said Pooh "Pooh the Prestigious Poet!"
"Anyway, the tradition continued in to the time of King Arthur, by
the way Pooh, do you know what the word 'Arthur' means?"
"Does it mean Great Bear? replied Pooh, who had a Funny Feeling this
might be the Right Answer.
"Yes, Pooh, that's it exactly. Anyway, the tradition moved on to
Wales where it was kept alive by the last remaining Druids... "
"The Who?" said Pooh.
"Well the Druids were ancient wise men and women"
"Like Owl?" interjected Pooh.
"Yes, kind of. Do you know what 'Druid' means?"
"No" said Pooh, feeling sad that he couldn't answer this question
too, and feeling again like a Bear of Very Little Brain.
"It means 'People who know all about oak trees'"
"Well," said Pooh "haycorns come from oak trees and the
person who knows most about haycorns is piglet, so he must be a Druid!"
"Well maybe," said Christopher Robin, who was anxious to continue
the story, "the Druids kept the tradition alive in Wales and Cornwall
and it became known as the Eisteddfod, and then a man called Iolo... "
"He features in my Hum!" said Pooh excitedly.
"A man called Iolo introduced it into lots of places in England,
like Bath and now it's been revived again"
"How did this Iolo," asked Pooh, "who I haven't heard of
before now, get in to my Hum?"
"Well, perhaps it's what the Bard calls 'The Awen', it's a kind of
Sudden, Magical Inspiration that comes out of nowhere and makes you write
or say something Prestigiously Poetic."
"And it's called the Awen" asked Pooh "because you say
'Ah!' when you've written it?"
"Yes, I think it is," replied Christopher Robin, "but look,
we're getting near the Gorsedd now."
"So what does the word 'ghost's breath' mean?" whispered Pooh.
"Gorsedd, Pooh!" said Christopher Robin crossly, "it means
'high seat', usually a forest clearing, stone circle or natural mound
that has a certain something to it. That's the traditional place for competition."
"Does the winner get Hunny?" asked Pooh excitedly.
"No, the winner receives a special Bardic Chair, which symbolises
the place reserved for the Bards in the courts of the kings of old, and
a special blue robe."
"Oh," said Pooh, just a little disappointed, but also wondering
what a bear might look like in a blue bardic robe.
"I think I might give it a try," he said thoughtfully, and promptly
added some more to his hum -
There was a man called Tim
Tiddly Pom
And the idea came to him
Tiddly Pom
That it shouldn't be too hard
To find the town of Bath a Bard
So he started up the Gorsedd on a whim
At this point we have to leave Pooh Bear and his friend Christopher Robin
in the thousand acre wood where we found them.
What was that? You want to know whether Pooh succeeded in the poetry
competition? Well let's put it this way. After a year and a day, which
is how long the winner gets to keep his prize before he hands it back
in for the next competition winner, both the Bardic Chair and the Blue
Robe were rather sticky, with something that looked very much like Hunny.
THE END
Mark Lindsey Earley, artwork by Lillian Lilley-Earley, with grateful
borrowings from the Arch Bard A.A. Milne. and the Great Artist Ernest
H. Shephard.
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The
Bardic Bear of Bath