All fencers, bearwards, common players in interludes and minstrels, not belonging to any baron of the realm or towards any other honourable personage of greater degree … which … shall wander abroad and have not license of two justices of the peace … shall be judged rogues, vagabonds and sturdy beggars.

--Vagrancy in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England

The Bardic Arts is a nebulous category, but a generally accepted definition is that they are one of the many performance arts that uniquely tends to have a focus on songs that tell stories and storytelling. Those who practice the Bardic Arts are observers, keepers, performers, and often creators of the stories and songs of the history and people of the SCA, as well as works inspired by their Group/Household/Shire/Canton/Barony/Principality/Kingdom pride, events in period, and works about period times or in period settings inspired by events in the SCA.

Along with performing, many bards will add original works to the wealth of material that help support and build up 'The Dream' of the SCA.

Bardic is an Art/Craft - but there is a Social aspect, as well as many opportunities for service to the Society through performance and also organizing entertainment at events.

Bardic includes recited poetry, recited prose, a cappella song (either solo or chorus), and accompanied song (either solo or chorus). That said, as there are many bardic traditions, both within the society and within period, the definition of what constitutes the Bardic Arts or a Bard is fluid.

• What is a Bard?
• The Role of the Ursine Bard

• St. Cecilia II Concert

• Rhyming Dictionary
• Thesaurus
• Google Translation
• English to Latin Translator
• IBards
• Renaissance Music Bibliography
• Foxit Reader is a small, fast program to view PDF files.

• The Online Corpus of Old English Poetry
• Troubadour Manuscripts
• Chansons de trouvères Université d'Ottawa, Faculté des Arts
• Recueil des poésies des troubadours, 1201-1300 (Gallicia Biblioteque Numerique)
• 16th Century Poets and Renaissance Poetry
• Study Guide for Medieval Love Songs

• The Music of Thomas Ravenscroft
• Free PDF Download Of Ravenscroft's Melismata (Phansies fitting the Court, Citie and Countrey humours)
• More free Ravenscroft secular sheet music
• Music Selections from Thomas Deloney (1543-1600)
• Facsimile of Thomas Deloney book
• Pre 1600 Song lyrics
• 16th Century Broadside Ballads
• Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, a project to digitize the 30,000 extant ballads

• ChoralWiki
• Early Music Chicago
• FreeScores.com Renaissance
• Petrucci Music Library
  • Petrucci Music Library Mediaeval Page
  • Petrucci Music Library Renaissance Page
• Troubadour lyrics
• Cantigas de Santa Maria
• Cantigas de Santa Maria for Singers
• The Internet Renaissance Band (MIDI Files for the tunes + some Lyrics)
  • Mediaeval Music
  • Renaissance Music
  • Mediaeval Carols
• Middle English Texts (Many with mp3)
• Mediaeval and Renaissance Love Song Study Guides

• SCA Minstrel Homepage
• Rhiannon of Wye, Septentrian Harper for the reign of Aedan and Caffa Sheet Music in Finale .MUS format
• The Bards of Ealdormere web site
• Cry of the Wolf
  • Cry of the Wolf 1, Popular Songs PDF File
  • Cry of the Wolf 2, Memorial PDF File
  • Cry of the Wolf 3, Poetry PDF File
  • Cry of the Wolf 4, Our Stories PDF File
  • Cry of the Wolf 5, (Uncle J's top 10) or PDF Version PDF File
• Cariadoc's Virtual Bardic Circle
• Lord Gyric of Otershaghe's Bawdy Song Book

May not be pre-17th century, but fun or interesting to sing

• Anderer Länder Folksongs of various Countries
• SWIL Filk Songs
• Bawdy Songs
• The Robert ap Huw manuscript (B. M. Addl. MS 14905)

• Bardic College of Ealdormere
• Athenaeum Hectoris

• List of People Interested in Bardic
• Music
  • Instrumental
  • Singing
• Poetry
• Storytelling
• Theatre
• Dance (an allied trade of Bardic)