Bardic tradition was an element of Judaism, which continued into Irish society. But the religious overlay has completely been wiped up by Christianity. How reliable do you take the bardic tradition? Is it reinvented every 50 years, every two generations? Is there a real continuity? There is a continuity, particularly in Wales,. It had almost died out at the Ice Steadfords, you're getting about 6 or 7 turning up. When we're talking about the 17th century, but in the 18th century, it begins to take off again with the whole Celtic revival.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Druids, the priests of ancient Europe. Active in Ireland, Britain and Gaul, the Druids were first written about by Roman authors including Julius Caesar and Pliny, who described them as wearing white robes and cutting mistletoe with golden sickles. They were suspected of leading resistance to the Romans, a fact which eventually led to their eradication from ancient Britain. In the early modern era, however, interest in the Druids revived, and later writers reinvented and romanticised their activities. Little is known for certain about their rituals and beliefs, but modern archaeological discoveries have shed new light on them.
With:
Barry Cunliffe
Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Oxford
Miranda Aldhouse-Green
Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University
Justin Champion
Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London
Producer: Thomas Morris.