Satirical Verse

Abstract In view of the, albeit prejudiced, evidence of the Bardic Grammar and of the bards themselves, there can be little doubt that the Cler were notorious for their satire and vituperative verse. It must not be thought that the repertoires of all these minstrels were necessarily confined to this particular type of entertainment, but satirical verse is clearly one of the more likely areas of sub-literary influence on those poets who were active in the early part of the fourteenth century, and on their immediate successors-Dafydd ap Gwilym and his contemporaries. We are fortunate to have in the Red Book of Hergest, alongside the familiar compositions of panegyric and piety, a substantial collection of satirical poetry which represents an important aspect of bardic activity in this period. Most of these pieces are hardly to be counted among the century’s most inspired or artistically commendable productions, and they are certainly not the most edifying. But as their general technical accomplishment indicates, they are the work of trained poets, many, if not all, of whom were also adept at composing traditional eulogy in the awdl metres. They have, it will be seen, much in common with the early cywyddau, and they not only belong in part to a crucial period of transition for the bardic hierarchy, but afford a valuable insight into the world of the Cler themselves, who are often the subjects of the satire. It is, there fore, somewhat surprising that this corpus, which reflects the other, equally valid side of the bardic coin, should until recently have been largely neglected by editors and critics alike.