Aois-dàna


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The Aois-dàna, or áes dána , literally meaning "people of the "; often translated as s served as advisers to and chiefs of  throughout the   until the late. Many of them specialised in preserving the of  and recited family trees at the succession of s.

The Aois-dàna were held in high esteem throughout the. As late as the end of the, they sat in the sreath or circle among the nobles and chiefs of families. They took the preference of the ollamh or doctor in medicine. After the extinction of the s, they were brought in to preserve the of families, and to repeat genealogical traditions at the succession of every chieftain. They had great influence over all the powerful men of the time. Their persons, their houses, their villages, were sacred. Whatever they asked was given them; not always, however, out of respect, but from fear of their, which frequently followed a denial of their requests. They lost by degrees, through their own insolence and importunity, all the respect their order had so long enjoyed, and consequently all their wonted profits and privileges. The of Scotland may well have his roots in something parallel.

says of them:


 * "They shut their doors and windows for a day’s time, and lay in the dark with a stone upon their belly, and their plaids about their heads and eyes, and thus they pumped their brains for rhetorical encomiums."

Among the ancient s there were, according to Jones an order of bard called the Arwyddwardd, i.e. the ensign bard or herald at arms, who employed himself in genealogy, and in blazoning the arms of princes and nobles, as well as altering them according to their dignity or deserts.

The related term, is used in Ireland currently for an exclusive group of artists and writers.

(Aois-dàna, Bard)