Bard
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Bard. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a Celtic term applied to a rude poet or minstrel, particularly among the Welsh and Irish. The bard was held in high honor at feasts or solemn festivals. Like the minstrel, he sang or chanted songs composed in commemoration of noble deeds or designed to convey instruction. In Scotland, the term was applied rather to a strolling singer of the vagabond nature. Shakespeare is called the "Bard of Avon." Burns delighted to speak of himself as a bard. The following motto was prefixed to the Kilmarnock edition of his poems: The simple bard, unbroke by rules of art, He pours the wild effusions of the heart; And if inspired, 't is Nature's powers inspire: Hers all the melting thrill and hers the kindling fire. See Minstrel ; Troubadours 2026 Editor's Note: 'The Bard,' capitalized, now means Shakespeare and no one else. But the living bardic tradition survives in Wales: the National Eisteddfod still crowns a chief bard each year in a robed ceremony of the Gorsedd, an unbroken thread from the Celtic minstrels this entry describes — and 'bard' lives on too as the singing adventurer of fantasy games. (Ed: BR 2026-06-06)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a fortress and village in the Italian province of Turin, on the left bank of the Dora Baltea, about 23 miles S. E. of Aosta. When the French crossed the St. Bernard, in 1800, the fortress of Bard, manned by 400 Austrians, maintained for 10 days a resistance to their further advance into Italy. Ultimately Napoleon contrived to elude the vigilance of the garrison, and passed by a mountain-track during the night. Bard was taken a short time after by the French, and razed, but, in 1825, it was restored.