Short answers, pulled from the story.
The English word bard derives from the ancient Celtic root bardo- used by Gaulish speakers to mean a poet or singer. Ancient Greek writers recorded the plural form as bardoi while Latin texts preserved the singular as bardus. This linguistic history traces back thousands of years before written records existed through Proto-Celtic and Proto-Indo-European compounds.
The Irish bardic system lasted until the mid-17th century when it declined along with the Gaelic aristocracy during the Tudor Reconquest. Early history remains known only indirectly through mythological stories like the Book of Invasions which describes the Tuatha Dé Danann invading Ireland during the tenth year of a Belgic monarch's reign. The oral tradition persisted despite political changes affecting their patrons throughout this period.
The MacMhuirich family centred their activities in the Hebrides region of Scotland where they served as poets, lawyers, and physicians for the Lords of the Isles. Domhnall MacMhuirich lived on South Uist during the 18th century and was the last of the family to practise classical Gaelic poetry. Members appeared as musicians in the early 16th century while some records show clergymen possibly as early as the early 15th century.
Royal bardic tradition ceased permanently after the Edwardian conquest of 1282 when the Last Bard committed suicide around 1283 according to legend. János Arany commemorated this event in his poem The Bards of Wales published in 1857 while Dafydd ap Gwilym and Iolo Goch continued poetic traditions throughout the Middle Ages. A large number of Welsh bards were blind people who transmitted religious precepts laws and genealogies through song.
Sir Walter Scott romanticised the figure of the bard during the 18th and 19th centuries before the term became derogatory for itinerant musicians in 16th-century Scotland. William Shakespeare earned titles like The Immortal Bard or simply The Bard of Avon while Robert Burns received similar recognition as The Bard of Ayrshire. These literary figures transformed historical roles into romantic archetypes for modern audiences starting from the 1960s through works like Dungeons & Dragons.