Bards underwent a rigorous traditional schooling. They were distinct from wandering minstrels who were considered less schooled and less professional.
Bards were employed by royalty to perform eulogies or elegies. The early Celtic bards also served religious functions, functioning as priests and judges.
The meaning of bard has changed throughout history, but it continues to be used to signify a poet with respectable and sometimes mysterious poetic power.
In Ireland, a bard was actually considered inferior to the ollave, a master poet who sat beside the king. Welsh bards were less rigorous in their schooling and held lower seats in the court. The concept of the bard regained popularity in England during the Romantic period, and the word was used to designate any poet of great skill.
While the title of poet has become less revered throughout modern history, the title of bard given to a master poet, such as Shakespeare (the "Bard of Avon"), retains its sense of authority and dignity.