LECTURE

BLADUD: RECLAIMING THE LEGEND

A Lecture by Caroline Way & Moyra Caldicott on 23 July 1998

Caroline Way, creator of the poem ‘Ballad of Bladud’, and Moyra Caldicott, author of ‘The Winged Man’, met at the Cross Baths in Bath under the relief of Bladud.

With work starting on the new Spa development, there is a growing interest in the Spa’s pre-history, and its connection with the healing arts.
The ‘Ballad of Bladud’, consists of nineteen cantos, one for each year of Bladud’s reign as king. Caroline used the music of the bowl harp to create the mood for the poem, then read part of the ballad to the audience.
Bladud was banished from his father’s kingdom, when he revealed to the court that he had contracted leprosy. The future king could not reign diseased, as the king was thought to be a reflection of the prosperity and strength of the land. Bladud roamed around the country, very ill. A farmer’s wife took pity on him, and employed him as a pig farmer. The farmer’s daughter, who was blind, fell in love with Bladud. One night Bladud had a dream, in which his pigs became ill. In his dream, God spoke to him about a healing spring. While caring for the pigs, Bladud noticed that there was a certain place the pigs would return to, where all the year round, the swine could wallow in mud which never froze. At that place, was a bubbling spring, which was as warm as blood. Here Bladud bathed and the healing powers of the spring cured his disease.
Grace, the farmer’s daughter, had followed Bladud to the spring, she too bathed in the waters and her blindness was lifted. Bladud was then able to return to London and seek out his mother, where he was embraced and his rightful place as heir to the throne re-instated. When his father, King Lud, died shortly after his return, a new era dawned in Britain. Bladud was crowned King and promised to serve his people. He married Grace and had a son, who eventually became King Lear.
The second half of the lecture was taken by Moyra Caldicott, who discussed the concept of legends, people’s insatiable need for stories and the nature of legends, which start off usually as a rumour. The more people who talk about the rumour, the more credible the story becomes. The rumours become so famous, they eventually get taken as facts.
Stories help us to understand life, that is why stories which are given to children are so important to their learning process. There are different levels of reality, which we are all a part of. There is the Shop/Supermarket reality; the planet we are on, which is hurtling through space; our physical/psychological reality; and finally the power of imagination, the creative act by which we understand life.
The legend of Bladud comes from around 900-500 BC. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about him. At this time, the Crusades was just beginning and the Church had tremendous power. Geoffrey had a restless mind, like Bladud’s, and needed more stories than were offered by the Church. To meet this need, he decided to start the History of Britain, and trace the lineage of the kings of Britain. It is interesting that in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account of King Bladud there was no mention in the story of any pigs.
The Celts were a dominant force in the country when Bladud ruled, they were great warriors, quite a contrast to the story of Bladud, which is a peaceful tale. Bladud was a hero of the soul, of the spirit, and of the mind. He is becoming popular in our time, as we are in an age which has become terrifying; an age which has science, evolution and nuclear threats. We need a hero to believe in, to teach us the importance of life. We are starting to see a rising interest in alternative healing as people start to turn away from science.
Caroline Way then continued with the final part of the ‘Ballad of Bladud’.We rejoined
the poem with the founding of Bath: Bladud was skilled in geometric art and designed Bath which he worked on for seven years. Bladud based Bath on a Grecian city. He gave the city a Temple of Apollo, in which was a fire which burned day and night. Four learned men, philosophers from Greece, travelled to Britain. Bladud sent them around the country to establish seats of learning; each one founded a university, getting students to come from all round the world to study. This was the golden age of Britain. Bladud travelled far and wide, using his knowledge of the stars and the understanding of the universe.
In Caroline's poem, Bladud was killed whilst walking with his son Lear in a grove. Bladud saw the shadow of a boar, which was charging towards his son. He threw Lear out of the way of the animal, took the full force of its attack and was mortally wounded. He was taken to Solsbury Hill and as his life ebbed away, his shadow could be seen silhouetted against the sun. When he died, Bladud plummeted toward Apollo’s fire, his own funeral pyre.
The meeting concluded with questions from the audience.

Carol Baker.