The story
From bear + herd, probably a variant of bearard, itself a variant of bearward, the second element being treated as herd (“keeper of a number of domestic animals assembled together”) as in shepherd.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
bearherd
bear·herdToday it means: Synonym of bearward (“someone who handles and keeps bears (and sometimes other animals such as apes and bulls), especially for use in public entertainments such as baiting or dancing displays”). Full definition →