Harp Music of Scotland

this scottish clàrsach, known clàrsach lumanach or lamont harp made in western highlands (c.1400) in museum of scotland, 1 of 3 surviving medieval gaelic harps.

material evidence suggests lyres and/or harp, or clarsach, has long , ancient history in scotland, iron age lyres dating 2300bc. harp regarded national instrument until replaced highland bagpipes in 15th century. stone carvings in east of scotland support theory harp present in pictish scotland before 9th century , may have been original ancestor of modern european harp , formed basis scottish pibroch, folk bagpipe tradition.

barring illustrations of harps in 9th century utrecht psalter, thirteen depictions exist in europe of triangular chordophone harp pre-11th century, , thirteen of them come scotland. pictish harps strung horsehair. instruments apparently spread south anglo-saxons, commonly used gut strings, , west gaels of highlands , ireland. earliest irish word harp in fact cruit, word suggests pictish provenance instrument. surname macwhirter, mac chruiteir, means son of harpist, , common throughout scotland, particularly in carrick , galloway.

the clàrsach (gd.) or cláirseach (ga.) name given wire-strung harp of either scotland or ireland. word begins appear end of 14th century. until end of middle ages popular musical instrument in scotland, , harpers among prestigious cultural figures in courts of irish/scottish chieftains , scottish kings , earls. in both countries, harpers enjoyed special rights , played crucial part in ceremonial occasions such coronations , poetic bardic recitals. kings of scotland employed harpers until end of middle ages, , feature prominently in royal iconography. several clarsach players noted @ battle of standard (1138), , when alexander iii (died 1286) visited london in 1278, court minstrels him, records show payments made 1 elyas, king of scotland s harper. 1 of nicknames scottish harp taigh nan teud , house of strings.

three medieval gaelic harps survived modern period, 2 scotland (the queen mary harp , lamont harp) , 1 in ireland (the brian boru harp), although artistic evidence suggests 3 made in western highlands.

the playing of gaelic harp wire strings died out in scotland in 18th century , in ireland in 19th century. part of late 19th century gaelic revival, instruments used differed old wire-strung harps. new instruments had gut strings, , construction , playing style based on larger orchestral pedal harp. nonetheless name clàrsach , still used in scotland today describe these new instruments. modern gut-strung clàrsach has thousands of players, both in scotland , ireland, north america , elsewhere. 1931 formation of clarsach society kickstarted modern harp renaissance. recent harp players include savourna stevenson, maggie macinnes, , band sileas. notable events include edinburgh international harp festival, staged world record largest number of harpists play @ same time.