12/28/2023 0 Comments Celtic string instrumentsDespite providing the earliest evidence of stringed instruments in Ireland, no records described what these instruments looked like, or how the cruit and tiompán differed from one another. Another stringed instrument from this era was the tiompán, most likely a kind of lyre. Early Irish law from 700 AD stipulates that bards and 'cruit' players should sit with the nobility at banquets and not with the common entertainers. The earliest Irish references to stringed instruments are from the 6th century, and players of such instruments were held in high regard by the nobility of the time. Exactly thirteen depictions of any triangular chordophone instrument from pre-11th-century Europe exist and twelve of them come from Scotland. The instruments apparently spread south to the Anglo Saxons who commonly used gut strings and then west to the Gaels of the Highlands and to Ireland. Pictish harps were strung from horsehair. harps with a fore pillar, are found on carved 8th century Pictish stones. The earliest descriptions of a European triangular framed harp, i.e. Ī notched piece of wood which some have interpreted to be part of the bridge of an Iron Age lyre dating to around 300 BC was discovered on the Isle of Skye, which, if actually a bridge, would make it the oldest surviving fragment of a western European stringed instrument (although images of Greek lyres are much older). It has been suggested that the word clàrsach / cláirseach (from clàr / clár, a board) was coined for the triangular frame harp which replaced the cruit, and that this coining was of Scottish origin. This word may originally have described a different stringed instrument, being etymologically related to the Welsh crwth. The first instrument associated with the harping tradition in the Gaelic world was known as a cruit. The early history of the triangular frame harp in Europe is contested. It appears on Irish coins, the coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, Canada as well as the flag of Montserrat.Įarly history 11th century depiction of a harpist on the Breac Maodhóg Harpist on the Shrine of St Patrick's Tooth, 14th century 1805 Irish penny depicting an Irish harp, long used as a national symbol. In Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great skill and long practice to play, and was associated with the Gaelic ruling class. It is known as cláirseach in Irish, clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic, telenn in Breton and telyn in Welsh. The Celtic harp is a triangular frame harp traditional to the Celtic nations of northwest Europe. ' Brian Boru's harp' ( Cláirseach Brian Bóramha) on display in the Library of Trinity College Dublin
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