Pictish Harps

Gerald of Wales or Giraldus Cambrensis wrote in around the year 1188 about the use of various stringed instruments "Ireland uses and delights in two instruments only, the cithara and the tympanum. Scotland uses three, the cithara, the tympanum and the chorus. Wales uses the cithara, tibiae (pipes) and chorus (crwth?)" Buckly p68

But if you want to soothe the troubled mind of a mormaer when it is their turn to give "a banquet for a hundred every Christmas and Easter to God and to Drostán" what sort of stringed instrument do you expect to hear?

Can you see the harp?

When did triangular harps start to be used? Whilst archaeological evidence is lacking, evidence of the construction and use of musical instruments is available from other sources. Translation between languages and in the retelling of stories by the descendants of those who composed them can cause confusion as for the purpose of a story 'Harp' could refer to many plucked and possibly bowed string instruments. However, it is probably safe to assume that the writer of a text needed to be understood at the time they were writing in. For example descriptions of stringed instruments in Gaelic include the terms like "crot", "clithora" and "cruit" which can all be translated "harp", but might also mean Lyre.

One day, perhaps, archaeological finds of Pictish harps from the Viking era will be uncovered, However there is evidence of stringed instruments carved on stones in the regions now known as Scotland and Ireland that is not well known. These carvings depict instruments which differ from lyres. If a harp is distinguished by the strings running perpendicular to and away from the soundboard, exposed on both sides, lyres can be described as having strings which run across the board, often over a bridge. (Clements p70) This difference is most obvious in the depictions of three sided chordophones (instruments which make sound using strings) in Pictish carvings. Contemporary Irish depictions have four sides which are less easily distinguished from Lyres. Therefore it seems that while harps are strongly associated with Ireland, it is possible that the earliest evidence of their use in these islands comes from Pictish stone carvings in Scotland (C8th), (see list of stones at end of this). Further clues can be found by comparing the carvings with illustrations. In the Book of Kells (C8th), which was possibly manufactured in Portmahomack, NE Scotland a figure plays the letter "C" in a manner very reminiscent of a harp, Book of Kells online. The Utrechts Psalter Utrecht psalter (C9th), and late 8th century Dagulf Psalter set this in a European context. Some of the links on this page will discuss whether Pictland was leading the way in the development of Harps. This might not be a surprise for those who have followed the recent archaeological that is uncovering previously ignored citadels and monasteries.

The Breac Máedóc reliquary shrine in Ireland (C11th) also depicts a harp player later in the Viking era.

Keith Sanger and Alison Kinnaird in their book "Tree of Strings - Crann nan Teud") present a chronology for evidence of harp use in the British Isles.

"The general picture appears to be of a large, floor-standing instrument which may well have been strung with horsehair. These harps were probably introduced to Wales by British tribesmen during the waves of migration between the 6th and 9th centuries, when the earliest Brittonic poetry that survives was also transmitted from Southern Scotland to Wales. There, the harps were given the mocking nickname of 'Buzzing thing' by the Irish settlers, a name which was adopted (perhaps with some humour!) by the Welsh. Meanwhile, between the 8th and 9th centuries, the Irish had come into contact with the Pictish Harp through their Christian communities in the west of Scotland, and perhaps also through the exiled mercenary warriors who fled across the Irish sea from the failing British kingdoms of South West Scotland. The size and construction of the triangular harps was altered to carry their customary metal strings and it became what we recognise today as the Gaelic harp, the 'Cruit' or 'Clarsach'" P30

Strings The Pictish stone carvings depict strings, but give few clues as to what they were made of. Perhaps it is in literature that evidence for this can be found. As more Gaelic texts are made available to the English speaking world the lore recorded there opens up discussions that were barely imagined decades ago. In agreement with Gerald, Irish sources often describe musicians as playing the cruit and also the tiompan. The descriptions of these instruments in these stories suggest how they could have been made and played.

The colloquy of the Ancients ( recorded circa 1170) describes St Patrick and Cailte walking around Ireland learning of the Fianna and at one point being entertained on "Sweet-stringed tiompans and sweet nine-stringed cruits." and also "The women had a little tiompan with its leithrand of white silver, with its pegs of yellow gold, with its strings of white metal." both Buckly p57

These were the daughters of the legendary king of Hy-Kinsellach, Fionnchas, Fionndruine and Finninghen. In her article Ann describes several references to metal strings, both bronze and alloys of other precious metals. She also refers to descriptions of the tiompan having three strings while the cruit has many. The three strings may refer to the three types of music in Gaelic stories, those that make you cry, those that make you laugh and those that send you to sleep (You really should find out about the Dagda's harp)

Her conclusion is that the tiompan "was an instrument light in weight and made of wood which was sometimes decorated with precious or other metal, while its strings were of brass or bronze, or sometimes possibly of gold. Where reference is made to a number of strings, it is always given as three" (Buckly p61)

Decoration on Harps If you have read this far you are probably ready to think about whether some of the harps were decorated. The Dupplin cross carving is carved on four faces. Face B is described as "The uppermost contains an animal with head turned back to bite its own tail, and the panel below a musician seated on a chair playing a large triangular harp, and at the base a panel with knotwork." Picture of Harper

The cross-head on face C (west face) "has a deep border of ribbing around a boss ornamented with step pattern, and the decoration on the arms combines animal-headed interlace with double spirals. The shaft is divided into three panels, the uppermost of which contains a worn seven-line Latin inscription. This mentions the historically documented king, Custantin mac Forcussa (AD 789-820). The central panel contains four pairs of plump birds, while the lower panel is carved with a naked figure wrestling with the jaws of a lion above what appear to be a boar and an upright bear." (dupplin-cross on Canmore) Which helps date when the carving was made (Early 9th Century).

If you look closely at the weathered stone, perhaps you will see a birds head at the top and a swirl further down. Ross Trench-Jellicoe Discusses this further and compares the Dupplin harp with one on the Aldbar slab. Ross comments that the outline is similar to those of the Nigg, Kincardine, Tower of Lethendy, Ardchatten and Kilwhinning harps and calls this style Picto-Scottish Harp design. Going back to the image from the book of Kells, perhaps this is an artist looking at a harp embellished with an animal head and being inspired to make their drawing more zoomorphic. Perhaps it is simply someone wrestling with a bird like beast.

Setting might make a difference too, and perhaps a large harp which stands on the floor might be more decorated than a had held one that would be passed around the gathering giving opportunity for warriors to wield their wit with words. Like a guitar at folk gatherings and parties?

Playing Harps are usually plucked or strummed, and would be tricky to use with a bow or by striking. The way in which you use your fingers will influence the sound though.

The tiompan was probably plucked. However on p24 Buckly also describes a couple of possible references to the use of a bow. She attributes this to C15th/16th century descriptions. However she assumes that the bow was not known in western Europe before 1000AD. One of these references is from a note inserted in a glossary of the calendar of Oengus in a C16th manuscript. The original text is from the C8th. The other describes the bow as being made from 'cairche' translated as 'cows tails'. Again the existing text she refers to is from the C15/16th century but the story may be older. The reference to cow tales is interesting given the interest in Talharpa and other bowed lyres. The question is at what point is there evidence for their introduction? (there is a drawing of what looks to me like a bow in the Uchtrect psalter.

If you are looking for balance, a sceptical discussion of this topic can be read here THE HISTORICAL IRISH HARP: MYTHS DEMYSTIFIED ANDREW LAWRENCE-KING KATERINA ANTONENKO NATALIA O’SHEA

A selection of Pictish stones with harps It is suggested that the harp is used in Pictish sculpture to identify King David. This is fortunate for us, as it means that there are records of stringed instruments from possibly as early as the C8th. Both large harps played sitting on a chair and hand held harps are depicted, although as always the relative size of objects carved on stones might not be an accurate measure of actual sizes. On the Nigg Stone [[1]] Dupplin Cross Rossmarkie stone

Other wiki pages about early harps ["Origin of the Harp in Europe"], ["The Celtic Harp"] [an overview of literature with speculative craft techniques]