| The harp that once through Tara's halls the soul | | | | it would lull all who listened to sleep. So thus did |
| of music shed, | | | | the harp became the dispenser of Sorrow, |
| now hangs as mute on Tara's walls, as if that | | | | Gladness and Rest.Harps are played throughout |
| soul were fled. | | | | much of the world. From ancient artworks, epic |
| So sleeps the pride of former days, so glory's | | | | tales and poetry, we learn of harps in Babylonia |
| thrill is o'er, | | | | and Mesopotamia. We see them in the tomb of |
| and hearts that once beat high for praise, | | | | Pharaoh Ramses III , votive carvings from Iraq |
| now feel that pulse no moreTo tell the history of | | | | and sculptures of ancient Greece. From Africa, |
| the Irish harp is to tell the history of the Irish | | | | which has more than 100 harp traditions, the |
| people. This ancient folk instrument with its | | | | instrument travelled north to Spain and soon |
| beautiful, delicate sound is played today despite | | | | spread throughout Europe. Strung with sinew, silk |
| being ignored, derided and proscribed for centuries. | | | | or wire, harps vary in size, structure and |
| Harpers, who in earlier days would have been | | | | decoration according to the physical and |
| hanged for their art, now flourish throughout the | | | | technological environments of their origins. African |
| world, as do the Irish themselvesLegend tell us | | | | harps have been made from wood and gourd |
| the first harp was owned by Dagda, a chief | | | | covered with cowhide, the Burmese sang auk has |
| among the Tuatha De Danaan. At one time during | | | | an arched soundbox similar to the Turkish ceng |
| a war with the Fomorians, the gods of cold and | | | | while European harps feature a triangular frame, |
| darkness, his harp was stolen but later recovered | | | | There is one feature that all harps share: the |
| by Lugh and Ogma. When it was returned it had | | | | strings run vertical (rather than parallel) to the |
| aquired two secret names and the ability to call | | | | sound box.Griffith of Wales employed harpists in |
| forth summer and winter. From then on, when | | | | his court at the end of the 11th century and the |
| Dagda played, he could produce a melody so | | | | monk-historian Geraldus Cambrensis admired the |
| poignant, it would make his audience weep, he | | | | great skill of the Irish harpers and remarked that |
| could play an air so jubilant it would make | | | | some even considered the Scots to be better |
| everyone smile, or bring forth a sound so tranquil, | | | | players. |