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Na L.
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AN
HISTORICAL ENGUIRY
IR ESPECTING
THE PERFORMAN CE
O N THE
H A R P
2 IN *††
THE HIGHIANDs of Scotland,
FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES, UNTIL IT WAS DISCONTINUED, ABOUT
THE YEAR 1734.
:
;
:
‘.
º
i
TO WIHICH IS PRE FIXED
AN ACCOUNT OF A VERY ANCIENT CALEDONIAN IIARP,
AND OF
THE HARP OF QUEEN MARY.
ILLUSTRATED BY THREE ELEGANT ENGRAVINGs.
DRAWN UP
BY DESIRE OF THE HIGH LAND SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND,
A ND PUBLISHED UNDER ITS PATRON AGE,
JOHN GUNN, F. A. s. E.
AUTHOR OF A TREATISE ON THE ORIGIN AND IMPROVEMENT of STRINGED INSTRUMENTS;
AN ESSAY ON THOROUGH BASS, ADAPTED TO THE VIOLONCELLO, &c.
ſ
.*
IE DIN BU R, G H .
PRINTED BY J. BALLANTYNE AND Co.
For ARCHIBAID constable AND company, EDINBURGH
*::: . AND $ * ~ :-->
JOHN MURRAY, 32. FLEET-STREET, LQNDON
1807.
ADVERTISEMENT.
The Highland Society of Scotland having been in-
Jormed, that there were two old Harps in the house
of Lude, in the Highlands of Perthshire, which
had been for several centuries in that family, ap-
plied to General Romanrson, the proprietor, by
letter, dated 17th May, 1805, for a description
of their construction, and other particulars concern-
ing them. To this request General Rob ERTson not
only returned an immediate answer, but most ob-
ligingly offered to send both the Harps to Edin-
burgh, in order to have Drawings made of them,
vi
and to be ea'amined in any way the Society might
judge proper.
The Harps were accordingly presented to the
Society, who appointed a sub-committee for the
investigation of the subject. An eminent artist
was employed to take ea'act Drawings of the Harps,
and I was requested to draw up a particular de-
scription of them,.accompanied by an Essay on the
Nature, the Powers, and the Use of the Harp among
the Ancient Highlanders. The Drawings were eace-
cuted with the most scrupulous attention to accu-
racy, and even to actual measurement, in so far as
the laws of perspective would permit ; not only in
the number and length of the strings, but in the
minutest ornaments in the workmanship, and deciden-
tal cracks the Harps had received, and every means
that had been taken to mend them. From these
Drawings the present Engravings have been eaecuted
vii
by the same ingenious artist. My Essay was ori-
ginally intended to have been published in the third
volume of the Society's prize Essays and Transac-
tions ; but as it proved to be too bulky for that
purpose, it was judged more eaſpedient to be pub-
/ished as a separate work, which is now respectfully
submitted to a candid Public.
Edinburgh, 12th May, 1807.
A N
HISTORICAL ENG) UIRY
INTO THE
PERFORMANCE ON THE HARP.
I. A DESCRIPTION
OF
(Libe Calebonian iſºarp.
The oldest of the two Harps, which I have call-
ed the CALED on IAN HARP, was brought from
Argyleshire about the year 1640, by a Lady of
the family of Lamont, to the House of Lude, up-
on her marriage into the family of Robertson of
Lude, where it has ever since remained. The
A.
2 THE CA LIET) O N T A N H A R P.
workmanship of this Harp is very good; and the
instrument being evidently intended for durabi-
lity and great strength, it is constructed on a sim-
ple plan, without any affectation of ornament,
but the work is perfectly smooth, and well fi-
nished.
It is thirty-eight inches and a half in height,
(from a to b, Plate I.), and sixteen inches broad,
at the lowest part of the sounding board, (from
a to b, Plate II.) The greatest projection of the
fore arm, from the sounding board, is nearly
thirteen inches. The upper arm, or comb, as
well as the front arm, is of plane-tree, stained
red; and where both arms are joined, two very
neatly made brass plates, seven inches long, and
three quarters of an inch broad, are fastened by
eight brass nails, for the purposes of strength-
ening each arm, and keeping them firmly join-
ed together. (See Plate I. c.) The end, or front
l
THE C A LE DO N IA N H A. R. P. 3
of the upper arm, is capt with a plain plate of
brass.
The strings are fixed, as they are done at pre-
sent, to the end (which is out of view in the en-
graving,) of thirty very strong pins, of nearly four
inches in length (Plate I. d.); all of which were
originally of brass, but three have been after-
wards replaced by iron pins. These strings are,
likewise in the present manner, fixed, at the op-
posite end, into thirty holes along the middle of
the sounding board. The string holes appear to
have all been originally ornamented, with an
equal number of very neatly wrought escutcheons
of brass, carved and gilt; but of these small sepa-
rate escutcheons, there are only five now remain-
ing; two round the two lowest, and three round
the three uppermost string holes. The most dis-
tinct view of the two lowest escutcheons will be
seen in the front view of this Harp, Plate II. and
of the three uppermost, in Plate I.
4 THE CAL ED ON I A N H A R. P.
This appears to have been the state in which
the Harp was originally manufactured. It ex-
hibits, however, several marks and proofs of its
having suffered considerable violence, and of its
having, at different periods, received very severe
blows, which it is much more likely to have re
ceived in traversing different parts of the High-
lands, and Western Islands, both by land and
sea, than in having been constantly in the pos-
session of a single family; so that these marks
indicate, not very equivocally, its having been, in
all probability for several centuries, the Harp of
a succession of Highland Bards, before it came
into the possession of the family of Lamont.*
* I have been favoured with a copy of an ancient Gaelic poem,
together with the music to which it is still sung in the Highlands,
in which the Poet personifies and addresses a very old Harp, by ask-
ing what had become of its former lustre The Harp replies—that
... it had belonged to a king of Ireland, and had been present at many
THE CA LIED ON I A N H A R P. 5
The proofs of such a great age, and of such
violent blows having been received, exist in the
wearing out of the original brass escutcheons,
which were fixed separately into the sounding
board, and in their having been supplanted suc-
cessively, by twelve larger, but far less elegant,
escutcheons, also fixed separately into the sound-
ing board; four at the upper end, and eight at
the lower. The remaining fifteen escutcheons
are of this larger kind, but, instead of being in-
serted into the wood, they are fixed into three
plates of brass; the lowest, one inch and three
quarters long (from c to d, Plate II.); the se-
cond, three inches and a quarter long (from d
a royal banquet; that it had afterwards been successively in the
possession of Dargo, son of the Druid of Baal—of Gaul—of Filan—
of Oscar—of O Duine—of Diarmid—of a Physician—of a Bard—
and, lastly, of a Priest, “who, in a secluded corner, was meditating
on a white book.”—This song, and music, will appear in a subse-
quent publication.
6 T H E C A LE TO O N IA N H A R. P.
to e, Plate II.); and the third, about seven inches
long (from e to f, Plate II.); these three pieces
of brass are also distinctly marked on Plate I. by
four cross lines. Into these three pieces of brass,
fixed into the sounding board, fifteen string holes
are made, and the escutcheons inserted into the
brass plates; and these different substitutions of
escutcheons to the original more elegant ones,
appear to have been made at two or three diffe-
rent periods of time.
Two very strong plates of iron, (at e, Plate I.
and the opposite side) fixed in by two large
nails, or screws, and three plates of iron at the
joining of the upper arm to the narrow or up-
permost part of the sounding board, (at f, Plate
I.) all evince the instrument to have received
very severe blows, at different periods.
In comparing the enumeration of the pins to
which the strings are fixed, with that of the
string holes and escutcheons round each; some
THE C A LE DO N I A N H A R P. 7
may have concluded, that there are thirty-two
string holes mentioned, and but thirty strings.
The fact is, that there never appears to have
been strings put into the two uppermost string-
holes; they would have been of very difficult
access to the thumb, and have been quite unne-
cessary; the next string to these being only two
inches in length ; whereas the shortest string of
the other Harp (Queen Mary's) is full two inch-
es and a half long, notwithstanding that instru-
ment is altogether on a scale rather smaller, and
of less dimensions, than the Caledonian Harp.
It may be proper here to remark, that the
shortest string, or C, the highest note of the
modern piano-forte with additional keys, is two
inches and three quarters of an inch in length;
that this was the pitch of tune, given to the
shortest string of Queen Mary's Harp; and that
the string, which has a corresponding pitch in
8 T H E C A LET) O N I A N H A R. P.
the modern Harp, now in use, is three inches
and seven eighths of an inch long.
The most remarkable circumstance in the con-
struction of the Caledonian Harp, and which dis-
tinguishes it from the structure of Queen Mary's,
and the modern Harps, is, that the front arm is
not perpendicular to the sounding board, but
that its upper part, together with the top arm,
are turned considerably towards the left, in or-
der to leave a greater opening (g, h, Plate II.)
for the voice of the performer to extend more
freely, in all directions, to his audience, and that
it might be obstructed as little as possible by the
front arm of the instrument. After this open-
ing, the remaining part of the front arm cross-
es the sounding board towards the right. The
Harp was held by the Caledonian, Irish, and
Welsh Harpers, on their left side, that is, the
upper strings were struck by the fingers of their
left hand. This peculiarity of construction evi-
THE C A LE DO N IA N H A R P. 9
dently shows, that the instrument was manufac-
tured at a period when the accompaniment of
the voice was considered as the chief, if not the
sole, province and excellence of the Harp. The
front view of the Caledonian Harp, Plate II., is
given, chiefly to exhibit this singularity in its
Structure.
The great age and antiquity ascribed to this
Harp, is further proved, by comparing it with
the Harp, now in the Museum of the University
of Dublin, of Brian Boromh, sole monarch of
Ireland, who was killed at the battle of Clontarf,
A. D. 1014. An engraving and description of
this Harp may be seen in the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica (Article Harp). Another engraving of
it, on a larger scale, with the original descrip-
tion, may be seen in the fourth volume of the
Collectanea de rebus Hibernicis; and a fine en-
graving of it, on a scale still nearer to that given
B
10 T H E CA LIET) ON I A N H A R P.
to our Caledonian Harp, may be seen in the
third volume of Gough's late edition of Camb-
den's Britannia.
The Harp of Brian Boromh was taken by his
son Donagh, together with his father's crown
and other regalia, to Rome, where he fled, after
having murdered his brother Teige; and were
all presented to the Pope, in order to obtain ab-
solution. Adrian the Fourth alleged this circum-
stance as one of his principal titles to the sove-
reignty of Ireland, in his bull, transferring that
kingdom to King Henry the Second. These re-
galia were kept in the Vatican, until the Pope
sent the Harp to King Henry the Eighth, with
the title of “Defender of the Faith;” but kept
the crown, which was of massive gold. Henry
gave the Harp to the first Earl of Clanricard, in
whose family it remained till within the last hun-
dred years; afterwards it passed into the pos-
session of several others, until it was at length
THE CA. LED ON I A N H A R P. 11
presented to Trinity College, in the year 1782,
by the Right Honourable William Conyngham.
The Harp of Brian Boromh has a striking re-
semblance to the Caledonian Harp in its gene-
ral contour, especially in that of its upper arm.
It has escutcheons of brass, carved and gilt round
the string holes, greatly resembling the original
escutcheons of the Caledonian Harp. In its di-
mensions, however, it is nearer to those of the
Harp of Queen Mary; the latter being thirty-
one inches in height, and having twenty-eight
strings; and the Harp of Brian Boromh being
thirty-two inches high, and having also twenty-
eight string holes. A young Irish nobleman of
distinguished abilities and accurate observation,
who had recently left the University of Dublin,
and had frequently seen and examined Brian
Boromh's Harp, was much interested in seeing
the Caledonian Harp; which, with the excep-
tion of the carving and ornaments of the former,
12 . THE GALIE DO N T A N H A R P.
he assured me, did perfectly resemble that of
Brian Boromh, and that the Caledonian Harp
appeared to him to be fully as old, if not older,
than that of the monarch of Ireland.
II. A DESCRIPTION
OF
autºn £ºlarp's #arp.
Quees MARY, in a hunting excursion in the
highlands of Perthshire, had taken with her the
Harp, of which the engraving, Plate III., is an
exact representation, and had made a present of
it to Miss Beatrix Gardyn, daughter of Mr Gar-
dyn of Banchory, whose family is now repre-
sented by Mr Garden of Troup. This lady ha-
ving been also married into the family of Lude,
the Harp has remained in its possession until the
present time. It had, in front of the upper arm,
14 QUEEN MARY's HARP.
the queen's portrait, and the arms of Scotland,
both in gold. On the right side, which is the
view given in the annexed Plate, in the circular
space near the upper end of the fore arm, was
placed a jewel of considerable value, and on the
opposite side, in a similar circular space, was
fixed another precious stone; of all which it was
despoiled in the rebellion 1745, either by the
persons to whose care the Harp had been at that
time confided; or, as these people asserted, had
been taken away by the soldiery during the ex-
istence of these troubles. *
This Harp is thirty-one inches in height, (from
a to b, Plate III.) and the breadth of the lowest
part of the sounding board is only eleven inches
and a half. The sounding board itself is not
* General Robertson's Letter to the Secretary of the Highland
Society, accompanying the two Harps, October 1805.
QUEEN MARY's HARP. 15
quite flat, like that of the Caledonian Harp, but
has a gentle rise from the edge of each side to-
wards the middle, more in the manner of the
Harps of the present day. It is altogether of a
much lighter fabric than that of the Caledonian
Harp, being little more than one half of the
weight of the latter.
This Harp has twenty-eight string holes, and
the like number of pins, or keys, to which the
strings are fixed at the upper end; but there are
no brass escutcheons, nor any ornament what-
ever, round the string holes at the sounding
board. On the upper part of each side of the
front arm, round the circular spaces in which the
jewels were placed, and for a considerable way
down that part of the fore arm, is some very mi-
nute, and neatly executed, inlaid work, which is
very accurately represented in the engraving.
The upper part of the fore arm is carved into the
figure of a snake, below which are four small me-
I
16 QUEEN MARY's HARP.
tal knobs, or buttons, as in the engraving. On
the surface of the sounding board, as well as on
both sides of the top arm, are carved a number
of figures, or lines, which discover but little
taste; and the workmanship, upon the whole,
excepting the inlaid work, and shape of the fore
arm, although very good, cannot be said to ex-
cel, or perhaps to equal, that of the old Caledo-
nian Harp.
There is, however, this very essential diffe-
rence in the present condition of both these in-
struments, that Queen Mary's Harp, not having
been liable to the casualties I have supposed the
Caledonian Harp to have undergone, has been
kept in a state of good preservation, and is still
so complete and sound in all its parts, that one,
ignorant of its history, and judging merely from
the present state of the wood, would be apt to
pronounce its age not to exceed seventy or eigh-
QUEEN MARY's HAR P. 17
ty years; and it was accordingly, without much
difficulty, put into a proper condition of per-
formance, by proceeding upon the following
principles.
III.
The Mode in which QUEEN MARy’s HARP, was
strung and performed upon ; its Scale and Com-
pass ascertained.
In the process of adjusting strings of suitable
dimensions to this Harp, I consulted with Mr
Wood, an ingenious and experienced mechanic,
and a manufacturer of the Harp, and other mu-
sical instruments, in this city, upon the princi-
ples by which we should proceed in tuning this
instrument. It seemed to be the general wish
of the Members of the Society, to have it strung
with brass wire, which had been, for many cen-
P R O CESS OF TU N IN G. 19
turies, the strings used by the Irish and High-
land Harpers; and it was accordingly at first
strung in that manner. It did not, however,
then occur to us, that these Harpers had a pe-
culiar manner of producing the tone from brass
strings by their nails, which they allowed to
grow to a certain length and form for that pur-
*
pose.” The touch, or manner of producing the .
• * Galileo, father.of the celebrated mathematician, in his “ Dia-
logue on Ancient and Modern Music” 1582, says, the performer
on the Harp suffered his mails to grow to a considerable length, trim-
ming them with great care, and forming them somewhat like the
quills on the jacks of a harpsichord. e
O’Kane, a celebrated Irish harper, who had travelled, with his
Harp, into Spain, and other parts of the continent, had visited Scot-
land more than once, and was, within the last twenty years, for
some time in the Highlands,--valued himself on having his nails
nicely trimmed in this manner. Being naturally rude, and low bred,
he.was frequently apt to forget himself, and to insult his superiors,
even ladies of quality, with the grossest and most abusive language.
On these occasions, the gentlemen of the Highlands found the best
method of punishing him was, to order his nails to be cut quite
short, and then send him away; being thus rendered incapable of
playing on his Harp until they grew again to their former length.
2() P R O CESS OF TU N IN G.
vibration of the strings, by the modern perfor-
mers, is on a different principle altogether, and
can only be effected on strings made of the in-
testines of animals. By the advice, and under
the direction, of Mr Elodis, the celebrated per-
former on the Pedal Harp, this instrument was
therefore again fitted with other strings of the
present fabric, and I heard him perform a num-
ber of different airs upon it in presence of seve-
ral Members of the Society, and other Gentle-
men. The instrument, as was to have been ex-
pected, was much more remarkable for sweet-
ness and delicacy, than for power or strength of
tone. Its greatest perfection lay in the upper
notes, from the highest to about the middle of
its scale, or compass; after which, its sounds, as
they approached to the lowest, became gradual-
ly more and more imperfect. This falling off in
power and tone towards the bass, is the neces-
sary consequence of the small size of the instru-
PRocess of TUN ING. 21
ment, which does not admit of sufficient length
and tension in the lower strings.
All this had been considered and foreseen in
adapting the strings to the instrument; but it
was impossible for us to take more precaution
than we actually did, nor could we think of bet-
ter principles than those upon which we pro-
ceeded. The length of every string is necessa-
rily fixed and determined by the frame and size
of the instrument, and its scale and compass is
limited by the number of its strings. There re-
mains only to ascertain, what shall be the pitch
or tune of any sound or string in this scale, to
determine those of all the rest. Strings of a
given length and thickness, will only produce
their clearest and best vibrations by a certain
degree of tension, which can be only known by
experiment. We gave what we judged on trial
to be the proper degree of tension on this prin-
ciple, first to strings about the middle compass
I
22 PROCESS OF TU N IN G.
of the instrument, and afterwards proceeding to
the shorter strings on the one hand, and to the
longer strings on the other; the following pitch
and compass of notes, tuned according to the
present diatonic scale, was the result :—
The shortest string, or highest note, of Queen
Mary's Harp, we found to be the upper C, or
highest note of the modern piano forte, with
additional keys; and proceeding by the descend-
ing scale, it has exactly a compass of four com-
plete octaves, terminating in C, the notation of
which, in our music, is placed on the second
space of the bass stave. *
* If it should be doubted, that the old harpers of Caledonia and
Ireland did actually tune Harps, of the above number of strings, by
the diatonic scale, which contains only two intervals of semitone in
the compass of an octave, it may be answered, that if they did not
tune them upon that system, how can we possibly ascertain in what
degree or respect their scale differed from it? All the music still
extant in Ireland and the Highlands is reducible to that scale.—
O’Kane, the last Irish harper that has been heard in Scotland, is said
P R O CESS OF TU N IN G. 23
It is evident, that we had given to the whole
scale of this instrument, taken in general, as low
a pitch as it was capable of receiving, insomuck
that its lower strings are deficient in tension and
power. The experience of modern times has as-
certained forty inches to be the best length for
to have had his Harp tuned exactly on that system ; and Mr Bun-
ting, who has harmonized and published a well known collection
of the ancient Irish music, which was taken down by him from the
performance of a number of itinerant harpers, who were assembled
by the gentlemen of Belfast on the 12th of July, 1792, informs us,
that “...these harpers were collected from parts far distant from each
4 & other and were taught by different masters, and that they all
“tuned their instruments on the same principle, yet totally igno-
“rant of the principle itself, and without being able to assign any
“reason for this mode of tuning, or of their playing the bass.”
This diatonic scale appears, in reality, to have been produced by
what Mr Kollman, in his “New Theory of Musical Harmony,”
1806, calls the lucky chance of transposing the ancient tetrachord
of the Greeks, which was taught in the universities of Europe. In
what way the Irish and Caledonian harpers came to the knowledge
of such a tetrachord, and had the same lucky chance of transposing
it into a regular diatonic octave, does not fall within the limits of
the present enquiry.
24 P R O CESS OF TU N IN G .
sounding this degree of the scale; whereas the
longest string of Queen Mary's Harp, by which
this sound was produced, is only twenty-four
inches in length; and the corresponding string
of the Caledonian Harp measures only twenty-
one inches and a half; yet the lower compass of
an ordinary bass voice extends four or five notes,
or degrees, of the scale, below the pitch given
to this string.
A N
HISTORICAL ENOUIRY
INTO THE
PERFORMANCE ON THE HARP
IN THE
HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND.
*
WHAT is above stated, may suffice to give an
idea of the structure, compass, and powers, of
these two Harps; but I am well aware it will
be said, that, even admitting these instruments
to have been for the last three or four centu-
ries in the Highlands of Scotland, they afford
D
26 O N T H E H A R P
no conclusive evidence that the Harp was in
general use in the country; as it may be object-
ed, that not only the least of the two Harps had
probably been brought by Queen Mary from
France, but that the Harp called the Caledonian
Harp, might have been the Harp of an itinerant
Irish Harper, which had become the property
of the family of Lamont. The following state-
ment must remove every doubt that can be en-
tertained on that subject.
The ancient Gauls and Britons were the on-
ly nations to whom the Greek and Roman wri-
ters ascribe the singular institution of Druidism.
Among the Britons must be understood Nºe
comprehended, the Caledonians and Irish ; who,
it can be proved, introduced this institution into
Britain and Gaul. It consisted of a priesthood
of three principal members; the Druid, Vates,
and Bard. The Bard, however he may have been
in earlier times more employed in the rites of re-
f N THE HIGH LAN IDS. 27
}
ligious worship, is described by the ancient histo-
rians, as the composer of the heroic poems, cele-
brating the warlike exploits of their nation, and
singing these to the accompaniment of the Harp.
Thus Diodorus Siculus, a writer contemporary
with Julius Caesar and Augustus, says, “The Gauls
have among them composers of melodies, whom
they call Bards; these sing to instruments not
unlike lyres, songs of praise or invective;”
Ammianus Marcellinus, a writer of the fourth
century, relates, in nearly the same terms, that
“ the Bards of the Celts celebrated the actions of
illustrious men in heroic poems, which they sung
to the sweet sounds of the lyre.” +
* and
Such were the Bards of the ancient British or
* Eurt wou raft &vrou, x&l rounro.u Awºxoy, 8vº; Baphov; ovoazłovoir, ºvrol & aer'
opyzvor, Tatº avpatº &Aotov, §orres, ov. Aer varoval, ºv, & 3xagºnaoval.—Diod.
Siculus, Ed. H. Stephens, L. V. p. 213.
f Bardi etiam facta cirorum illustrium, heroicis composita versibus,
cum dulcibus lyrae modulis, cantitarunt.—Amm, Marcel. L. xv. c. 9.
28 O N T H E H A R. P.
Welsh, the Irish, and the Caledonians, before the
arrival of the Romans in Britain, and for many
centuries afterwards. Among the Welsh, the
profession of a bard was highly respected; inso-
much, that the chief bard of Wales was in rank
the eighth officer in the king's household, and en-
joyed many distinguishing privileges. By the laws
of Wales, none could pretend to the character of
a gentleman or freeman, who had not a Harp,
or could not play upon it; and it was forbid-
den to teach, or permit, slaves to play upon that
instrument. *
The Harp has also ever been the favourite in-
strument of the Irish. In the beginning of the
twelfth century, the Harpers of Ireland so far
surpassed those of Wales, in the knowledge and
practice of music, that Gryffth ap Conan, Prince
* Leges Wallica, and Jon Es’s History of the Welsh Bards,
i
I N T H E H IG H L A N DS. 29.
of North Wales, brought over musicians with
him from Ireland, who reformed the musical in-
struments, tunes, and measures of the Welsh.
This is admitted by Cardoc, a Welsh author of -
the twelfth century, and is further confirmed by
the learned Selden, as well as by Powel, another
Welsh author of the sixteenth century. There
is still a more detailed and decided evidence of
the excellence of the Irish Harpers in the twelfth
century, by Giraldus Cambrensis, which will
be given below in its proper place, as it affords
an equally convincing proof of the superior attain-
ments of the Highland Harpers of that period.
It is indeed true, that there are still remaining
a few native Harpers, both in Wales and Ireland,
who have been taught by Harpers of their own
country, and those again by their predecessors,
in an uninterrupted succession, from remote ages;
whilst in the Highlands there is not at present
30 O N THE H A R P
one Harper to be found. It therefore becomes
necessary to state the following evidence, to shew
that the Harp has been as early known, and has
been as successfully cultivated, in the Highlands
of Scotland, as it has been in Ireland and Wales.*
* Whatever light the facts which will now be established may
throw on the antiquities and dark periods of the history of the Ca-
ledonians, it is most certain, that had not these two Harps been
produced, and the present enquiry instituted, such facts were on
the eve of being for ever consigned to oblivion. They were, for the
most part, only traditionally known to a few individuals residing on
the spot, and were generally unknown to, or denied by, the rest of
Scotland. The writer of this enquiry, although born himself in the
Highlands, when treating professedly on the knowledge of the
Harp among the different nations of Europe, did not entertain the
least suspicion that this instrument had ever been known in his
own country. He can make no better apology for so apparently
gross a deficiency of information, than by observing, that his pro-
fessional studies were chiefly pursued on the Continent; that he
had been twenty-eight years absent from Scotland, at a period of
life when information of this nature is generally acquired; and that
he wrote and published his treatise in England eighteen years ago.
On his having undertaken the present enquiry, he applied to one of
his most valued friends, who is well acquainted with the old and
modern Highland music, and is an editor of ancient and modern Scot-
IN THE H IG H L AN IDS.” 31
The name of the Harp in Gaelic has a direct
reference to its fabric. The word clar, a Harp,
means also a table, a stave ; a board, fashioned
and smoothed to a certain shape, and is expres-
sive of the proper form and materials of which
the frame of the Harp must be made. Besides
clar, and clarsach, it has also been expressed for
many ages in the Gaelic poetry, by what the
poets have generally considered, (as it might
best answer the versification,) a synonimous
term, the cruit, which is an oriental word for
tish poetry, in hopes of obtaining some information on the subject.
This gentleman laughed at what he conceived to be the absurdity
of the attempt; being firmly persuaded, that our two Harps were
only accidentally brought into the Highlands, and had no connec-
tion whatever with the manners or usages of the natives. Lastly,
after the author had drawn up his report on this subject, a noble-
man, the chieftain of one of our most celebrated clans, in whose fa-
mily an established Harper had been maintained, did him the ho-
nour of perusing it; and extremely well informed as his lordship
certainly is on every other subject, he candidly confessed, that he
had never before known that the Harp had been cultivated by the
native Highlanders.
2
32 O N T H E H A R P
an instrument of this species, made on a smaller
scale, and probably on different principles; and
in some ancient poems, they are mentioned as
separate instruments, both “going round, with
the song and the shell,” at the festive board of
their heroes. *
The Harp is also frequently mentioned in
old Gaelic poems by a poetical phrase expressive
of its nature and powers, as Teud ciuil, “ the
strings of melody or music; t and this figura-
* Am bu lionmhor cruit is clar,
’S ioma bard a sheinneadh sgeul,
B’ ioma slige doll mun cuairt,
’S dana mua ga luadh le cheil—
Literally—“Where many were our Cruits and Harps—and many
were the bards to sing the tale—Many a shell went round—Many
were the new songs which were sung together.”—Poem of Bas
Oisiain, in Kennedy's Collection.—Report of the Committee of the
Highland Society, Appendir, No. 20, p. 314.
f “Budh bhinne na teud ciuil a ghuth.”
“Sweeter than the strings of melody was his voice.—Gaelic Poem
of Bas Fraoich. 28 Stanza of Jerome Stone's copy.
I N T H E H IG H L A N DS. 33
tive expression for the Harp has its perfect sy-
nonima of like syntax, in the phrase Teud ſuin,
which is pronounced Telin, the letter d being
quiescent. That the word luin is a melody or
air, is evident from its diminutive ſuin-ag, a short
melody, and well known species of air, still much
used throughout the Highlands; and loin is a
blackbird, the melodist, of which luin is the ob-
lique or genitive case.
The Welsh name of the Harp is this very word,
or rather phrase Te-lin, which, in its composition,
is not expressive, in that language, of any idea, and
of which no etymology can, I believe, be given,
excepting that of the Gaelic justmentioned. The
plain inference to be drawn from which is, that
the Welsh have derived this instrument, together
with its name, from the nation who had given to
it that expressive appellation; and that this was
really the case, can be supported by various ar-
E
34 O N T H E H A R P
guments of great force, which will be given in
a future work.
There is scarcely one poem of considerable
length, of the great number which are still sung,
or rehearsed, throughout the Highlands of Scot-
land, in which particular mention is not made of
the Harp. Not only the Bards, but the heroes
themselves, their wives, their young women, are
represented as performing upon this instrument.*
Even the children, when they can get at it, are
represented as eagerly endeavouring, with their
little fingers “sweeping along the strings,” to
bring out the sweet sounds with which their
mother had delighted their ears. In the poem
of Trathal, “His spouse had remained at home.
* Aha ol is ceol air wigh gach fir,
Is Clar an laimh gach filidh's og mnaoi.”
“And the shell went round, the Bards sung, and the soft hand of
virgins trembled on the string of the Harp.”—Original, and Dr
Smith's translation of the poem of Tiomna Ghuil, p. 25, and 153.
IN THE HIGH LANDS. e 35
Two children rose with their fair locks about her
knees—They bend their ears above the Harp, .
as she touched with her white hand the trem-
bling strings—she stops—They take the Harp
themselves, but cannot find the sound they ad-
mired.— Why, they said, “does it not answer
us? Shew us the string where dwells the song.’—
She bids them search for it till she returns—
Their little fingers wander among the wires.””
The very hills, the fields, the old castles of the
Highlands, still exhibit lively traces of this an-
cient and favourite instrument. The summit of
a steep hill near Moy Castle, the seat of the
* “Dh'fag e 'leannan na tigh,
S dithis leanabh r"a glun,
An cluas fo chiabhan Óir,
A cromadh an coail a chiuil.
Than clar na lamha fein
Siad fo ioghnagu d'threig an fºuaim,
Tha am meoir a sguaba na cruit.” tº-
Poem of Trathal, in DR SMITH's Ancient Gaelic
Poems, p. 109.
C}
sº
36 $º O N T H E H A R P
Macleans of Lochbuy, in the island of Mull, is
called Madhm na Tłompan, or the Harper's Pass,
and was so named from a remarkable incident
that happened on that summit, which the na-
tives relate to the following purpose :
“In former times, there lived in this island a
celebrated Harper, married to a young woman
of exquisite beauty, whom he tenderly loved.
The musician excelled all others in taste and
execution ; but it was said he owed part of his
fame to an instrument, so admirably constructed,
that no artist could hope to equal, much less
surpass it. Next to his wife, it was the pride
and joy of his heart, and his companion where
ever he went.
“This pair went to visit a relation, who was
sick on the opposite coast. It was winter; and
those who are acquainted with this rugged
island, will not wonder that a woman should
sink under the cold and fatigue of the journey.
IN THE HIGH LANT) S. 37
The wind blew keen and cold ; they struggled
against the blast, and at last reached the top of
a high hill, which they could not avoid pas-
sing. Here, being quite exhausted, she fainted
away. The husband, with the utmost tender-
ness, exerted himself for the preservation of a
life so dear to him; and perceiving some symp-
toms of recovery, he hastened to kindle a fire to
warm her. He struck a flint, and received the
sparks among a little dry heath, which he had
collected with difficulty; for the place was too
high and exposed, to produce even this plant in
abundance, though a native of barren soils. In
this penury of fuel, the good man scrupled not
to sacrifice his beloved Harp, breaking it in pie-
ces, and feeding the flames with its fragments.
“While he was thus occupied, a young gentle-
man happened to be hunting at no great distance;
and seeing the smoke, made towards it. He
appeared to be greatly struck, at seeing in that
38 O N T H E H A R P
situation, a beautiful woman in distress; whilst
she was so much disordered at the sight of the
stranger, that the husband dreaded another fit.
The youth made many professions of sympathy
and concern; and offered them some spirits and
provisions which he had with him. This was
accepted with gratitude; for they had set out in
a hurry, and were ill provided for the accident;
and without the aid of some cordial, it was scarce-
ly possible for the wife to hold out till they had
reached some habitation.
“Her agitation, however, subsided by degrees;
and she was prevailed on, with some intreaty, to
partake of the repast. In a little time her spirits
revived, and she seemed to make light of her
disaster. The joy of the husband was exces-
sive, nor did he once regret the loss of his fa-
vourite Harp. He was pleased to see his wife
exert herself with so much alacrity, to entertain
the youth to whom they were so highly indebt-
IN T H E H IG H L A N DS. 39
ed. The conversation became soon so animated
and particular, that a less happy husband, with
the slightest tincture of jealousy in his temper,
would have suspected, that this was not their first
meeting. The fact was, they were old acquaint-
ances, though, as the young man saw her not
disposed to recognise him, he chose to behave as
a stranger.
“The woman had been brought up by a grand-
mother, whose name she bore, and from whom
her family had expectations. Her grandmother's
house was in another island, and very near that
of the youth's father. They had been compa-
nions from early infancy; and in all the little
pursuits of childhood, had ever chosen each
other as associates: as they advanced in years,
this fondness
“Grew with their growth, and strengthened with their strength;”
and was not a little increased by the pasto-
40 - O N T H E H A R P
ral life then led by young Highlanders of both
sexes; for at that period, when in our times
boys of his age would have been at school, his
chief employment was hunting, fishing, or listen-
ing to the Gaelic songs and tales, which were
the delight of all ranks of people. This way of
life gave him frequent opportunities of seeing his
fair one, whose beauty daily increased. Their
friendship was fast ripening into love, when her
grandmother died, and she returned to her na-
tive island, and to her father's house. From that
time till the present, they had never met, or
heard of each other, and there was but little in-
tercourse between the different islands.
“They were both much afflicted at the separa-
tion; not that they thought of marriage, for be-
sides that he was too young, there was an un-
surmountable bar to their union. He was born
a duine-uasal, or gentleman, she, a vassal, or
commoner of an inferior rank; and whilst an-
IN THE HIG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 41
cient manners and customs were religiously ad-
hered to, by a primitive people, the two classes
kept perfectly unmixed in their alliances. In
those times, a gentleman of no fortune, or, as
Dr Johnson would have said, a beggar of high
birth, was respected by his countrymen, and ad-
dressed in the plural number; whereas a com-
moner, though possessed of considerable pro-
perty, was saluted with thou or thee, and, how-
ever rich, could not pretend to ask the hand of
the poorest gentlewoman.
“This, however, had been no bar to their
friendship ; for in every age and country, boys
and girls, when left to themselves, pay little re-
gard to these accidental circumstances, in the
choice of their companions; spirit, generosity,
and pleasing manners, being the qualities that
bind young hearts together.
“Her marriage did not take place till two years
after their separation, and was what might be
F
42 O N T H E H A R P
called, on her side, a prudential one. She had
no objection to the musician, who was a man of
property, and respected; she gave him her hand,
when he had no interest in her heart. Her first
love still lurked there, though reason and virtue
exerted themselves to expel him. In the course
of a few months, the worth and tenderness of
her husband, and a laudable desire of standing
well in the opinion of the world, had greatly
weakened these impressions; so that hitherto she
ge-state with
had acted her part in the marriag
propriety and applause. A meeting, however,
so romantic and unexpected as the present, was
too strong a temptation. A thousand tender in-
cidents of childhood and youth crowded into her
recollection, and too successfully suggested, that
the companion of her happiest years was alone
worthy of her love.
“The young man, on his part, was equally cap-
tivated ; and indeed the charms which had so
IN T H E H IG H LAN IDS. 43
touched his heart in early youth, were now in
full bloom, and, in his opinion, much improved;
and guessing by her demeanour, and the lan-
guage of her eyes, that he still maintained a
place in her affections, he listened, enamoured,
to her conversation, which, being in the pre-
sence of her husband, was lively and innocent ;
while, hurried away by the impulse of his pas-
sion, his purpose was to carry her off to a dis-
tant island, where they were both unknown.
“The husband at length proposed to his wife
to proceed on their journey, when the stranger
politely offered to accompany them a few miles.
By the way he found means to whisper his
scheme; and was glad to find his old mistress as
impatient as he could wish, to abandon, for his
sake, all that a virtuous woman holds dear.—
Such was the return she made to her husband
for all his tenderness and love 1 and so blind
2
44 O N THE HARP
was she to that misery and shame which were
soon to overtake her
“They at length came to the foot of a moun-
tain, where was a deep woody glen. Here the
artful woman, complaining of thirst, the fond
and unsuspecting husband ran to a stream, which
he saw at a distance, while the guilty pair made
their elopement, and were out of sight in an in-
stant. But who can paint the situation of the
husband at his return Bereaved thus both of
his wife and his Harp, he exclaimed, in an agony
of grief, Smeirg a loisgeadth a thiompan ria /
Fool that I was, to burn my Harp for thee l’
This story was published many years ago in
Edinburgh, in a periodical work called the “Bee;”
and it was related by a native to Dr Garnet when
in the island of Mull, who has inserted it in his
“Tour to the Hebrides,” in the year 1800. Mr
Macneil has also taken the same incident for the
subject of his poem of “The Harp ;” but he has
IN THE HIGHL ANDS. 45
changed the scene into that of a passage in a
boat to St Kilda; * and it has given rise to a well
known proverb, generally applied by the inha-
bitants of Mull and the neighbouring country
and islands, on occasions of their meeting with
ingratitude, in return for any benefit conferred,—
“Fool that I was,” say they, “to burn my Harp
for him or her ſ”
There was scarcely one considerable household
of the Highland chieftains, which had not a Bard,
or a Harper, on its establishment. A piece of
ground was allotted for his subsistence, which
devolved to one of his descendants, on condition
of his being properly educated, so as to be qua-
lified for the discharge of his office. f. On a te-
* Mr Macneil has told me, that he now regrets his having depart-
ed so much, in his poem, from the traditional story.
f See Lachlan Macvurich's attested declaration, or affidavit, in
the Committee of the Highland Society’s report, Appendir, p. 278.
Macvurich was the eighteenth in lineal descent from Muireach,
who held the farms of Stroiligary and Drimsdale, as Bards to the
family of Clanranald. Neil Macvurich, the father of Lachlan, was
46 O N T H E H A R P
nure of this nature, a farm of the estate of Tor-
loisk, in the island of Mull, called Fanmore man
Clairsairean, or the Harper's Field, was held by
the Harper belonging to that ancient family.
One of these Harpers appears to have conveyed
it over to the family of Argyle, in times when
the family of Torloisk was involved in public
troubles, which had brought the devastation of
fire and sword into the estate. This farm had
remained for several generations afterwards in
the possession of the Argyle family, who had no
other landed property contiguous to it, until it
was, not many years ago, purchased from the
Duke of Argyle, by the late General Maclean
Clephane, and again annexed to the estate
of Torloisk, by the name of the Penny Land of
the Harper's Field. The family of the Macleans
the last who had been educated for the office of Bard, and in that
quality possessed one of these farms.
IN THE HIG H L ANDS. 47
of Dowart are also known, in the island of Mull,
to have had a succession of Harpers in lineal de-
scent, whose names were Macneil. * In the pa-
rish of Urray, in the north Highlands, there is
also a field called Cruitach, or the Harper's Field;
and these fields are always situated contiguous
to the chieftain's residence. ‘f
In the old castles also of several Highland
chieftains, the Harper's seat is pointed out by
the natives to this day; as the Harper's window,
at Duntullim castle, in the island of Skye, the
ancient seat of Lord Macdonald's family; the
Harper's gallery at Castlelachlan, in Argyleshire,
and others. That the Harp was cultivated, and
held in high estimation in the former family, is
also evident from the following anecdote, alluded
to in Dr Johnson's and Mr Boswell's Tour to the
* See Mrs Mackenzie's Letter, inclosed in that of Colonel Maclean
of Coll, to be mentioned afterwards.
f Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol. VII. p. 259.
48 O N T H E H A R P
Hebrides, in the year 1773. The celebrated
performer, O'Kane, who has been already men-
tioned, had been about that time in the High-
lands, and had frequently entertained the late
Lord Macdonald with his excellent performance
on the Harp, at his lordship's residence in the
Isle of Skye. No one was better able to feel,
and to estimate the superior talents of O’Kane;
for I can vouch Lord Macdonald to have been
one of our best amateurs on the violin, and one
of the best judges of musical talents of that pe-
riod. There had been for a great length of time
in the family, a valuable Harp-key ; it was fine-
ly ornamented with gold and silver, and with a
precious stone ; this key was said to have been
worth eighty or a hundred guineas; and, on this
occasion, our itinerant Harper had the good for-
tune of being presented by Lord Macdonald
with this curious and valuable implement of his
profession.
IN T H E H J G H L A N DS. 49
The family of Argyle had also an establish-
ment for a Harper. The following passage of
the history of Scotland is not only a proof of
this, but also shews, that at the close of the six-
teenth century, the ancient Celtic custom of hav-
ing a Harper at the head-quarters of an army,
had been occasionally kept up among the High-
land chieftains, at least, had not been altogether
laid aside at that period.
From about the year 1584, after the Reforma-
tion had taken place in Scotland for upwards of
twenty years, until the year 1594, “ several Je-
suits and other priests had diligently laboured
in Scotland, and with far greater success than
could possibly be credited,”—such are the words
of the Catholic account, “ insomuch, that in a
very short space a considerable part of the nobi-
lity, having abandoned Calvinistical heresies, em-
braced the Catholic faith. Among these were
three earls, the chiefs of illustrious families, Wil-
G
50 O N T H E II A R P
liam Douglas, Earl of Angus, George Gordon,
Earl of Huntley, and Francis Hay, Earl of Er-
5 9
rol.” These three noblemen, having refused to
comply with the terms of a law that was made on
this occasion, enacting, “ that whoever adhered
to the errors of popery, and, after having been
admonished, refused to recant, should be publicly
excommunicated, and his property confiscated,”
were accordingly convicted of high treason, and
their whole property confiscated for ever. To
put this sentence in execution, an army was le-
vied in the Highlands, consisting chiefly of the
two clans of Campbells and Macleans; and the
king appointed the young Archibald, Earl of
Argyle, to the command. The Catholics say
this army amounted to twelve thousand men;
and to give it more the air of a war waged against
the principles of the Roman Catholic religion,
the general brought along with him Neil Camp-
bell, Bishop of Argyle, and two clergymen, who
I N T H E H IG H L A N DS. 51
had a share both in the march and in the battle.
Besides drums, trumpets, and the bagpipe, to in-
spirit a warlike people, the Earl of Argyle took
with him his Harper; and the army was also
accompanied by a noted sorceress or witch, who,
as the estates of the Catholics were to be laid
waste, was, by her incantations, to discover to
the army the property and hidden treasures of
the terrified inhabitants, who lived chiefly in the
districts of Strathbogie and Buchan, on the Mur-
ray Firth, from the river Spey eastward to the
point of Peterhead. Before the army had pe-
netrated far into the former district, belonging
to the Earl of Huntley, it was met, and put to
flight, by a body of cavalry, which the Catholic
lords had raised, near the river Aven; whence
the battle, which was fought on Thursday the
3d of October, 1594, is called the Battle of
Strathaven. One of the prophecies of this en-
chantress to the army was, that on the following
52 O N T H E H A R P
Friday, which was the day after the battle, ** Ar-
gyle's Harp should be played in Bucham, the re-
sidence of the Earl of Errol ; and the bagpipe
should sound in Strathbogie, the seat of the Earl
of Huntley. Nor were her vaticinations altoge-
ther unaccomplished ; for both the Harp and the
bagpipe sounded in Strathbogie and Turef, (a
market town in Buchan,). but the general was
not present to hear this most agreeable music ;
neither could her sorcery foresee or prevent the
death that awaited her after the victory."* The
* * Incantatria edidit oraculam, Argadi Lyram in Buchania, ubi Er-
rolius habitabat, pulsandam, et tibiam utricularem ma.vimam, Bogiæ quæ
Huntlei est palatium, pro vimâ veneris die, quae diem praelii est subse-
quuta, resonaturam. Nec vana erant responsa ; nam et lyra et tibia,
Bogiæ et Turefi, resonuerunt, sed non aderat imperator, qui gratissi-
7mam auribus harmomiam hauriret, nec illa, suis præstigiis, imminentem
necem, quæ, victoriâ partâ, est insequuta, evitare potuit.” MS. in
the Advocates' Library, entitled, Vera narratio et miraculi plenae
victoriae, partae apud Avinum in Scotiae borealibus partibus, a Georgio
Gordonio Huntlaeo, et Francisco Hayo Errolio, Catholicis principibus,
contra Archibaldum Campbellum Argadorum, Imperatorem, 5 monas
Octobris, A. D. 1594.
IN THE HIG H L A N DS. , 53
joy which this victory afforded was soon damped
by subsequent grief; “a trembling messenger,”
adds the historian, “announced the king's ap-
proach with an immense army, the Catholic
lords submitted, and every thing was restored to
its original security.” "
It could here be shewn, that, from the middle
of the sixth century, about the time of St Co-
lumba's establishment at Icolmkill, which is con-
tiguous to the island of Mull, and until the end
of the twelfth century, the superior clergy were,
generally, performers on the Harp ; that sing-
ing to the Harp was considered an indispensable
part of the education of the upper ranks of so-
ciety during that period; and that at their fes-
tivals it was customary for the Harp to be hand-
* There is a translation of this manuscript, together with a poem
on the same subject, and many other interesting articles, published
in a work entitled, Scottish Poems of the Sirteenth Century. Edin.
1801.
54 O N T H E H A R P
ed round, and each of the company, in his turn,
to sing to it, as was done by the heroes of the
ancient Gaelic poems above alluded to. But as
it can be proved that this custom, together with
the peculiar notions of shame which were as-
sociated with the want of this accomplishment,
were introduced from Asia, with the Harp itself,
by our Caledonian ancestors, from whom the
custom, accompanied by the very same no-
tions, descended successively to the Cambro
Britons, and to the Anglo-Saxons, the discussion
of that part of the subject is reserved for a more
extended enquiry into the antiquity of the Harp.
It may suffice at present to observe, that it was
probably during the above mentioned period,
that the separation of poet and musician in the
same person, at least, that the separate profes-
sion of a minstrel, or merely instrumental per-
former, took place in Ireland and the Highlands
of Scotland ; and that, from the cultivation of
T N T H E H IG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 55
the Harp by the clergy of that time, some addi-
tional strings may have been added to it, and its
practice may have been conducted on improved
principles, which ultimately led to the surprising
degree of command of the instrument, to which
we shall now see the Harpers of Ireland and of
the Highlands of Scotland attained, in the twelfth
century.
On this point we have the most explicit and
satisfactory evidence which a mind, capable of
the most perfect comprehension of the subject,
forming its judgment under circumstances the
most advantageous for a just decision, could have
possibly afforded us. Giraldus de Barri, known
by the name of Giraldus Cambrensis, was born
in the year 1146, in the castle of Manorbeer, in
Pembrokeshire. He applied himself so assidu-
ously to his literary pursuits, that having sur-
passed all his fellow students in his own coun-
try, he was sent to Paris to complete his educa-
56 O N T H E H A R P
tion, where he remained for three years, gave
lectures on Rhetoric and the Belles Lettres, and
was pointed out, by the doctors of the univer-
sity, as a pattern to the young men of his age.
He appears also to have studied music; and, by
the custom of Wales, which is mentioned above,
he had been probably taught to play on the Harp;
at least, he was well acquainted both with the
technical language of music, and with its general
history. In a subsequent period of his life, he
revisited the continent, and seems to have paid
a particular attention to the various degrees of
excellence of the musicians he had heard abroad;
and had been in the habit of comparing them
with those he had heard in England, in Wales,
and in Ireland. He moreover expresses himself,
when writing on the effects of music, in such
glowing language, as those alone, who have
a high degree of sensibility for it, employ,
when describing the enchanting power of that
*C*
23
I N T H E H IG H L A N DS. 57
art over them. I shall only add to this short
sketch of the character of Giraldus, in the words
of his elegant translator, Sir Richard Colt Hoare,
that, “in whatever point of view we examine
the character of this extraordinary man, whether
as a scholar, a patriot, or a divine, we may justly
consider him as one of the brightest luminaries
that adorned the annals of the twelfth century.”
In the year 1185, Giraldus was appointed, by
King Henry the Second, preceptor to his son
Prince John, whom he accompanied to Ireland,
as secretary. He there availed himself of the
means he had, at that time, so much in his power,
of procuring the most accurate information re-
specting the manners and customs of Ireland,
which composed the most interesting part of a
learned work he afterwards wrote, and entitled,
“The Topography, or remarkable Things of Ire-
land.” His account of the character and man-
ners of the inhabitants of that country, has been
H
58 O N T H E H A R P
thought, in its general complexion, to be written
with a degree of prejudice against them, and
consequently he cannot be suspected of being
liable to give too high, or too favourable, a co-
louring to any of their attainments. On the
subject of their musical performances, he ex-
presses himself in the following words:—
“The cultivation of instrumental music by
this people, I find worthy of commendation; in
this, their skill is, beyond all comparison, superior
to that of any nation I have ever seen; for their
music is not slow and solemn, as in the instru-
mental music of Britain, to which we are accus-
tomed ; but the sounds are rapid and articulate,
yet, at the same time, sweet and pleasing. It is
wonderful, how, in such precipitate rapidity of
the fingers, the musical proportions are pre-
served, and by their art, faultless throughout,
in the midst of the most complicated modula-
tion, and most intricate arrangement of notes;
IN THE HIT G. H. L. A. N. D.S. 59
by a velocity so pleasing, a regularity so diver-
sified, a concord so discordant, the melody is
preserved harmonious and perfect; and whether
a passage, or transition, is performed in a se-
quence of fourths or of fifths, (by diatesseron, or
by diapente,) it is always begun in a soft and
delicate manner, and ended in the same, so that
all may be perfected in the sweetness of delicious
sounds. They enter on, and again leave, their
modulations with so much subtlety, and the vi-
brations of the smaller strings of the treble sport
with so much articulation and brilliancy, along
with the deep notes of the bass; they delight
with so much delicacy, and sooth so charmingly,
that the great excellence of their art appears to
lie in their accomplishing all this with the greatest
seeming ease, and without the least appearance
of effort or art.” “
* I have frequently heard it related of O'Kane, the celebrated
Irish Harper before-mentioned, in different places where he had
60 O N T H E H A R P
To this animated and glowing eulogium of
the Harpers of Ireland, this accomplished writer
subjoins the following remarkable observation,
which brings it home to the Harpers of Cale-
donia, their neighbouring nation, of the same
stock, having the same language, manners, and
customs, who, until that period, had incessantly
maintained its intercourse with Ireland, and had
ever, in the arts of poetry and music, kept up
with it, at least by an equal pace.
“It is to be observed, however,” continues
Giraldus, “ that both Scotland and Wales, the
former from intercourse and affinity of blood,
the latter from instruction derived from the Irish,
been heard, that he very commonly drew tears from his auditors.
During my residence at Cambridge, Manini, our first violin, often
spoke of the performance of O'Kane with great rapture; assuring
me, that, together with an astonishing variety of other things, he
could, although blind, play with great accuracy and fine effect the
first treble and bass parts of many of Correlli's concertos, in concert
with the other instruments.
IN THE HIG H LAN IDS. 61
exert themselves with the greatest emulation to
rival Ireland in musical excellence. In the opi-
nion of many, however, Scotland has not only
attained to the excellence of Ireland, but has
even, in musical science and ability, far surpassed
it; insomuch, that it is to that country they now
resort, as to the genuine source of the art.”
* The classical reader, who has never met with the elegant origi-
mal of these passages, will be gratified in finding them inserted here.
“In musicis solum instrumentis, commendabilem invenio gentis istius
diligentiam, in quibus prae omni natione quam widimus, incomparabiliter
est instructa. Non enim in his, sicut in Britannicis (quibus assueti
sumus) instrumentis, tarda et morosa est modulatio, cerum velov et prae-
ceps; suavis tamen et jucunda sonoritas. Mirum quidem, quod in
tantá tam praecipiti digitorum rapacitate, musica servatur proportio, et
arte prae omni praºclará, inter crispatos modulos, organaque multiplici-
ter intricata, tam suavi velocitate, tam dispari paritate, tam discordi
concordia, consona redditur et completur melodia. Per diatesseron seu
diapente chorda concrepent, semper tamen ab molli incipiunt, et in idem
redeunt, ut cuncta, sub jucundae sonoritatis dulcedine, compleantur.
Tam subtiliter modulos intrant et eveunt, sicque sub obtuso grossioris
chorda sonitu, gracilium tinnitus licentius ludunt, latentius delectant,
lasciviusque demulcent, ut pars artis marima videatur, artem velare.”
“ Notandum vero, quod Scotia et Gwallia, haic propagationis, illa
commeationis et affinitatis gratia, Hiberniam in modulis aemulá imitari
62 O N T H E H A R P
That this honourable and unsuspicious testi-
mony of our excellent author, in favour of the
superior talents of the Irish and Caledonian
Harpers of that age, was the result of the most
deliberate conviction of his mind; and that it
stood the test of his future reflexion, and re-exa-
mination of the subject, will still farther appear
from what the writer of his life relates of him ;
that “ after his return from Ireland, he was in-
defatigable in composing, revising, and correct-
ing his work on the Topography of Ireland.”
And to show the singular honour that was done
to the above explicit and decided declaration of
the superiority of the Harpers of Ireland and
Caledonia, which the author makes the exordium,
nilantur disciplind. Multorum autem opinione, hodie Scotia, non tan-
tum magistram atquiparavit Hiberniam, cerum etian in musica peritia,
longe praevalet et pracellit; unde et ibi quasi fontem artis jam requi-
runt.” Girald. Camb. Topog. Hiber. distinct. III. ch. 11. apud
Camdeni Anglica, Hibernica, &c. Scripta, 1602. p. 739.
$.
IN T H E H IG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 63
or introduction, to four learned chapters on the
general history of music, and its effects, from the
earliest period; I must farther add, that it was
publicly recited by him, before the university of
Oxford, in full convocation, at the most magni-
ficent and sumptuous festival that had ever been
given in that renowned seminary of learning;
“rivalling the times of the ancient classic poetry,”
as Giraldus expresses it, “ and wholly unknown
in England, either in the past or present age.”
The learned work, of which the above passages
form so conspicuous a part, is divided into three
books; and these were recited for three succes-
sive days by Giraldus, before this learned and
splendid audience. On the first day, he enter-
tained, with munificent hospitality, the poor peo-
ple of that populous city. On the second day,
he entertained the doctors of the different facul-
ties or professions, and the students of the greatest
64 O N T H E H A R P
celebrity;” and on the third day, he entertained
the remainder of the students of the different
colleges of the university, together with the
burghers and militia of the city. t.
Such was the state of our instrumental music
in the Highlands in the reign of William, sur-
named the Lyon. From our own historical an-
mals of those times, we receive but few, and these
very imperfect, notices, respecting the state of
the arts; yet there is every reason to believe, that
poetry and music continued to be cultivated and
encouraged in the Highlands for several centuries
after this period. The first coronation of the
kings of Scotland, of which we have any parti-
* If I am not very much mistaken in my recollection, it is re-
corded, that the number of students at the universities of Oxford
and Cambridge were as many thousands at that period, as it is hun-
dreds at this time.
† Life of Girald. Cambr. in Sir R. Colt Hoare's Itinerary of
Archb. Baldwin. Vol. I. p. xxiv.
IN THE HII G H LAN IDS. 65
cular account, is that of Alexander the Third, in
the year 1249. On this occasion, a Highland
bard, dressed in a scarlet tunic, or robe, repeated
on his knees, in the Gaelic language, the ge-
nealogy of Alexander, and his ancestors, up to
Fergus, the first King of Scotland; * and this,
together with what will be more particularly
mentioned concerning the state of music, and
the Highland Harpers, in the reign of King
James the First of Scotland, proves, that these
orders were still held in considerable estimation;
and we shall even see, that the superior excel-
lence of the Highland Harpers was proverbial,
as far down as the beginning of the sixteenth
century.
This accomplished monarch, who, during the
whole of his reign, was chiefly occupied in re-
forming the abuses which had pervaded every
* Forduni Scotichron. Lib. X. c. 2.
I
66 ON THE HAR P
department of the state, was also a zealous pro-
moter of the liberal arts. He introduced organs
into his chapels, and founded an institution for
the instruction of the Scottish clergy in the sci-
ence of music. Our old historian, J 9% Major,
in his Annals of Scotland, which were ‘published-
in th year 1521, when enumerating the Hatents
of King James, says, That “he was a skilful mu-
sician ; in the imańganew of his voice in sing-
ing, inferior to no one; on the Harp, #érwas
another Orpheus; he excelled the Irish or the
Highland Scots, who are esteemed the best per
formers on that instrument.” The same histo-
rian, in another part of his work, says of the
Highlanders, that, “for instrumental music, and
the accompaniment of the voice, they make use
*
* “Musicus artificiosus, et in vocis modulatione nulli secundus, in
Cythará tanquam alter Orpheus, Hibernenses aut Silvestres Scotos,
qui, in illa arte, praºcipui erant, easuperabat.”—De Gest. Scot. Lib.
VI. cap. 14.
6
IN THE HIG H LAN IDS. 67
of the Harp, which, instead of strings made of
the intestines of animals, they strung with brass
wire, and on which they perform most sweet-
ly.” "
In less than fifty years after this time, our
celebrated historian George Buchannan, who
himself was born at the foot of Ben Lomond, in
the Highlands, ºf when treating, in the first, or
introductory book, of his History of Scotland, of
the manners and customs of the western islands,
has the following passage —“Instead of the
trumpet, they use the great bagpipe. They de-
* “Pro musicis instrumentis, et musico concentu, lyra, Silvestres
utuntur, cujus chordat are, et non ea animalium intestinis, faciunt, in
qua dulcissime modulantur.”—De Gest. Scot. Lib. I. cap. 8.
f “ He was born at a place called the Moss, a small farm the
property of his father, two miles from the village of Killearn, re-
markable for its view of striking objects. It is skirted with two
ridges of hills, some of which are of considerable height. In the
foreground is the water of Blane, meandering through fertile pas-
tures and cultivated fields, whilst the diversified prospect, extending
68 O N T H E H A RIP
light very much in music, especially in Harps
of their own sort, of which some are strung with
brass wire, others with intestines of animals;
they play on them either with their nails grown
long, or with a plectrum. Their only ambition
seems to be, to ornament their Harps with silver
and precious stones: the lower ranks, instead of
gems, deck theirs with crystal. They sing poe-
tical compositions, not inartificially made, cele-
brating the exploits of their valiant men; nor
do their bards, for the most part, treat of another
over the parishes of Killearn, Drymen, Kilmarnock, Buchannan, &c.
comprehends Loch Lomond, Ben Lomond, Ben Leddie, the Gram-
pian hills, &c. and at length is lost amidst the far distant moun-
tains of Argyle, and Perthshire, mingling their azure-coloured sum-
mits with the clouds. The gentlemen of this parish and neigh-
bourhood, as a testimony of respect for their learned countryman,
did, in the month of June 1788, erect a beatitiful monument to his
memory, in the village of Killearn. It is a well-proportioned
obelisk, nineteen feet square at the base, and reaching to the height
of one hundred and three feet above the ground.”—Dr CRIRIE’s
Scottish Scenery, p. 384.
**
IN THE HIG. H. L. A N DS, 69
subject. Their language is that of the ancient
Gauls, a little altered.”*
Buchannan's History was first published in the
year 1565. The anonymous writer of “Certain
Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland as
they were A. D. 1597, under his title of the
Yles of Scotland in general,” follows Buchan-
nan's account, in the following words, with the
remarkable variation of the Gaelic term for the
Harp, together with the English, as if there had
been two distinct species of Harps —“ They
delight much in musicke, but chiefly in Harpes
* “ Loco tubae, tibia utumtur utriculari. Musica marime delectan-
tur, sed sui generis fidibus, quarum aliis chorda sunt a nea, aliis e
nervis facta, quas wel unguibus praelongis, vel plectris, pulsant, Unica
autem illis ambitio est, ut fides multo argento evorment, et gemmis.
Tenuiores, pro gemmis, crystallum adhibent. Accinunt autem carmen
mon inconcinné factum, quod ferè laudes fortium virorum contineat :
mec aliud fore argumentum eorum bardi tractant. Vetere Gallorum
sermone, paulum mutato, utuntur.”—Buchan. Hist. Scot. ed. Ruddi-
man, p. 14.
70 O N THE HARP
and Clairschoes of their own fashion. The strings
of their Clairschoes are made of brasse wyar, and
the strings of the Harpes of sinews; which strings
they stryke either with their nayles growing long,
or else with an instrument appointed for that
|U| S62. They take great pleasure to deck their
Harpes and Clairschoes with silver and precious
stones; and poor ones, that cannot attain here-
unto, decke them with christall. They sing
verses prettily compounded, containing, for the
most part, prayses of valiant men. There is not
almost any other argument whereof their rymes
entreat. They speak the ancient French lan-
guage, altered a little.” ”
* As this is the only quotation which I have not collated with
the original, I think it necessary to give the following evidence of
the existence of such an original. I at first found it referred to in
Jones's History of the Welsh Bards, in these words:–“ Munro, in
his History of the Western Isles, says, the natives delight in music,
especially in Harps, or Clairsechau, decked with silver, after the
IN T H E H IG H L A N DS. 71
The Harp is also frequently mentioned by
other Scottish writers, when incidentally, or pro-
fessedly, alluding to the musical performances of
those times, by its Gaelic name of Clarsach; *
9
manner of the Britons;” and he also refers to Lewis's History of
Great Britain, fol. 234; but I could find no such passage in Munro.
A learned gentleman, who has contributed much towards the illus-
tration of Scottish history and antiquities, obligingly furnished me
with a transcript he had taken of the passage, from the original
work, which is very scarce, in the words above given, but not
containing the last four lines. In his common-place book was
added the following words:—“The preceding passage is from a
work called a Description of Scotland, printed between 1593 and
1596. Lastly, I found the passage, in the very same words, in
Campbell's Tour in Scotland, 1802, Vol. I. p. 176., with the addi-
tion of the last four lines. Mr Campbell gives it from a copy
printed in London, for John Flasket, in the year 1603; and from
Mr Campbell's quotation, I have inserted above the title of the
book, “Certain Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland as they
were A. D. 1597.”
* In Holland's poem of the Houlate, (Bannatyne MS. fol. 308,)
he represents the Highland bard as skilled in “the Chenachy, the
Clarsach.” In the ludicrous poem on King Berdok of Babylon, in
the same manuscript, it is said, “Weill could he play on the Clarsho
and Lute.” And in the splendid entertainments given by King
James IV. at the celebration of his marriage with Margaret, the
eldest daughter of King Henry VII., he is recorded to have played
72 O N T H E H A R P
of which many instances could be produced,
which would of themselves prove the general
notoriety in Scotland, that the Harp was an in-
strument well known in the Highlands; but the
more particular evidence which has been already
given on this subject must henceforth remove
every possibility of doubt on that point.
Having thus incontestibly proved the Harp to
have been, from the earliest times, down to the
end of the sixteenth century, in general use in
the Highlands of Scotland; the two ancient in-
struments, which have been so long preserved in
that country, are now to be considered as au-
thentic documents, not only connected with, and
proving and illustrating, the manners of the
before his bride on the Clarychordes and Leut, which corresponding
so nearly with the last mentioned instruments of Clarsho and Lute,
is probably a typographical error or alteration in the word Clari-
chord, for the Scottish instrument Clarsho,-LELAND's Collect. App.
III. p. 284.
IN THE HIG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 73
country, but may themselves be henceforth pro-
duced, and referred to, as historical monuments,
to illustrate any obscure point of antiquity, how-
ever remote, to which their form and structure
may apply.
The Caledonian Harp was brought, as has
been mentioned in its description, by Miss La-
mont, from her father's residence in Argyleshire,
to a very distant part of the Highlands, and has,
ever since the time of her arrival at Lude, about
the year 1460, been kept at that house, in a
proper state for performance; having been occa-
sionally played upon, in that family, until within
these last eighty or ninety years, and distin-
guished by the appellation of Clarsach Luma-
mach, or the Lamont Harp. From these cir-
cumstances, we must infer the lady to have been
a performer on the Harp; and as she could not
have learnt the difficult process of tuning, or the
intricate art of playing upon it, of herself, she
K
74 O N T H E H A RTP
must have had a master, most probably in Ar-
gyleshire, who not only taught her, but others
also, in that district of the Highlands, about the
middle of the fifteenth century. In the same
manner it must be inferred, from Queen Mary's
having, in about a hundred years afterwards,
presented the other lady with her own Harp,
that she was also a performer on that instru-
ment, and had been taught by a master, who
had probably taught her, as well as others, in a
very different part of Scotland, her father's resi-
dence being at no great distance from Aberdeen;
and from both instances we must necessarily
conclude, that the Harp was taught and per-
formed upon, in different parts of the Highlands
of Scotland, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centu-
ries; and that playing on, or singing to, the
Harp, was an accomplishment of the ladies of
the Highlands at this period.
6
I N T H E H IG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 75
If we look back into more remote ages, we
shall still find this to have been the immemo-
rial custom of the upper ranks in that society;
and that the art of playing on the Harp down
to this period, in Scotland, as well as in Ireland
and Wales, proceeded from the same original
source, which, to distinguish it from the musical
science that had, by this time, made great pro-
gress on the continent, in England, and, to a
certain degree, in Scotland, may be aptly called
the music, or system, of the Celtic school.
But Queen Mary, as we shall afterwards see
more particularly, highly accomplished as she
was in musical science, which was not of the
Celtic, but of the Italian school, although the
Harp, described in this work, was made and
procured for her, does not appear to me to
have been a performer upon that instrument,
for reasons which shall be given in their pro-
76 O N THE HARP
per place; but, having met with a performer
upon the Scottish Harp, of eminent abilities, in
the lady now alluded to, the Queen may be
supposed to have been so much pleased with
her performance, and so much delighted with
the simplicity and beauty of her native Caledo-
nian music, on a national instrument, played
with a degree of skill, which she had little rea-
son to expect,” that she may have been induced
* Queen Mary, on the evening of her arrival at Holyrood-house
from France, was received with every demonstration of joy; and on
this occasion the whole musical talents of the capital seem to have
been collected, for the performance of a serenade of vocal and in-
strumental music, as was done, about thirty years afterwards, on the
public entry, into Edinburgh, of Queen Anne, of which there is a
particular account in Watson's Collection of Scottish Poems. The
serenade given to Queen Mary, according to Brantome, who came
with her, consisted of Psalms, so ill sung, and so badly accompanied
by a number of violins, and rebecs, (an inferior sort of fiddle,) so
shockingly discordant, that nothing could exceed it. “He ſ” ex-
claims that courtier, “Quelle musique, et quelle repos pour sa nuit !”
IN THE H IG H L A N T S. 77
to give the lady an honourable proof of the
pleasure she had received, and of her esteem,
by presenting her with her own Harp. That
this was pretty nearly the manner in which this
lady became possessed of this regal, Harp, must
appear highly probable from the following cir-
Cum StanceS.
The tradition in the family of Lude, which has
always accompanied this Harp, is, that it was
presented to their ancestor, Beatrix Gardyn, by
Queen Mary, when she was on a hunting ex-
cursion in Athol. That lady was at this time
resident in that neighbourhood, having been
Considering the refinement of the Queen's ideas on the subject of
musical performances, it is probable, that her opinion of the musical
abilities of her subjects, at this time, was much the same as that of
Brantome, and consequently, her surprise would be the greater, on
hearing the native Caledonian Harp so well played in the Highlands,
as it probably still was at this period.
78 O N T H E H A R P
married to Mr Farquharson of Invercauld.” The
account of this magnificent hunting party will
be read with interest, and I shall give it in the
words of an eye-witness. “I had a sight of a
very extraordinary sport: In the year 1563, the
Earl of Athol, a prince of the blood-royal, had,
with much trouble, and vast expence, provided a
hunting-match for the entertainment of our most
illustrious and most gracious Queen. Our peo-
ple call this a royal hunting. I was then a young
* It has been erroneously stated above, in the description of
Queen Mary's Harp, that Beatrix Gardyn was married into the
family of Lude. This was written from the impression left upon my
mind at a time when General Robertson's letter had been mislaid;
but on getting back this document, which I have now before me,
I find his words are, “from which lady both the families of Far-
quharson and this family are descended.” She appears, in fact,
from the public records, to have been married to one of the ances-
tors of the present family of Invercauld, distinguished, according
to the custom of the Highlands, from his size, by the appellation of
Findla More. In this manner, Queen Mary's Harp came, with one
of her female descendants, into the family of Lude. .
2"
I N T H E H IG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 79
man, and was present on that occasion. Two
thousand Highlanders were employed to drive
to the hunting-ground all the deer from the
woods and hills of Athol, Badenoch, Marr, Mur-
ray, and the countries about. As these High-
landers use a light dress, and are very swift of
foot, they went up and down so nimbly, that, in
less than two months time, they brought toge-
ther two thousand red deer, besides roes and
fallow deer. The Queen, the great men, and a
number of others, were in a glen, or narrow
valley, when all these deer were brought before
them ; believe me, the whole body moved for-
ward in something like battle order. This sight
still strikes me, and ever will strike me; for
they had a leader whom they followed close
wherever he moved. This leader was a very
fine stag, with a very high head. The sight
delighted the Queen very much, but she soon
had cause for fear, upon the Earl's (who had
80 O N T H E H A R P
been from his early days accustomed to such
sights) addressing her thus: “Do you observe
that stag who is foremost of the herd?—There
is danger from that stag; for if either fear or
rage should force him from the ridge of that
hill, let every one look to himself, for none of
us will be out of the way of harm, as the rest
will all follow this one ; and having thrown us
under foot, they will open a passage to the hill
behind us.' What happened a moment after
confirmed this opinion ; for the Queen ordered
one of the best dogs to be let loose upon a
wolf; *—this the dog pursues—the leading stag
was frightened—he flies by the same way he had
* This translation, from the Latin original, is in the words of
Mr Pennant. (Tour in Scotland, Vol. III. p. 64.) Through some
inadvertency, however, he has rendered the above sentence, “the
Queen having ordered one of the best dogs to be let loose on one of
the deer,” instead of, “on a wolf.” The words of the original are,
“Lavatus enim regina, jussu, atque immissus in lupum, insignis admo-
dum ac ferov canis.”
IN THE EII G. H. L. A. N. D.S. 81
come there—the rest rush after him, and break
out where the thickest body of the Highlanders
was. They had nothing for it now but to throw
themselves flat on the heath, and to allow the
deer to pass over them. It was told the Queen,
that several of the Highlanders had been wound-
ed, and that two or three had been killed out-
right; and the whole body of deer had got off,
had not the Highlanders, by their skill in hunt-
ing, fallen upon a stratagem, to cut off the rear
from the main body. It was of those that had
been separated, that the Queen's dogs, and those
of the nobility, made slaughter. There was killed
that day three hundred and sixty deer, with five
wolves, and some roes.””
* Barclay de Regno et regali potestate, p. 279, 280. The writer
who has transmitted to us this interesting and lively account, was
William Barclay, a native of Aberdeenshire, and a learned civilian.
He spent the early part of his life, and much of his fortune, at the
L
82 O N THE H A R P
This hunt, truly Caledonian, so nearly resem-
bles those of the ancient Highland heroes de-
scribed in the old Gaelic poetry, that a High-
lander would naturally expect the account to
terminate in that of the subsequent feast, in
which “the shell went round, the bards sung,
and the soft hand of virgins trembled on the
strings of the Harp.”* That the Earl of Athol
court of Queen Mary, and accompanied her on this excursion to the
Highlands, at the age of twenty-two. In the latter part of his life
he married a French lady, lived in France, and was Professor of
Civil Law in the university of Angers, where he died in the year
1604.
* See above, p. 34 and note. See also p. 32 and note *.—The
Gaelic lines, in the latter note, are from an antient poem, which
describes the manners of the Fingalian heroes, and are immediately
preceded by a description of a chace, which, after the first twenty
lines, proceeds thus:
ORIGINALs LITERAL TRANSLATION,
“Bu chian arsgaoileadh o cheile, Far would disperse asunder,
Fea' gach sleibh air barra bhac; Through the steep banks of each mountain,
Laochrai’ chalma, churant Fhinn, The strong, adventurous band of Fingal,
’S am bogha gach tion nan glaic. With bows ready in their grasp.
6
IN THE HIGH LAN IDS. 83
did actually conclude this magnificent fete, by
entertaining his royal guest and relation in the
most princely stile of the times, and with every
variety that could be procured, cannot admit of
a doubt; and it may, with great reason, be sup-
posed, that the tradition handed down in the
family of Lude, does expressly refer to this very
festival, to which some of the best performers
on the Caledonian Harp may have been invited,
in order to display their musical powers before
the Queen ; and that Beatrix Gardyn had the
ORIGINAL.
'Nuair a dh'eiradh Seilg an fleidh,
Dh' fhuasgladhmaid na ceuda cu;
'ioma' damh, earb, agus Adh
A thuiteadh, 'sa bhail gach iul.
Philleamaid le’rseilg tra-non,
Gu Teamhra' cheolmhor man teud;
Am bu lionmhor cruit is clar,
’S ioma’ Bard a sheinneadh sgeul.
Bioma’ slige doll mun cuairt,
’S dana nua’ga luadh le cheil,
A caitheamh na feist’s ann Tur.”
LITERAL TRANSLATION.
When the deer began to start,
We let slip the hundreds of hounds;
Many a hart, roe, and hind
Fell, as far as I could view.
We returned at noon, with the spoils of the chace,
To the musical Taura of strings,
Where numerous were Cruits and Harps,
And many a bard to sing a tale.
Many a shell went round,
And new songs were sung together,
Whilst the feast was consuming in the tower.
84 O N T H E H A R P
distinguished honour, on this occasion, of being
presented with the royal Harp, still preserved
by her descendants, of which the description,
illustrated by a most accurate engraving, has
been given above.
That this Harp was of Scottish manufacture,
appears to be extremely probable, as well as that
it had been an established custom, for many pre-
ceding reigns, to have a Harp provided for the
royal palace. It has been seen, that Queen
Mary's illustrious ancestor, King James the First,
was celebrated for his performance on the Harp;
and the arms of Scotland, in gold, together with
Queen Mary's portrait, show, that this Harp
had been provided for her, in consequence of
such an established custom ; and that it is con-
structed on the principles of the Celtic school,
appears from its perfect resemblance, in size, and
number of strings, to the Harp of Brian Boromh
of the year 1014; each of these regal Harps
IN THE HIG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 85
having twenty-eight strings;–Brian Boromh's
Harp is thirty-two inches high ; that of Queen
Mary is thirty-one inches.
It cannot possibly be supposed that this Harp
came from France. At this period the Harp
appears to have been entirely laid aside in that
country, at least by the higher ranks of society.
Their favourite instrument was the lute, in shape
not unlike a guitar, but improved by an addi-
tional number of strings, and those of much finer
t powers. Besides lutes of the smaller size, used
mostly to accompany the voice, others were
made on a much larger scale, called the theorbo,
and arch-lute, six feet in length, and sometimes
longer, on which thorough bass was played. So
much was the lute the leading instrument in
France, that, at this day, the name of a musical
instrument-maker, of whatever kind, even of
one that can only make flutes, is, un Luthier, or
86 O N T H E H A R P
lute-maker; and to such a length had they pro-
ceeded, with their favourite instrument, in Paris,
not many years after Queen Mary left it, that
lutes were constructed in such a manner, that
their backs opened, like the doors of a chamber,
so as to “admit young pages, who, being thus
rendered invisible, sung the treble part, while
the lutanist both sung the tenor, and played the
bass on the lute;" and we have this from no less
authority than that of their most celebrated ma-
thematician, Mersennus, who adds, “that it was
in that manner that Granier performed concerts,
in three parts, before the Queen-dowager, Mar-
garet of Valois.”
It was on a lute of the smaller size that Queen
Mary used, for the most part, to accompany her
* Mersenne Harmonie Universelle. Paris, 1636.
IN THE H IG H LAN DS. 87
songs.” The accomplished ladies, and even gen-
tlemen, of that period, could sing a part of ma-
drigals, and other vocal compositions, of four
parts, at sight; insomuch, that Castiglione, in
his Cortegiano, or Perfect Courtier, published
1587, enumerates that talent, as one of the re-
quisites for the accomplished gentleman; and
many of the excellent vocal compositions, in
three and four parts, of that period, are still
sung with pleasure in England, and are among
the most difficult and intricate music, of that
description, that is sung at this day. Queen
Mary's private concert consisted chiefly of music
of this kind. Sir James Melville, one of the
most accomplished men of that age, possessin
p ge, p 8.
* “Elle avoit,” says Brantome, “la voiv tres douce et tres bonne;
car elle chantoit tres bien, accordant sa voir avec le luth, qu’elle touchoit
bien solidement, de cette belle main blanche, et de ces beauv doigts si
bien façonnés, qui ne devoient à ceua de l'Aurore.”—Mem. de Bran-
tome, Vol. V. p. 113.
88 O N T H E H A R P
all the refinement and address of Castiglione's
perfect courtier, informs us, that “Queen Mary
had three valets, who sung three parts, and that
she wanted a person to sing a bass, or fourth
part. David Rizzio, who had come to France
with the ambassador of Savoy, was recommended
as one fit to make the fourth in concert, and thus
he was drawn in to sing sometimes with the
rest; and afterwards, when her French secretary
retired himself to France, this David obtained
the said office.” ”
Besides Queen Mary's knowledge of vocal
music, on these scientific principles, and her ac-
companying herself on the lute, she appears to
* Sir James Melville's Memoirs, p. 54.—With respect to David
Rizzio, it is elsewhere stated more minutely, and admitted to be
true, that he was born at Turin, where his father earned a subsis-
tence as a musician; that it was in Scotland he arrived, in the train
of the Count de Morette, the ambassador from the Duke of Savoy;
and that he was engaged by Queen Mary, as related above by Sir
James Melville. Encyc, Brit. voce Scotland, No. 632.
IN T H E H IG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 89
have been a very great performer on the virginals,
which was a keyed instrument, having touches,
and fingering, similar to those of the spinet,
harpsichord, or piano-forte, which were its suc-
cessive improvements. The music that was play-
ed on the virginals by Queen Elizabeth is still
extant. It is written in a musical stave of sia,
lines, which certainly much increases the diffi-
culty of reading it; yet, even when this difficulty
is overcome, I have been assured by a first-rate
performer in London, who had this music given
him to play, that he found it very difficult to
execute; and the specimens of music played by
Bull, a professor of that time, which are pub-
lished in Dr Burney's History of Music, will
convince any one, that there was music played
on keyed instruments, at that period, that may
be called, even at this day, extremely difficult.
Now, if we are inclined to draw the inference
from Sir James Melville's statement of the com-
M
90 O N T H E H A R P
parison of the accomplishments of these rival
Queens, that he evidently intended his reader
to draw from it, whatever idea it may have
been calculated to convey to Queen Elizabeth,
we must conclude, that, in playing on the virgi-
nals, as well as in the other talents she displayed
before him, Queen Mary must, in his opinion,
have far surpassed her. *
* The following passage of the history of those times, besides being
the evidence which I have to produce for what is above maintained,
is so precious in itself, that, though already pretty well known, I shall
make no further apology for its insertion. Sir James Melville having
been sent by Queen Mary, in quality of her ambassador, to Queen
Elizabeth, to clear up some serious misunderstandings which had
arisen betwixt them, after having in one of his interviews succeed-
ed, with wonderful address, in adjusting the important points in
dispute, and having brought Queen Elizabeth into good humour
with Queen Mary, and with herself, this able negociator thus pro-
ceeds to relate the sequel of that interview:—“The Queen desired
to know of me, what colour of hair was reputed best, and whether
my Queen's hair or hers was best, and which of them two was
fairest?—I answered, the fairness of them both was not their worst
faults—but she was earnest with me, to declare which of them I
judged fairest—I said, she was the fairest Queen in England, and
6
I N T H E H IG. H. L. A. N. D.S. 91
If we, moreover, add to the great length of
time, which the study of these accomplishments
necessarily requires, those still larger portions of
time, which her other various studies demand-
ed;—when we consider, that she attained to so
mine the fairest Queen in Scotland—Yet she appeared earnest—I
answered, they were both the fairest ladies in their countries; that her
Majesty was whiter, but my Queen was very lovely—She enquired,
which of them was of highest stature?—I said, my Queen—Then,
said she, she is too high; for I myself am neither too high nor too
low—Then she asked, what kind of exercise she used?—I answered,
that when I received my dispatch, the Queen was lately come from
the Highland hunting; that when her more serious affairs permitted,
she was taken up with reading of histories; that sometimes she
recreated herself with playing upon the lute and virginals—She
asked, if she played well?—I said, reasonably for a Queen.” This
passed before dinner, and Sir James, who was asked to dine at
court with one of the ladies, was taken after dinner, by Lord Huns-
dean, who undoubtedly was instructed so to do by the Queen, to
a quiet gallery, that “I might hear,” continues Sir James, “ some
music; but he said he durst not avow it, where I might hear the
Queen play upon the virginals. After I had hearkened a while, I
took by the tapestry that hung before the door of the chamber, and
stood a pretty space, hearing her play eacellently well; but she left
off immediately, so soon as she turned her about, and saw me. She
appeared surprised, and came forward, seeming to strike me with her
92 O N T H E H A R P
great a proficiency in the Latin tongue, that she
declaimed publicly in the hall of the Louvre,
in presence of the whole court of France, an
oration, of her own composition, in that lan-
guage, maintaining, against the common opinion,
hand, saying, she was not accustomed to play before men; but
when she was solitary, to shun melancholy. She asked me, how I
came there P—I answered, as I was walking with my Lord of
Hunsdean, as we passed by the chamber-door I heard such melody
as ravished me, whereby I was drawn in ere I knew how, excusing
my homeliness, as being brought up in the court of France, where
such freedom was allowed, declaring myself willing to endure what
kind of punishment her Majesty should be pleased to inflict upon
me for so great an offence. Then she sat down upon a cushion,
and I, upon my knees, by her; but with her own hand she gave
me a cushion to lay under my knee, which at first I refused, but
she compelled me to take it. She enquired, whether my Queen or
she played best ? In that I found myself obliged to give her the praise.
On my pressing earnestly my dispatch, she said, I was weary sooner
of her company than she was of mine—I told her Majesty, that
though I had no reason of being weary, I knew my mistress's af.
fairs called me home. Yet I staid two days longer, that I might
see her dance; which being over, she enquired of me, whether she
or my Queen danced best ?—I answered, my Queen danced not
so high and disposedly as she did.”—Sir J. MELVILLE's Memoirs,
p. 50. 51.
IN THE HIGH LANDs. 93
that a proficiency in learning, and in the liberal
arts, was not unbecoming the female character;
that in the French, the Italian, and the Spanish
languages, her progress was still greater; that
she employed two hours every day in study
and reading ; that she had also made a great
proficiency in painting;-when to all these is
added, the time taken up in needle work, ta-
pestry, dancing, and riding; and that all these
branches of education were acquired in the
nine years which elapsed from her sixth to her
fifteenth year, when she was married to the
Dauphin of France;”—when all this is consider
ed, we are fully warranted to suppose, that her
musical studies consisted only of the extensive
branches mentioned above; among which there
* Brantome's Mem. Vol. V. p. 113.; and Dr T. Robertson of Dal-
meny's History of Mary Queen of Scots, p. 3.
94 O N T H E H A R P
could not have been found a vacant space for
the study of the Harp. It is not at all likely
she could have found any time for it, after her
return to Scotland, so as to have made any pro-
gress on so difficult an instrument, and which,
at the same time, could not gratify that desire
of variety of modulation, or temporary change
of key, which one accustomed to the system of
the Italian school could not fail of feeling, al-
most at every instant. This can only be done
on the modern Welsh Harp, of three rows of
strings, and on the Pedal Harp. The Harpers
of the old Celtic school had, however, by long
use, and knowledge of the combinations which
their more simple system could furnish, the
power of pleasing themselves and others, on
their instrument, in a very high degree. Whe-
ther Queen Mary was a performer on the Harp,
or not, does not affect, in any way, the history
of its progress in the Highlands, which is the
IN THE HIT G H LAN IDS. 95
object of the present enquiry; but it must be
allowed, that her not being able to play upon
it, was a good reason for her giving away this
Harp of state.
Queen Mary's Harp, together with the more
ancient Caledonian Harp, have been occasion-
ally played upon, in the family of Lude, as
has been already observed, until within the
last seventy or eighty years. Roderick Mori-
son, one of the last native Highland Harpers,
who was regularly bred and professionally in-
structed, accompanied the Marquis of Hunt-
ley on a visit to Lude, about the year 1650.
This Bard and Harper, who will be more parti-
cularly mentioned afterwards, composed a port,
or air, on this occasion, which was called Sui-
par Chiurn na Leod, or Lude's Supper. The
last of this family who played on Queen Ma-
ry's Harp, before it was despoiled of its va-
luable ornaments by the soldiery in the year
96 O N T H E H A R P
1745, was the great-grand-father of General Ro-
bertson. The music which he played upon it
consisted chiefly of the airs which had been
composed by the Highland bards on some re-
markable occasion; Laments, in commemoration
of deceased persons of eminence ; of the airs
called Ports, and of marches of the Highland
clans. None of these have been preserved in
the family excepting that of Lude's Supper. The
father of the present Mr Robertson of Strowan,
however, who had been constantly in the prac-
tice of hearing General Robertson's great-grand.
father play this music on Queen Mary's Harp,
used to play a great number of them on the
violin. From him his son, Colonel Colgear Ro-
bertson, learned, by the ear, to play a number
of them on the violin, which General Robertson
has heard him play, and some of them were
taken down in writing from his performance, by
Bowie, a music-seller in Perth, and were pub-
IN THE HIGH LANIDS. 97
lished, about twelve years ago, at the end of his
collection of reels, &c. *
The establishments of the Highland Chief.
tains, with respect to their Bard, Harper, &c.
had, for several centuries, from political causes,
and from a variety of other changes in their
condition, been gradually diminishing, and given
up. There never does appear to have been, in-
dependent of these establishments, any set of
men in the Highlands who had been taught to
play upon the Harp, in order to gain their sub-
sistence by it, from the public at large; nor do
the nature, and circumstances, peculiar to the
situation, of the Highlands, hold out any encou-
ragement for such a profession, after these esta-
blishments had been discontinued; at least we do
* General Robertson's Letter to the Secretary of the Highland
Society, dated Lude, 23d May, 1805; and Memorandum concern-
ing the Harps and Highland Music, dated 9th November, 1805.
N
98 O N T H E H A R P.
not find any accounts, or traces, ofitinerant native
Harpers in the Highlands, such as are still to be
found in Ireland and in Wales; or if such were
bred there, they probably went to the Lowlands
to exercise their profession. The last regularly
bred Highland Harpers appear to be the two
following, with the account of whom, and the
establishments to which they respectively be-
longed, I shall conclude the present enquiry.
In the seventeenth century, the Laird of Mac-
leod, named John Breck, from his having been
much marked by the small-pox, was one of the
last Highland Chieftains who had an established
Bard, Harper, Piper, &c. at his residence of
Dunvegan Castle, in the island of Skye, all of
them excellent, and liberally provided for. The
offices of Bard and Harper were filled by Rode-
rick Morison, who, being blind, was called Ruarie
Dall; but he was born a gentleman, and lived
on that footing in the family of this chieftain.
6
I N T H E H L G H L A N DS. 99
He was the last person in this country who
possessed the talents of Bard and Harper, of
Poet, and Composer of Music, in an eminent
degree. After the death of John Breck, Dun-
vegan Castle, and its establishment, was aban-
doned by his son; a measure which the poor
neglected bard lamented, in an excellent elegy
on his patron, which was printed in a late col-
* I have not been able
lection of Gaelic poems.
to procure any further accounts of him ; but he
appears to have been, after this, still held in
great estimation, and to have been taken notice
of by persons of the first rank in this country.
His accompanying the Marquis of Huntley to
* See an interesting Dissertation on the Influence of Poetry and
Music upon the Highlanders, from which this account of Rory
Dall is taken, prefixed to P. MºDonald's valuable Collection of
Vocal Highland Airs; and the excellent remarks on the music con-
tained in it, in the preface to the first edition of that work, both
which treatises are written by gentlemen of eminent abilities.
100 O N THE HARP
Lude-house has been already taken notice of
Some of his compositions for the Harp are still
extant; I remember to have seen one of them
in an old collection of engraved Scottish mu-
sic.
The family of Maclean of Coll was one of
those who maintained a Harper. John Garve
Maclean of Coll, who lived in the latter end of
the reign of King James the Sixth, and during
that of Charles the First, was esteemed an ex-
cellent performer on the Harp, and a good com-
poser of music. Two of his compositions have
been handed down, one called Toum Muran, the
other, Caoineadh Rioghail, or the Royal La-
ment, probably composed in memory of the
latter unfortunate monarch. An anecdote has
been handed down in the family, of an English
vessel having been wrecked on the island, the
captain of which went to the castle of Coll, and
on seeing this venerable gentleman, with a Bible
IN THE HIGH LAN IDS. 101
in his hand, and a Harp placed by his side, ex-
claimed, in the enthusiastic language of that
time, that he beheld King David restored again *
to the earth / Murdoch Macdonald, brought up
by the family of Coll, appears to have been the
last native Harper of the Highlands of Scotland.
He was first sent to the island of Skye, to re-
ceive instruction from Rory Dall, and afterwards
into Ireland, for the same purpose. He remained
in the family of Coll, in quality of Harper, until
the year 1734, as appears from an account of
payments made in that year, in the hand-writing
of Hector Maclean of Coll, uncle to the present
Colonel Maclean. How long he continued af.
terwards in the family does not appear; but he
retired to Quinish, in the island of Mull, where
he remained until his death. He was always
called, and is still remembered in the island of
Coll, by the name of Murdoch Clarsair, or Mur-
doch the Harper. His son, who acted occa-
102 O N T H E H A R P
sionally as a servant to the present Colonel Mac-
lean of Coll, was distinguished by the name of
Eoin Mac Mhurchaidh Clairsair, or John, son of
Murdoch the Harper; and the grandson of Mur-
doch is, at this time, in the service of Colonel
Maclean.
The particulars above mentioned, which re-
late to the family of Coll, were communicated
by Colonel Maclean, in a letter to the author,
dated 26th March, 1806, and in a letter written
by Mrs Mackenzie, his relation, from the island of
Coll, which was received in May following; and
are not contained in the author's Report upon
this subject, which was delivered to the High-
land Society previous to their annual meeting in
the month of January preceding. Mrs Macken-
zie is daughter of Doctor Maclean of the island !
of Mull, who was, at the time of Doctor John-
son's and Mr Boswell's visit to that island, writing
I.N THE HIGH LANDS. 103
a history of the Macleans. Her letter contains
several particulars concerning the Harpers of the
island of Mull, which have been before taken
notice of. She remembers a number of the
compositions of the Highland Harpers, which
were no doubt among those with which she en-
tertained Dr Johnson and Mr Boswell at her
father's house. These airs she had learnt of
her father, who played them on the flute, and
had them, in all probability, immediately from
Murdoch Macdonald, the last of the Highland
Harpers, who lived in his neighbourhood. It
is this lady of whom Dr Johnson said, “She
is the most accomplished lady I have found in
the Highlands; she knows French, music, and
drawing, sews neatly, makes shell-work, and can
milk cows.” Colonel Maclean's Letter, together
with Mrs Mackenzie’s, General Robertson's Let-
ter and Memorandum, the author's Report, and
#
$04 ... • oM THE HARP;, §ce.
the original drawings of the Harps, are depot
sited among the Records of the Highland So-
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