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The Celtic harp is a triangular harp traditional to Brittany, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is known as a telenn in Breton, cláirseach in Irish, clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic and telyn in Welsh. In Ireland and Scotland it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great skill and long practice to play, and was associated with the Gaelic ruling class. In the Republic of Ireland, it appears on the coins and coat of arms. ==Early history== The early history of the triangular frame harp in Europe is contested. The first instrument associated with the harping tradition in the Gaelic world was known as a ''cruit''. This word may originally have described a different stringed instrument, being etymologically related to the Welsh crwth. It has been suggested that the word ''clàrsach/cláirseach'' (from ''clàr/clár'', a board) was coined for the triangular frame harp which replaced the cruit, and that this coining was of Scottish origin.〔John Bannerman, ‘The Clàrsach and the Clàsair’ in ''Scottish Studies 30'', 1991, pp.3-4.〕 Three of the four oldest authentic harps to survive are of Gaelic provenance: the Trinity College Harp preserved in Trinity College Dublin, and the Queen Mary Harp and the Lamont Harp in the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.〔(– the fourth is the 15th century 'Wartburg' harp from Germany. )〕 The last two are examples of the small low-headed harp, and are both made from hornbeam, a wood not native to Scotland.〔Rimmer 1980, p. 35.〕 All three are dated approximately to the 15th century and may have been made in Argyll in western Scotland.〔See Sanger & Kinnaird 1992〕〔See Caldwell 1982.〕 Many “Irish” harps from later periods have no provenance and could possibly be of Scottish origin. The Norman-Welsh cleric and scholar Gerald of Wales (c.1146 – c.1223), whose ''Topographica Hibernica et Expugnatio Hibernica'' is a description of Ireland from the Anglo-Norman point of view, praised Irish harp music (if little else), but added that, in the opinion of many, the Scots had now surpassed them in that skill.〔Dimock 1867 (ed.), pp. 154-5: ''Multorum autem opinione, hodie Scotia non tantum magistram aequiparavit Hiberniam, verum etiam in musica peritia longe praevalet et praecellit. Unde et ibi quasi fontem artis jam requirunt''.〕 Gerald refers to the ''cythara'' and the ''tympanum'', but their identification with the harp is uncertain, and it is not known that he ever visited Scotland.〔Budgey 2002, p. 209.〕 Early images of the clàrsach are not common in Scottish iconography, but a gravestone at Kiells, in Argyllshire, dating from about 1500, shows one with a typically large soundbox, decorated with Celtic designs.〔Rimmer 1980, pp. 35-37.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Celtic harp」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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