Lamont Harp

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The Lamont Harp, or Clàrsach Lumanach (also known as the Caledonian Harp or Lude Harp) is a Scottish Clarsach currently displayed in the National Museum of Scotland. It is believed to date back to the 15th century, and to have originated in Argyll. [1] Along with the Queen Mary Harp and the Trinity College harp, it is one of the only three surviving medieval Gaelic harps.

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[edit] History

The Lamont harp [1] was presented to the Robertson family of Lude 1460-1464 [2] as part of a marriage dowry to Charles Robertson of Lude (or of Clune). [3] The Lamont Harp was handed down in the Robertson family and remained at Lude in Perthshire until 1805, when both the Lamont Harp and the Queen Mary Harp were sent to Edinburgh. In 1880 both clarsachs were deposited by a John Stewart of Dalguise in the National Museum of Edinburgh now the Museum of Scotland, where they remains to this day.

[edit] Appearance

The Lamont Harp stands 95cm tall and 42.5cm wide and is considerably larger than the other surviving Gaelic Harps (Queen Mary and Trinity harps). The Lamont harp has very little decorative carving when compared to the other surviving examples, and was constructed with fine metal fittings, notably fox styled metal reinforcements between the pillar (Lamhchrann) and neck of the instrument, the metal head is beaten to imitate a gem setting and the square drives of the tuning pins are fitted to resemble cloves or rosebuds. The Lamont harp bears the inscription “Al Stewart of Clune and his Harp 1456” although this is too late a date for the original construction of the harp this may relate to the repair. The wood has been identified as hornbeam or English walnut although the pillar has distorted over time and the T-section reinforcement is shorter than on other early Gaelic harps, and does seem to have happened at the ends where the pillar is wide but thin.

In 1805 both the Lamont Harp and Queen Mary Harp were exhibited to the Highland society of Scotland and a history was commissioned and published by the author John Gunn in 1870. [4]

[edit] Replicas

Replicas of the Lamont Harp with gold and silver wire strings are played by harpists and built by David Kortier, based on his measurements from the original to reproduce its idiosyncratic string spacing, angles and overall ergonomics. Student replicas are available from the Historical Harp Society of Ireland.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Keith Sanger and Alison Kinnaird, "Tree of Strings - Crann nan Teud", Kinmor 1992
  2. ^ Robert Bruce Armstrong “The Irish and Highland Harps” 1904
  3. ^ Rensch, R. The Harp: Its History, Technique and Repertoire. Praeger Publishers: New York, c1969.
  4. ^ John Gunn “An Historical Enquiry respecting the performance of the harp in the Highlands of Scotland” Edinburgh 1807.
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