DIFFERENT, RELEVANT, ANCIENT
This page? You may think you know about the ancient Celtic harp. On this page you will find a whole new look at the history and method–different, relevant, ancient. Here you will find the full text to “The Celtic Harp At Stonehenge” (CLICK HERE FOR THAT PAGE) and (soon) video showing the historical method based on this research.
Why is this information on the Celtic harp different? As discussed at some length in “The Celtic Harp At Stonehenge”, the historical Celtic harp perished during the early 19th century. Generally, modern histories, websites and authorities attribute its origin to the early medieval period. In contrast, the information presented here sees the Celtic harp (or lyre)–known as the Cruit–going back to about 3000 BC and as carrying into the 19th century a musical system that predates all other European and Middle Eastern musical systems. That ancient musical system is different from the modern one.
Harp or lyre? Good question. It may well be that prior to the ninth century the instrument was constructed as a lyre and that the triangular harp form comes after that date in Britain. This doesn’t change the method or music.
Why does this matter? Because the world is in trouble. Civilization is disintegrating under the weight of top-down authoritarian control and ideas. History has been written as if, before the rise of “civilization”, no structured thought existed. However, it did. And the alternative to “civilization” as if becomes more and more oppressive and exploitive does not lie in chaos or emotion. The alternative lies in ideas of and ritual participation in cultural process and the balance of bards and warriors. (See the article BARDS AND WARRIORS.) When we appreciated that the Cruit arose within an effort to resist the imperious oppression of civilization, not only our past looks different. So does our future possibility.
Is this the later Clarsach? No. The Clarsach is the large Celtic harp. It shifted the melody strings of the small harp an octave lower. This allowed the upper strings to be used for Divisions–a court form in which the melodic ground would be cut with additional notes, as in Pibroch on the Scottish bagpipe.
What else? Not to mention that this site and the book outline a ancient musical method and sound that have value in their own right.