IRISH MUSIC

New Zealand Tablet, 11 August 1910, Page 1285

IRISH MUSIC

As to the antiquity of the art of music in Ireland, we have overwhelming evidence to prove that it was honored and revered and extensively cultivated by our remote ancestors; the various ancient vellum books that have been preserved to us refer to the high position music occupied in the life of ancient Ireland, and McFirbis’s Book of Genealogies relates that the Milesians, on the occasion of their invasion of Ireland, many centuries before the birth of Our Lord, brought with them, as one of their expedition, a harper. Again, in the Court of the High King, as well as among the retinue of the subsidiary or provincial kings, there were certain officers of State corresponding in a sense to our modern Cabinet Ministers in their relation to the King. There were, for example, the bards or poets, the Brehons or judges, the Druids or priests, the Ollavs or professors of learning, and the Ollav receoil or musicians. The harp is referred to in the very oldest of our annals, and has become the national emblem on the Irish flag, Ireland being the only nation on earth that has chosen a musical instrument as the symbol of its nationality. - But in ancient times there were several other kinds of instruments on which our forefathers played. Amongst these may be mentioned : 1. The cruit, or small harp, which was generally played resting on the knee, or on a table in front of the performer. It had only the notes of one octave, and, of course, its capabilities were limited. It is _ worthy of note that the family name, McCurtin, or Curtain, is derived from this word, signifying that a remote ancestor of this clan was a performer on the cruit. 2. The clairseachthe large heroic harpmany very old samples of which are preserved to the present day. It had about thirty strings, and, of course, had larger capabilities than the smaller harp. 3. The timpana small stringed instrument somewhat like a zither. It had about eight strings, and was played with a bow or plectrum. The family name Tumpanny is derived from this —meaning a player on the timpan. 4. The buinne, a wind instrument, and the corn-piopa, from which the name of the famous dance, the hornpipe, was derived. 5- The piobai, or pipes. Numerous illustrations of it appear in old Irish books from the fourteenth century downwards, and from these it may be seen that the present day instruments are an exact reproduction of the old Irish piobai. 6. The teadah, which was a kind of fife or flute.