The world’s oldest known stringed instrument is the harp. Harps were the popular stringed instrument of the early Celtic nations in the 1200s, where the instrument was labelled as a ‘cruit’, which was the oldest known description of the instrument. The old German, Anglo and Norse words to describe the ‘Harp’ or ‘Harpa’ mean to ‘pluck’ and in the 13th century to most popular harp, was described in general circles as the ‘Lyre’ and was different in shape to the traditional triangular shaped harp.
Later Scottish and Irish words for the harp were ‘cláirseach’ or ‘clarsach’ and it was around this time in the 15th century that there were clear differences in the harps and the sounds they produced. The Europeans tended to use wire in the construction of their harps, while the Celtic nations preferred a gut-strung harp. The ‘Lever’ harps of the Gaelic people were made for folk music and the primary materials used in stringing harps was gut, however, some harps were stringed using brass wire.
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