Today we celebrate all things Irish, and today I present 10 facts about Ireland’s national symbol, the harp.
The harp is one of the oldest musical instruments known to man. The earliest harps and lyres were found in Sumer, 3500 BCE; several were excavated from tombs in Ur. The walls of many ancient Egyptian tombs have paintings of people playing the harp.
The word “harp” originates from the German, Old Norse and Anglo Saxon words meaning “to pluck.”
A person who plays the harp is called a harp player, or a harpist.
So why did Ireland choose it as a symbol? Nobody really knows. The reason is lost in the mists of time. We do know that the clans of ancient Ireland would all have a resident harp player who would compose and play songs about the men of the clans. According to tradition, Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, played the harp, as did many of the Irish gentry of the time. The harp was adopted as a symbol of the Kingdom of Ireland on the coinage from 1542.
In the 1600s the English rulers of Ireland banned the harp and burned any they found. People caught playing the instrument faced execution.
Companies with a connection to Ireland often use a harp as a significant part of their logo. The Irish brewer Guinness has used a right-facing harp (rather than the Irish State emblem's left-facing version) as its emblem since 1759, and the logo of the airline Ryanair is a stylised harp.
Ireland may be the only country to use a musical instrument as its national symbol, but there is as city in Sri Lanka, Jaffna, which has a South Asian Tamil harp yaal as its symbol, and the arms of the Finnish city of Kangasala feature a red, eagle-headed harp. Since Northern Ireland is part of the UK, a harp appears on the British Royal Standard, and it is the national instrument of Wales. An Iraqi football club, Al-Shorta has used a harp as its emblem since their style of play was likened to fine harp-playing by a television presenter.
Parts of a harp are the column, which makes up the longest side, which runs down to the foot. The other two sides are called the neck and the body. The corner of the harp where the neck and body meet is called the knee. A modern concert harp has 47 strings and 7 pedals. The pedals sharpen or flatten the note produced when a string is plucked. Harp strings are coloured depending on the note as an aid to the harpist. C strings are red, F strings are Black or Blue and the other strings are White.
In The Bible, Genesis 4:21 says that Jubal, the first musician and son of Lamech, was 'the father of all who play' the harp, and also the flute. King David is another Biblical figure who played a harp. Famous harpists in modern times include comedian Harpo Marx, and the lead singer from the band Yes, Jon Anderson.
Some world records: The largest harp, as of 2021, measures 28.03m tall and 21.8m long, and was unveiled at Sichuan University of Culture and Arts in China. The world’s largest harp ensemble is comprised of 420 harpists. In October 2022 the World Record for the longest marathon harp playing was set when Kateryna Oliinyk played the harp for 3 hours and 1 minute and 54 seconds in Dubai. The world’s most expensive harp is made by Lyon & Healy, in the rococo style of King Louis XV and known as the Louis XV special harp. It is priced at around $189,000, or approximately £144,000. Finally, the highest altitude for playing a harp was achieved by Siobhan Brady who played her harp at Singla Pass in India at an altitude of 4,954m.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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