Developments in Scottish Harp Construction from 1932 to 2009:

A Study of Makers and Performers

PG STUDENT 0898282
Exam No. 9828203

21 August 2009

MSc Scottish Ethnology

University of Edinburgh
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements 3

Chapter 1: Introduction 4
1.1 Terminology 5
1.2 Review of Related Literature 6
1.3 Theories and Methodology
1.4 Early Revival Period 1892 – 1932 12

Chapter 2: Post Revival Harps 1933 – 1964 15

2.1 Briggs and Schreiber Instrument Making Background 15
2.2 Briggs’ Introduction to the Harp 17
2.3 Briggs Harps 20
2.3.1 Purpose-built 20
2.3.2 Dalriada 23
2.3.3 Ossian No. 1 26
2.3.4 Ossian No. 2 28
2.3.5 Custom-made 30
2.4 Thompson Harps 31
2.5 Paris Harps 32

Chapter 3: Post Revival Harps: 1970 – 1990s 36

3.1 Sanderson & Taylor and Brown & Bruce 36
3.2 Firth 40

Chapter 4: Present Day Harp-Makers: 1979 – 2009 43

4.1 Pilgrim 43
4.2 Norris 47
4.3 Yule 51
4.4 Starfish 55

Chapter 5: Conclusion 63

Figures 68

Appendix I: Post Revival Harps Catalogue 1932 - 1964: Briggs and Paris 83
Appendix II: Post Revival Harps Catalogue 1970 - 1990s:
Sanderson & Taylor, Brown & Bruce and Firth 103
Appendix III: Present Day Makers Catalogue 1979 - 2009:
Pilgrim, Norris, Yule, Starfish 118
Appendix IV: Comparison Tables 130

Bibliography 137
List of Interviews 145

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research for this work has only been possible through the cooperation of a great
many individuals who allowed me to view their harps, measure their harps, and interview
them about their harps and views on harp construction and performance. There were also
many people who communicated with me via post, email, phone and sent photographs
and measurements of their harps. Thanks also to the harp-makers of today who
graciously gave of their valuable time to show me around their workshops and discuss
their harps.

Thanks are due to harp-makers Mark Norris of Norris Harps, John Hoare of Pilgrim
Harps, Mike Anderson, Davey Tod and Dave Shepton of Starfish Harps and John Yule of
Yule Harps.

I would also like to thank the following harp owners, performers, and relatives and
descendants of harp owners and harp-makers: Mike Baldwin, Jenny Brockie, Ank van
Campen, Sarah Caughie, Simon Chadwick, Norman Chalmers, John, Helen and Steph
Christie, Stuart Edymann, Ruth Exell-Stevenson, Jean Fleetwood, Marion Firth, Mary
Fleming, Frederick Frayling-Kelly, Jane Freshwater, Anne Garrison, Avril Garwild, Kate
Gray, Rachel Hair, Karen Hickmott, Iain Hood, Jean Hutchings, William Jackson, Alison
Kinnaird, Anabel MacGregor, Kirsty MacGregor, Christine Martin, Darryl Martin at St
Cecilia’s, Meredith McCracken, Catriona McKay, Isobel Mieras, Ben and Clive Morley,
Marie-Louise Napier, Mary O’Hara, Padraig O’Toole, Mike Parker, Keith Sanger,
Graham, Alison and Jean Schreiber, Patsy Seddon, Mona Silli, Danny Sweeney, Bill
Taylor, Fraya Thomson, Mary Veal, the West Highland Museum, and Edward
Witsenburg.

For editing, review and wood identification assistance, thanks to Clemens Bieger and Jo
Morrison.

In the matters of research guidance, I profited from the knowledge of the staff at the
department of Celtic and Scottish Studies, particularly my supervisors Kath Campbell
and Margaret Mackay.

3
 CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION

This work is an investigation into the developments in the construction of small harps in

the UK, specifically Scotland, since the revival of the instrument in the early 20th century

through to 2009 and the influence of players on the instrument’s construction

developments.

My interest in harp construction originated from a student placement at Ardival Harps in

2004. I was interested by the harp workshop and the construction techniques used to

make these instruments. I continued this interest in construction by attending a weeklong

course on making your own Bohemian harp, run by Klangwerkstatt, a company from

Germany that specialises in running instrument making courses. After producing this

Bohemian harp, of a central European design, I began to notice the pronounced

differences between the construction techniques of that style of harp verses the harps that

are made in Britain and primarily Scotland. This aroused my interest to look more

closely at the differing construction techniques to be seen throughout Britain. The first

post revival harps that were produced in Scotland for a general market rather than replica

commissions were made in the 1930s. Was the construction of these harps based on

replicas of Scottish harps or influenced by the pedal harp? How has the development of

the construction of harps in Scotland evolved from the 1930s through to 2009 and what

were the motivations propelling the makers? How have the changing styles of

performers influenced these developments?

4
My own background as a performer, tutor, promoter and learner of the Scottish harp has

placed me in an ideal position to carry out this research. My undergraduate degree at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama provided a strong foundation for getting to

know the teachers and performers of Scottish music. Since then, my own involvement

with performance, teaching and promotion have taken me throughout Scotland and

abroad. I have been involved in festivals such as the Edinburgh International Harp

Festival, have re-founded the Glasgow Branch of the Clarsach Society and co-founded

the Scottish Harp and Cello Festival.

1.1 Terminology

For the purposes of this work, I have decided to use the terms “small harp” or “Scottish

harp” or simply “harp” because these terms are commonly in use by performers in

Scotland. These terms are used interchangeably, although “small harp” or “harp” is used

when the harp is not actually built in Scotland. It is to be assumed when the term “harp”

is used that I am not referring to the classical pedal harp (which will always be called the

“classical harp” or “pedal harp”) but am instead referring to the instrument in question for

this work. I have reserved usage of the term “clarsach”1 solely for referencing pre-

revival harps made in Scotland before the 18th century or replicas of this instrument.

However, sometimes the word arises in quotations by players or makers as it has been a

term used interchangeably with “harp” in Scotland for many years.

1
“Clarsach” is the Gaelic translation of the word “harp”, and has increasingly been used
by non-Gaelic speakers to identify the Scottish harp.

5
As much of this dissertation involves a detailed analysis of various aspects and parts of

the harp, the diagram below is provided for quick reference.

1.2 Review of Related Literature

A general overview of the harp can be found in Rensch’s Harps and Harpists (1989). It

includes detailed information about all aspects of harps, from the earliest picture sources

through the non-pedal harp and the pedal harp histories. Pratt’s Affairs of the Harp

(1964) is a more organological approach to the instrument, but is completely based on the

pedal harp.2

2
For further detail, please see my earlier “Literature Review” submitted as part of my
MSc course, 12 December 2008.

6
Armstrong’s The Irish and the Highland Harps (1904) gives a thorough description of all

the surviving Irish and Scottish clarsachs. This is useful when discussing influences upon

the post-revival makers.

As the history of the harp in Scotland has a broken tradition3, most academics pursuing

ideas of authenticity have placed an emphasis on furthering the knowledge regarding the

ancient wire strung clarsach. Information concerning harp making and playing in

Scotland since the revival of the instrument in the 1890s is often disregarded because in

more recent years the early revival playing styles have been considered as less than

authentic. However, if it were not for these early pioneers with an interest in the Scottish

harp and their stalwart perseverance in its promotion, there would not be the vibrant

community of harp players, performers and makers that there is today.

There are many books that give a peripheral overview of the harp in Scotland throughout

the last century, but mostly this is as a brief note at the end of a book or chapter far more

dedicated and devoted to the earlier forms of the harp in Scotland. Sanger and Kinnaird’s

Tree of Strings (1992) is the foremost resource for the history of the harp in Scotland. It

introduces the harp’s earliest sources in Scotland through legends and songs and

continues through the earliest archaeological evidence, carvings of Pictish harps from the

8th century, the wire-strung clarsach from the Highlands, gut-strung harps of the

lowlands, and the demise of the harp in the Highlands around the 1700s. There is a short

3
The harp was out of use in Scotland roughly between the late 1600s and early 1900s.
Please see my earlier essay submitted as part of my MSc course, “The Scottish Harp
Revival: The Early Years”, 17 February 2009, for further reference.

7
chapter at the end entitled “Classical Revival” which covers the late 1700s to early 1800s

and details the activities of the Highland Society of London and the classical harp tuition

that was going on in Edinburgh. An even briefer chapter, “A Harp New-Strung”,

describes some of the early revivalist activities, including Mod competitions and the

advent of the Clarsach Society.

Collinson’s The Traditional and National Music of Scotland (1966) covers all Scottish

instruments, although the chapter on harps is lengthy. It covers similar material to Sanger

and Kinnaird’s work, although in a less detailed fashion. Both works have an intentional

emphasis on the wire-strung harps and harpers of the Highlands and have significantly

less information on anything after the revival period. There is thus a gap in the research

regarding harp-makers and players in Scotland after the revival period, which I hope to

address in this dissertation.

1.3 Theories and Methodology

My research has been primarily conducted through three main channels: study of

archival material, interviews, and the creation of a database catalogue of harps that allows

for analytical comparison and observation of a variety of different harps. These three

methods proved to be the most valuable for my research because there is very little

published information regarding my subject.

8
Through the archives at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh I have had access

to the extensive archives lodged by the Clarsach Society, including the minute books

from the Society’s first meetings in 1932 through the 1970s. These minute books provide

small clues about which harps were being made when and where from 1932 to the 1970s.

There is also an extensive photographic archive, which has many pictures of different

people throughout the Society’s history playing harps from different makers. Also of

interest from the Clarsach Society’s archives is the collection of press cuttings, which

document different stages of the Clarsach Society’s progress as well as notices of harp

performances and harp-maker’s advertisements.

At the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, the Heloise Russell-Fergusson Collection of

Photographs of Harps is an interesting resource. This 17-volume collection of photo

albums was collected by the industrious Ms Russell-Fergusson, Bardess of Scotia, and

deposited at the library in February of 1964. The collection includes many volumes on

early types of harps, sculptures of harps, and lyres, but there are also several relevant

volumes on harps and players from the British Isles.

The Mitchell Library also has collections of various newspaper and magazine articles

pasted into the “Glasgow Scrapbook” which has some relevant information, as well as

some articles from various magazine archives. The Post Office Directories for Glasgow,

also housed in the Mitchell Library, list the years that different Glasgow instrument

makers were in production.

9
My main interviews were with the harp makers themselves, including Starfish Designs,

Pilgrim Harps, Yule Harps and Norris Harps. Unfortunately it was not realistic to record

these interviews, as often there was machinery noise or radios playing in the background,

but handwritten notes obtained during the interviews provided ample information. There

was also the issue that interviewing in a workshop meant that there was much movement

from one area to another to discuss different aspects of the harp-making process. I found

it was beneficial to have a semi-structured interviewing technique that allowed the harp-

makers to elaborate on certain areas and for me to follow up on threads that were

presented. Often this manner of interviewing presented more information and ideas than

I would have gained from a formal structured interview.

I also interviewed a variety of harp players and owners. These interviews were also

semi-structured. Some of the interviewing was done via email, as time did not permit to

visit the large number of people I was in contact with. Part of my research was

compiling a catalogue of as many older Scottish harps as I could find in my limited time,

as well as talking to owners of more modern Scottish harps. I was therefore in contact

with over forty harp owners and players from around the world. I also had contact with

several relatives or descendants of harp makers who had retired or passed away.

The last main aspect of my research was conducted through my own analytical

observation based on the photographs and information gathered about both the earlier

revival harps (1930s – 1980s) and the modern harps made today (1990s – 2009). There

was much comparison and contrast to be made and information to process related to the

10
organological aspects of the different instruments. To aid these observations, I visited

many privately owned harps that were made by makers in Scotland who are no longer in

production (as it was impossible to talk to the builders themselves). When I visited these

instruments, I conducted my research as methodologically as was possible by

photographing the harp from many angles, checking for labels, plaques or signatures, and

taking measurements. These measurements were conducted with an ordinary sewing

measuring tape and so a small error of margin should be taken into consideration. For an

additional number of harps I was unable to visit due to time and distance constraints, I

received photographs taken by the harp’s owner and the owner did their own

measurements. I included an example diagram (fig. 1) in my correspondence to the

informant to try to avoid confusion and to try to ensure that the informant understood

which measurements I was after. However, even with the diagram and a description of

what each measurement was of, these measurements should also be considered with a

margin of error. In comparison of these measurements, I have often worked from

averages and disregarded numbers that are quite far from the norm (see Appendix IV for

comparison information).

An effort was made to always get photographs from the same angles on every harp for

purposes of comparison, but sometimes this was not possible due to harps being

displayed in museum cases or my lack of having complete access to them. It would be

ideal in a future research project to collect more detailed and accurate measurements for

these harps, and include measurements of some of the finer details that I did not have the

11
equipment to measure, such as soundboard width and string diameters. I hope that my

work presented here has paved the way for some of these future research directions.

1.4 Early Revival Period 1892 – 1932

Although there were some changes in the size and shape of the harp in Scotland between

the twelfth to sixteenth centuries, the harps that were played during that time in the

Highlands were known for being wire-strung instruments played with a fingernail

technique. There is also evidence of a gut-strung harp played in the Lowlands of

Scotland but there are no surviving instruments and the pictorial evidence suggests these

harps were similar to the gothic harps played in Europe during that time. The wire-strung

harp became continuously less prominent as the clan structure in Scotland began to

collapse through the 1600s. By the 18th century the wire-strung harp was used by only a

few players and hardly ever as a professional instrument as it once was (Sanger &

Kinnaird 1992: 168). This lack of harp activity, besides classical tuition in the urban

areas, continued until 1892.

Lord Archibald Campbell was the main instigator of the early harp revival. He was a

member of An Comunn Gaidhealach and arranged for the first Mod to be held in 1892.

The Mod was a competition which featured various aspects of Gaelic culture, primarily

consisting of singing and poetry recitation (Thompson 1979: 7). Lord Archibald was

known to be an advocate of the clarsach, having been quoted as “anxious to revive the

12
playing of the Highland harp, or clarsach” (Celtic Monthly 1892: 13)4. He commissioned

Robert Glen, a bagpipe maker in Edinburgh, to make three replicas of the Queen Mary

Harp5 and Buchanan, a Glasgow piano maker, to make six harps (fig. 2). Buchanan’s

harps were also replicas of the Queen Mary, but not so faithful to the original as Glen’s.

Buchanan used scaled down pedal harp design including a rounded soundbox, gut strings,

and brass blades. Glen’s harps were true to the Queen Mary, as can be seen in figure 2.

They did not include the intricate carvings of the 15th century harp but have the same

construction technique of hollowing out the soundbox from a single piece of wood. Glen

also used wire strings and front soundbox holes.

These harps allowed the ladies who were competing in the vocal categories at the Mod to

also compete in the Gaelic song with clarsach accompaniment category6. This was the

beginning of a new era of Scottish harp playing. Since there had been no one to pass

down the traditions and music of the clarsach, there were only classically trained harp

teachers that could make settings of Scottish music for the harp. They did not know how

to play the wire-strung clarsachs, so Buchanan’s instruments were more accessible, both

because of the gut strings and because of the blades which facilitated key changes. The

ladies’ style of singing Gaelic songs was also classically influenced as most of them had

4
For further information regarding Lord Archibald Campbell and the early Scottish harp
revival, please see my earlier essay submitted as part of my MSc course, “The Scottish
Harp Revival: The Early Years”, 17 February 2009.
5
The Queen Mary harp is one of only three surviving 15th century harps, wire-strung,
ornately carved, sound box constructed from a single piece of wood, now housed in the
National Museum of Scotland.
6
Results from these early Mod competitions were published in the Celtic Monthly. For
further information again see my work “The Scottish Harp Revival: The Early Years”,
2009.

13
formally trained voices. The Mod experienced various numbers of participants in the

‘Gaelic Song with clarsach accompaniment’ category, some years not having any entrants

at all. Lord Archibald’s instigation of the building of these replica instruments is, for the

purpose of this work, considered the start of the revival of the Scottish harp. During this

time, there were no commercially produced harps and the instrument was mainly used as

accompaniment for Gaelic songs in connection with the Mod competitions. This

continued until 1932, where my research commences.

14
 CHAPTER 2:

POST REVIVAL HARPS 1933 - 1964

The Clarsach Society7 was formed in 1932 following that year’s annual Mod

competition. This Society continues through the present day and has been essential to the

development and promotion of the Scottish harp. The founders and early members were

in a difficult position as there were no harps commercially available in Scotland. They

asked a Glasgow based violin-maker, Henry Briggs, to produce harps for them.

2.1 Briggs and Schreiber Instrument Making Background

Henry Briggs came from a family of instrument makers. His father, James William

Briggs (J. W. Briggs) was a well-known violin-maker. James William was born in 1855

in Wakefield, Yorkshire where he was a pupil of the renowned Manchester based violin-

maker William Tarr (Baptie, 1972: 19). Briggs started his own business in 18768. His

son Henry Briggs was born in 1879. James William received a gold medal at the Leeds

Exhibition in 1890, which improved business substantially. In 1893 Briggs moved the

family and business to Glasgow (Rattray, 2006: 108). He made violins, violas, and

cellos, but was best known for the violins on the Guarnerius model (Plowright, 1994: 16).

7
The Clarsach Society listed their objects in their first constitution: to promote and
encourage the playing of the clarsach, to preserve its place in the National life of
Scotland, to uphold its title to be the true and most ancient instrumental accompaniment
of Gaelic song, and to collect, produce and distribute music and songs for the clarsach
and arrange competitions and demonstrations. (NLS Acc. 10247, #1)
8
“The Science of Musical Instrument Making” Town and Country News, 3 May, 1935

15
Less information is available about Henry Briggs’ upbringing. He was sent to learn

violin making in Markneukirchen, Germany. Markneukirchen is a well-known music

town, having a violin-making history that dates back at least 200 years. In 1677, twelve

violin-makers in Markneukirchen founded the first guild of violin makers in Germany9.

However, according to Schreiber (James William’s future assistant) family tradition,

Henry was sent back prematurely as he was not qualified enough. He was known to

carve the scrolls of the violins, as he was not proficient enough to do anything else10.

However, he made his first violin in 1891 at the age of 1311, so was presumably a skilled

maker having spent his entire life in the workshop.

In 1897, James William employed Philip Schreiber to work for him as a finisher12.

Schreiber was born in 1878 in Markneukirchen and was surrounded by the flourishing

instrument-making community throughout his upbringing. He attended a vocational

training school in Markneukirchen, then an apprenticeship with master Holm Viertel and

learned the family craft of violin and lute making13. James William met Schreiber during

a trip to Markneukirchen to collect wood for instrument making.

After five years in Glasgow, Schreiber left to set up his own business in Antwerp,

Belgium in 1902. For the next two years he had a regular correspondence with Briggs.

Many of the letters still survive, and show the “apparently frantic activities of the

9
http://www.markneukirchen.de/engl/haupt.php
10
Schreiber family notes.
11
Daily Graphic, April 7, 1948.
12
Interview with Schreiber family, 21 July 2009.
13
Interview with Schreiber family, 21 July 2009.

16
Glasgow violin trade” (Rattray, 2006: 116). Briggs was unwell during this period and

sent many of his violins to Schreiber with urgent pleas to restore or repair them in good

haste and in fine craftsmanship14. In 1904, Schreiber returned to Scotland to work with

Briggs, possibly expecting to become a partner in the Briggs firm. Schreiber married

Florence Adams in 1911, and she “remained bitter that this [the partnership] never

happened and that Philip was only ever regarded as the assistant” (Rattray, 2006: 116).

From 1914 to 1919, Schreiber was interned as a German alien in Knockaloe, Isle of Man,

where he was held throughout the duration of World War I, although he had already

resided in Scotland for seventeen years (other than the two in Antwerp). During this time

of imprisonment he made a miniature set of highly detailed instruments: a cello, two

violins and a viola. There was also an additional violin that was not part of the quartet

(fig. 3). The cello is featured in Rattray’s Violin Making in Scotland 1750 – 1950 book,

showing its high quality, especially since it was made while Schreiber was held as a

foreign prisoner.

2.2 Briggs’ Introduction to the Harp

In 1932, Mrs. Duncan Macleod from the newly formed Clarsach Society “enthused Mr.

Briggs into the making of harps in Glasgow” (NLS Acc. 10247: #1)15. On 5 July 1932,

Mrs. Macleod noted in the minute book: “Briggs (Cambridge Street, Glasgow) brought a

specimen of the first harp he had made. It was met with unanimous approval. It is hoped

14
Letters from the Schreiber Collection.
15
The Clarsach Society Minute books are held at the National Library of Scotland,
reference number 10247. Years 1931 – 37 are held in book #1 of the collection (see
bibliography for further information).

17
that this is the beginning of a harp industry in Scotland” (ibid). In the September 1935

Glasgow Weekly Herald, Briggs recounts Mrs. Macleod’s efforts, stating “One of the

ladies prominent in the Gaelic movement came to me several times and asked me to

attempt a harp. Naturally I wasn’t keen, as I have always been a violin maker, and my

assistant – there are only two of us here – refused outright at first to have anything to do

with harp-making!”16

The Clarsach Society notes from the 1930s only mention Henry Briggs. The Post Office

Glasgow Directory lists JW Briggs until his final solitary entry in 1929/30, wherein the

entry changes to “Briggs, Henry B., violin maker, 8 Cambridge St, C. 2 res. Barraston

House, Torrance; tel. add., 60 Balmore, Glasgow” as well as “Briggs, James W., violin

maker and expert, 8 Cambridge Street, C. 2 H. B. Briggs proprietor”17. James William

Briggs died in 1935, but it seems apparent that he was not heavily involved in the

business after Henry became proprietor in 1929.

An article reprinted from Town and Country News on May 3rd, 1935, states that “During

the last three years… there has been a growing demand for Celtic harps, of which they

[Briggs] have made a number. This is a small type of harp, wholly hand-made.” By

September 1935 they had made 87 harps18. Henry Briggs seemed fairly forward thinking

in regard to the future of the harp:

16
Glasgow Weekly Herald, September 7, 1935
17
The Post Office Glasgow Directory is housed in the Mitchell Library. Years 1910 to
1933 were checked. See bibliography for further information.
18
Glasgow Weekly Herald, September 7th, 1935

18
 I find that the Celtic peoples react most quickly to the harp music – but
there really is no race or sect in the world to which it does not appeal.
There is a quality in the notes which comes out of the very earliest musical
ideas. I meet many Gaels who are jealous of their racial tradition of
harping and would like to see it remain their exclusive property. But the
appeal goes far beyond the regions of the Celtic peoples, and even in this
modern world of jazz there is a definite and growing interest in the idea of
individual music such as that of the harp.19

Although Briggs has a rather progressive view for the time about the possibilities of the

small harp, he also states that the current use of the clarsach is “for use in the home, as an

instrument to accompany the old ballads”.20 Several photographs have been printed in

newspapers and magazines of Briggs and Schreiber in their workshop (fig. 4).

In 1948 he is quoted in the Daily Graphic as saying he wanted to “close the business and

have no successor” which was surprising since he had just completed a trip to America

and gathered orders totaling over £1000.21 But he had no family member who was likely

to carry on the business.22 He is also quoted in a different article in the Daily Graphic as

saying, “Ours is not a commercial concert, we make instruments when, where and for

whom we please.”23 After his retirement, he was sent offers from America and Europe

enticing him with advisory positions or touring Europe buying old violins, but he planned

to decline the offers and retire to Cowal. By 1958 he was said to have made 150 harps.24

19
ibid
20
ibid
21
Daily Graphic, April 7, 1948
22
Weekly Scotsman, 1948
23
Daily Graphic, August 27, 1948
24
Clarsach Society Executive Council Meeting notes 1958 (NLS Acc. 10247 #4)

19
2.3 Briggs Harps

2.3.1 Purpose-built Harp

Briggs made several types of harps. Among the first he made were based on the Queen

Mary harp, examples being the harps on view at St Cecilia’s Hall in Edinburgh and the

West Highland Museum in Fort William (pages 84 and 85 in Appendix I). These harps

are similar to the Dalriada model that is advertised in his catalogue, but there are some

slight differences. For the purposes of this work, the form of the West Highland Museum

harp and the St Cecilia’s Hall harp will be referred to as Briggs’ purpose-built clarsach,

as each of these harps were made for a special purpose. The harp at St Cecilia’s was

made for the winner of the Daily Record Gaelic Melody competition, and the West

Highland Museum harp was made especially for Comunn Na Clairsach, or the Clarsach

Society.

These purpose-built harps had 30 strings, from G one and a half octaves below middle C

to A two and a half octaves above middle C. All were made of gut strings except the

lowest five, which were wound with metal. The arm was made of either a solid piece of

wood (Comunn na Clairsach example) or two pieces glued together (Daily Record

example). The arm had a squared bottom and rounded (but not V shaped as other Briggs

examples) top. The underside of the arm gently turns from a sharp edge at the head to a

rounded corner along the non-string edge, and especially at the top shoulder end, to

facilitate the right hand playing the treble notes. The head is the same height or lower

than the shoulder. This purpose-built design had the most low-headed design of all of

Briggs’ harps. There is a gentle, almost imperceptible "Highland hump" which is the

20
point at the top of the harmonic curve, which gives extra length and tone to the treble

strings25. This is a more distinctive feature on some of the other Briggs harps. The

harmonic curve has a slight taper towards the shoulder, a strong central dip, and ends on a

graceful upwards arch, except the very lowest string, which sits about an inch below the

end of the harmonic curve for space conservation26. The end of the arm protrudes over

the pillar by about an inch and a half in the style of the Buchanan harps. Brass blades are

used on both harps.

The pillar has an extremely bowed, pregnant curve, the most exaggerated of all Briggs’

models. There is a serpent carving along the front part of the pillar incorporated into the

T brace on both harps, similar to the Queen Mary harp. The Comunn na Clairsach harp

has intricate fish carvings copied from the Queen Mary, while the Daily Record harp was

either unfinished or left deliberately without carving. Both harps have some interlacing

Celtic patterns carved in the front of the pillar above the serpent. Briggs used a mortis

and tenon joint to attach the arm and pillar together (fig. 5). The end of the pillar is

called the tenon, and is narrower than the rest of the pillar. This is inserted into the hole,

called the mortise, in the arm piece. This can be clearly seen in the Comunn na Clairsach

25
CD liner notes, The Harp Key, by Alison Kinnaird; see also Stevenson, 1981: He
[Briggs] “incorporated the ‘Highland hump’ or ‘harmonic curve’ in the cross piece. This
rising curve afforded an increased length of string in the treble register and a consequent
improvement in resonance.” (“Harps of their own sort” brochure, National Library of
Scotland Lecture Series)
26
It could also be the case that Briggs was copying this feature from the Queen Mary
harp, which had an additional string added to increase the number of bass strings. As this
string was added at a later period and not planned into the original design, the hole for the
tuning peg was added below the peg-band (fig. 6) (Armstrong 1904: 171)

21
harp where the pressure of the strings is pulling the arm towards the left and opening a

visible crack in the arm/pillar joint on the outside (non-string) side of the harp.

The shoulder joint, as in all Briggs harps, varies between solid and thick laminate. The

Comunn na Clairsach harp, with its solid arm block, has only one additional piece of

wood glued on either side of the arm to make up the shoulder joint. The Daily Record

harp, with two pieces of wood making up the arm, has an additional three pieces glued to

the inside and one on the outside to make up the shoulder joint. This joint is held

together by screws going from the top block inside the soundbox to the bottom of the

(solid or laminated) shoulder piece.

The soundboard is made of horizontal Swiss pine27. The soundbox is made up of seven

staves. Three-square shaped soundholes line the back panel. They follow the gradual

increase in size of the staves, the top hole being rather narrow and the bottom hole being

wider. There are wooden nails supporting the top of each stave in place with the top

block inside the box.

The base of both of these purpose-built harps is of the Queen Mary style, with the pillar

joining the soundbox at a protruding block from the base (fig. 7). This block protrudes

from the base of the soundbox at a right angle, making it impossible for the harp to sit

unsupported on the floor. Both of these harps have custom made stools or legs to

27
Most harp-makers use spruce, but Briggs is quoted as using old Swiss pine in the
article “The Man who Invented Clarsach” in the Glasgow Weekly Herald, September 7,
1935

22
accommodate this. The Comunn na Clairsach harp has an extra ‘rim’ of wood around the

base of the soundbox, and four shaped wooden legs attached to the base of the harp. The

Daily Record harp has a custom-built box that it can sit in for display or playing

purposes.

Both harps are made of walnut, although the Comunn na Clairsach has a darker stain.

The lighter true colour of the wood shows through at some points, for example in the

crack between the pillar and the arm.

2.3.2 Dalriada

Briggs’ Dalriada was the most expensive harp he offered, listed at £35 in his 1938

brochure (more than twice several of his other harps). The Dalriada model is similar to

the purpose-built harps, but slightly different in shape. It is generally characterised by

having a shallower, less pregnant curved pillar than the purpose built harps, a slightly

higher head in relation to the shoulder, and ornate carvings. The shape and some of the

carvings are unmistakably reminiscent of the Queen Mary harp, which was plainly used

as a model, although these were not replica harps. (Appendix I, pages 86-89.)

The stringing design on the Dalriada harps was slightly different than the purpose-built

harps. There were 31 strings, one more than the purpose-built harps. The lowest string

was an E (two strings lower than the purpose-built harps) and the highest a G (one string

lower than the purpose-built harps). The move towards the lower strings was probably

23
brought about because of the players’ classical technique and the desire to have more of

the bass strings to provide greater accompaniment options.

As the base of these harps has the same Queen Mary styled protruding block which

prohibits it from standing on its own, each Dalriada has a custom built stool for display or

playing. These stools, however, are quite a different style than the two seen with the

purpose-built harps. The stools have a rectangular hole in the top through which the base

of the harp rests, and the top surface is at an angle, with the lower end towards the player,

so when the harp was leaned back towards the player, the slanted base of the harp would

be flush with the slanted top of the stool. The protruding block of each Dalriada is

ornately carved with a Celtic design. The projecting block is attached to the soundbox by

mortise and tenon, as is the pillar base into the projecting block. Tension of the strings

holds all these joints together.

The soundboards are all horizontally-grained Swiss pine. The soundboxes are either built

of layered ply and then rounded, or constructed of seven staves as in the purpose-built

harps. This is one of the most discernable deviants from the ancient wire harps as they

were hollowed out from one log. The staved or rounded back construction was taken

from much more recent classical harp designs. On the rounded back version, there are

four soundholes expanding from long and thin at the top to shorter and wider towards the

base. The Briggs catalogue advertises the wood of the Dalriadas to be of birds-eye and

wavy maple. This is definitely the case with some of the Dalriadas, but most likely not

all of them, especially the rounded back ply model.

24
The arm of the Dalriada is a similar shape to the purpose-built harps, with a gentle

‘Highland hump’ and a graceful inner curve swooping up to finish at the head with an

upward gesture. The arm does not protrude so far over the pillar as in the purpose-built

harps, only about half an inch, or in some cases not at all. Some of the Dalriadas have a

rounded, curved head (Appendix I, page 88), but most seem to come to a V shaped point

as in the Ossian model harps. As in the purpose-built harps, the strings and bridge pins

follow the shape of the curve other than the last/lowest string, which for space purposes,

was placed lower than the second to last string28. Brass blades are in use again, screwed

directly into the arm.

The pillar to arm joint is again mortise and tenon and there is no evidence of through

supports. The pillar is characterised by highly ornate carving. There is use of carving in

relief, incised lines and engraved work. One Dalriada in particular features very similar

carvings to the Queen Mary, here described by Robert Bruce Armstrong in 1904:

Upon the right side there is a foliaceous and trefoil29 pattern; then within a
circle, surmounted by pellets, a two-legged reptile with an upturned head
is represented with a fish in its jaws, and above a horse-like animal with
its right foreleg and hoof raised to its mouth… there is a foliaceous pattern
ending in interlaced stems and leaves, above which, within a circle
surrounded by pellets, there is a fine representation of a lion standing upon
three legs with the left foreleg raised in front. (Armstrong, 1904: 175)

28
This was only the case in the rounded back Dalriada model. The staved-back model
did not have a lower placed final peg.
29
A trefoil pattern is an ornamental design of three rounded lobes like a clover leaf.

25
The serpent/reptile head carvings on the T of the pillar is also similar, as are many plant-

based designs. Some of the other Dalriadas have a fairly different carving scheme,

putting original serpent carvings on the pillar and arm rather than copying the Queen

Mary roundels or Gothic arches and circles30.

2.3.3 Ossian No. 1

Briggs made two different versions of harps both called Ossian that were different in both

price and shape. The more affordable Ossian No. 1 (Appendix I, pages 90-94) was

characterised primarily by a similar upward sweeping head to the Dalriada but with a

more slender ‘S’ shaped pillar similar to the Ossian No. 2 and a flat bottom with feet, so

it could easily stand on its own. It was available in either beech (for £12.10) or walnut

(£15.15)31.

The arm segment is very similar to the Dalriada and probably made from the same

template (fig. 8), both have a width of 22 inches. The Ossian has a clear V shaped

molding along the top of the arm running towards the Highland hump. At this point, the

V shape is rounded out into the smooth curvature of the shoulder joint. This provides a

nice definition to the top of the harp and variation between the smooth shoulder joint and

more angular head (fig. 9). The harmonic curve mirrors that of the Dalriada, and there is

the same pattern as the Dalriada with the lower note appearing about an inch lower than

30
For a detailed description of the Queen Mary harp’s carving and engraved work, see
Robert Bruce Armstrong, 1904.
31
Briggs catalogue: Dalriada and Ossian Clarsachs or Celtic Harps

26
the harmonic curve. The shoulder joint is usually made with two additional pieces of

wood on either side of the arm segment, and this sits directly on top of the soundbox.

The Ossian No. 1 pillar is the first major deviation from the Dalriada. Whereas the

Dalriada pillar was about the same size and shape at the top and bottom and curved in a

bowed C shape, the Ossian No. 1 pillar features a reflex curve, or S shaped curve (fig.

10). The top of the pillar arches forward to meet the end of the arm, bends out again at

the centre, and then in towards the soundbox at the base. The joint from the arm to the

pillar is still a mortise and tenon joint, but the joint from the bottom of the pillar to the

soundbox is no longer a mortise and tenon as it was on the Dalriada. It is secured by a

large metal bolt, which goes from the front of the pillar, through the soundbox and is

secured in a hole in the bottom of the soundbox base (fig. 11) with a washer and four-

sided nut. The pillar on some examples of the Ossian No. 1 featured an extra faceted

detail along the front, the best example is the harp pictured in Briggs’ brochure (fig. 12).

This does, however, seem less common than just leaving the pillar gently rounded.

The soundbox, again like the Dalriada, was either made of seven staves or made of

rounded layered ply. The ply was usually 3 layers thick. The staves were made of solid

wood. There were four soundholes, like the Dalriada, expanding from long and narrow at

the top to wider and shorter at the base. The soundholes were supported by a strong inner

frame, which encircled the four holes. Inner stiffeners run up both sides of the back of

the soundboard.

27
The base of the Ossian harps is made up of an approximate inch and a half block of

wood, which is placed inside the soundboard and staves/rounded back. (This is not

visible when the harp is in normal floor standing position.) There is an oblong hole that

goes all the way through this base board and provides a stable support for the pillar

attachment bolt. The feet are screwed onto this bottom block with two screws apiece.

The feet are generally rectangular or oblong in shape and are normally shaped so the part

with the screws is raised off the floor, making four clear contact points with the floor (fig.

13).

2.3.4 Ossian No. 2

The biggest difference between the two Ossian models is the distinctive shapes of the

arm. The arm of the Ossian No. 2 model has a more distinctive Highland hump, a deeper

drop just after the hump, a much higher head, and a rounded top with the ending direction

pointing forward and down, versus the upward sweep of the Ossian No. 1 and Dalriada

head (fig. 14). Briggs seems to be the first maker to utilise this shape of arm. He could

have been slightly influenced by John Egan, harp maker in Dublin in the 1820s32 who had

two main shapes of harps, one of them having a rounded head but without the same

definition or point as Briggs (fig. 15). All the Ossians still have a V shaped top of the

arm from the head to the Highland hump, where it becomes rounded. The Ossian No. 2

32
John Egan developed a small harp with both ring stops as a predecessor to blades, and
ditals on the pillar to act as pedals on a pedal harp. These harps only experienced a
passing phase of popularity. For more information see my previous essay submitted as
part of my MSc course: “Egan’s Portable Dital Harps”, 13 April 2009.

28
has been the harp the most used as a model for future harp makers (Appendix 1, pages

95-98).

The Briggs catalogue lists the Ossian No. 2 harps as:

Beech or plane tree: £16-16

Walnut £18-18
Figure Sycamore £21-0
Satinwood £21-0

The harmonic curve placement of the tuning pegs/strings follows the graceful S curve of

the arm, starting with a downward sweep, arching up again, and then finishing in a

downward direction. The segment of the arm itself is shaped to meet the pillar, rather

than the pillar doing all of the shaping, as in the Ossian No. 1. The pillar retains the same

S shape as the Ossian No. 1, although there are no examples of the extra facet option of

the Ossian No. 1 (see fig. 10). The joint connections are all the same as the Ossian No. 1:

mortise and tenon for arm to pillar, bolt for pillar to soundbox.

All of the Ossian No. 2 models seem to have a rounded back to the soundbox, usually a

two- or three-layer ply is used. The shoulder joint varies between one extra piece of

wood besides the main arm piece and three extra pieces of wood. This was probably

dependant on what pieces of wood were available in the workshop at the time. If there

was nothing big enough, pieces would have been glued together. The soundboard is

again horizontally-laid Swiss pine. The overlapping strip holding the rounded back to the

soundboard is held on with wooden nails. There are no cross supports originally in the

soundboxes. The edges of the soundholes are robustly braced with two thick wooden

29
supports running vertically up the edges of the soundholes. Some smaller pieces of wood

go from one support to the other in between the soundholes (fig. 16). This has been a

major asset in helping the Briggs harps remain so stable throughout the years.

2.3.5 Custom-made Harps

The Briggs firm also made a few special, custom-made harps, featuring particularly

abundant carvings. Three examples will be mentioned here. The first is pictured in the

Briggs brochure as being made for Mrs. Ian Campbell of Aird, the president of the

Clarsach Society. The harp is essentially an Ossian No. 2 model but with a mythical

feathered or scaled bird with wings and a long bill positioned on the top of the arm/head

(Appendix I, page 101). The pillar and back-side of the arm are ornately carved which is

unusual for the Ossian harps, and more in line with the Dalriada harps.

Also of note is a knee harp that went to America with a Mr. John Thomson of Chicago, a

native of Shetland, now living in the USA (Russell-Fergussion 1964 vol. C: 54). This 23-

string instrument, of a scaled down Dalriada design, also featured externally positioned

carved birds. There are two of them along the pillar, one at the top looking down and one

at the bottom looking up. They appear to be holding some sort of snake or twined rope

between their two bills, running along the length of the bow shaped pillar. One other

knee harp, with 21 strings, is documented in a photograph owned in a private collection.

This harp, also on the Dalriada model, features another bird carved in relief, this time

down the side of the pillar, its beak intertwined with the knotted lacework design

30
(Appendix I, page 103). No other Briggs knee harps are known. The current location of

these two harps is unknown.

2.4 Thompson Harps

There was another, less well-known, harp-maker in Glasgow in the 1930s besides Briggs.

William Thompson worked from Beethoven House, 7 to 9 Govan Road at Paisley Road

Toll. Heloise Russell-Ferguson quotes him as saying:

We made about 50 harps during the period between 1930 and 1937. They
were all similar in design and the construction was based on the Queen
Mary Harp… The last of our harps went to America about a year ago.
We endeavoured to make a harp at a reasonable price which could be used
by students. We would like to have continued making them, but the War
came along, and put a stop to that. (Russell-Fergusson 1964, vol. C: 53)

The harp Russell-Fergusson includes in her collection (fig. 17) is dated c. 1933. The

Clarsach Society minute books also include a brief mention of Thomson in the Music

Committee Meeting on 20 July 1933: “Mr. W. Thompson, piano maker, was also making

them, as well as Briggs, who had made the Lady Elspeth clarsachs. Prices of the former

make, from £10, and of the latter from £10-10” (NLS 10247, 1931-37: #1). The

Thompsons had a strong business sense, which included, depending on the times:

importing American organs, wirelesses, radiograms, radios, and televisions (Glasgow

Scrapbook33 #23: 180-81). They seemed to have a strong initiative to try to capitalise on

the current popular modes of entertainment. Briggs’ blossoming harp-making business

33
The Glasgow Scrapbooks are held in the Mitchell Library.

31
was probably seen to be the next possible big instrument market in Glasgow (to develop

from the piano and organ market). Unfortunately the war took a serious toll on the firm

as the Clydebank branch of the business was badly damaged in the bombing (ibid).

Thomson possibly employed several people to make the harps, as a reporter from the

Glasgow Evening Citizen on 6 June 1933 stated that she “visited the premises of Messrs

Wm. Thomson and Son, in Glasgow, and saw the clarsach craftsmen at work” (Glasgow

Scrapbook #17: 11). The harps were primarily of beech with soundboards of Swiss pine

(refer to fig. 17). There is only one harp that is photographed, which has 30 strings. Its

soundbox is square and the shoulder sits flush with the top of the soundbox. The bow

shaped pillar is faceted on both inner and outer curves and is quite narrow. The arm is

also narrow (in comparison with Briggs harps), has no Highland hump, and finishes on an

upward sweep with a slightly rounded head.

2.5 Paris Harps

Philip Schreiber, who had been first James William Briggs’ assistant from 1897, and then

Henry Briggs’ assistant, retired from the Briggs firm in 194834. At some point after

Schreiber’s retirement, Briggs took up a new assistant, Angus Paris. Paris seemed less

committed to the workshop35 as he also had other jobs. He worked as a woodworking

teacher at Allan Glens School, founded in 1853 with the aims to “give a practical

education and preparation for trades or businesses to between forty and fifty boys, the

34
Personal communication with Schreiber descendants.
35
Clarsach Society notes Paris had “rebuffed attempts to cooperate with the
Society” (NLS Acc 10247 Minute book #4)

32
sons of tradesmen or persons in the industrial classes of society.”36 His pupils knew him

to be a competent violinist and a luthier of some distinction and also noted that Briggs

was his father-in-law.37

Briggs had semi-retired by 1955 although the Clarsach Society continued to appeal to

him to repair and presumably make harps through the late 1950s. The Clarsach Society

anticipated a dearth of harp makers without Briggs in production:

Miss Jean Campbell brought to the Council’s notice, the problem of the
future making of clarsachs in Scotland and suggested that great effort
should be made to induce Mr. Briggs by financial benefit, to collect his
valuable data together with equipment and specifications for a future
craftsman to make use of. Mr. Briggs, most unfortunately having trained
no one during his long life of making instruments. (NLS Acc 10247
Minute book #4)

Briggs died in 196338 and Paris was reluctant to make another harp after Briggs’ death.

However, on March 26th, 1964 a Clarsach Society member brought in a “Briggs-model

harp (made by Angus Paris, successor to Briggs, at urgent request of the Society)” which

was deemed to be satisfactory. Paris must have agreed to continue making some harps as

it was stated in the Clarsach Society’s Annual Report 1963-64:

“We have acquired the welcome addition of a Briggs-type harp made by

Mr. Angus Paris who was Mr. Briggs’s right hand craftsman during his
later years. We hope to see more clarsachs from this source though the
maker is a busy man now in other capacities.” (ibid)

36
http://www.allanglens.com/SchoolHistory.htm
37
Personal communication with Fred Frayling-Kelly, a past student at Allan Glens
School, who had Paris as a woodwork tutor.
38
Clarsach Society minutes from Executive Council Meeting on April 8, 1963.

33
Unfortunately Paris passed away in early 1965, as recorded by the Music Committee

meeting of the Clarsach Society in February of that year. His death was reported as a

“serious setback” and a “great blow… as now we have no one in Scotland prepared to

make harps for us” (ibid).

A harp nearly identical to Briggs’ Ossian No. 2 bears the label: “Handmade by ANGUS

J. PARIS/ 5, ALDER AVENUE, LENZIE/ SCOTLAND NO. 15 1964” so presumably

this is the one, or one of the ones he made after Briggs’ death (Appendix I, page 100).

There are only small differences from the Briggs Ossian No. 2 model. The V shaped top

is not carried all the way through to the Highland hump, the point is smoothed out in the

dip of the harmonic curve (fig. 18). The base includes a metal plate for additional support

between the pillar and the soundbox. The supports running on the inside of the soundbox

adjacent to the soundholes were not carved away from the holes as were Briggs’ early

Ossians. Instead they were squared wooden supports. There is also several instances of

harps that have Briggs’ signature inside, but that have been scored out and the name Paris

has been written beside it (fig. 19), suggesting there could have been some animosity

between the men.

From the death of Angus Paris in 1965, there was no one making harps in Scotland until

Sanderson & Taylor began in 1969. During this time, the Clarsach Society investigated

Japanese Aoyama harps and ordered harps from Morley’s in London. To add to the

problem, in 1968, Morley’s changed partnerships and their small harps doubled in price.

34
A Mr. McLeish tried to make some harps in Scotland, but these all “disintegrated” within

a few years. A Mr. Burns in Dundee with Mr. and Mrs. Easson “had skill and knowledge

of instrumental repairs… and had purchased the equipment of the late Mr. Paris… was

prepared to assist with harp repairs and possibly attempt the making of new ones” but this

was never realised39.

39
Clarsach Society minutes from AGM on September 27, 1966 (NLS Acc 10247 Minute
book #4).

35
 CHAPTER 3:

POST-REVIVAL HARPS: 1970 - 1990s

This chapter introduces the harp-makers that established themselves from the 1970s.

Chapter 4 also deals with some harp-makers that commenced only slightly later, the

difference being that Chapter 4 harp-makers are still in production by 2009. The harp-

makers in the next two chapters established their businesses at a time when harp playing

in Scotland was growing faster than ever before and the demand for harps was enough to

keep many harp-maker’s order books full.

The 1970s and 80s was a time when performers of the Scottish harp were developing

away from the Gaelic song accompaniment style which had prevailed for the last several

decades. The performers were experimenting playing with other instruments in band

settings in conjunction with the instrumental folk revival happening throughout Scotland:

Towards the end of the sixties the increasing popularity of instrumental

music was already evident, and groups such as the Corries, and the
Chieftains from Ireland, were using a wide variety of folk instruments:
stringed, wind and percussion... by 1970 native traditional music was
increasingly being heard at folk events throughout Scotland. (Munro,
1984: 80)

The harp performers involved in this transitional period provided the impetus for the

rapid development of several harp-makers.

3.1 Sanderson & Taylor and Brown & Bruce

After around six years of no harp-makers in Scotland, Sanderson & Taylor began harp

production in 1970. Jean Campbell, an influential teacher and member of the Clarsach

36
Society, had initially approached them as early as 1963, but they only developed their

first harp prototype by April of 197040. The first Sanderson & Taylor advert appeared in

the Clarsach Society’s Annual Report for 1969-70. The Scots Magazine in 1971

describes how:

Laurence Taylor arranged to visit Miss Campbell at her Edinburgh home,

where he saw her own clarsachs, two splendid “Briggs” and a “Morley”.
Detailed drawings were made, and a series of angled photographs were
taken.41

Laurie Taylor was a woodwind specialist and played the bassoon with the Halle

Orchestra, and Derek Sanderson a stringed specialist and played the violin with the BBC

Scottish Symphony Orchestra. They had met at a concert in Stirling and decided to start

a business together offering their own crafted instruments and repair services.42 Neither

had any prior connections or particular involvement with harps.

Mary O’Hara43 ordered a harp from Sanderson in 1975.44 As O’Hara already owned two

Briggs harps, the Sanderson & Taylor did not live up to her expectations and she had

several criticisms about various aspects of the Sanderson & Taylor harp including

inaccurate semitones, ‘clanging’, and slipping pegs. Taylor was quick to reply to

O’Hara’s complaints that his harps were played by both Derek Bell, “who in many

40
Clarsach Society minutes from AGM on September 27, 1966 (NLS Acc 10247 Minute
book #4).
41
Scots Magazine, May 1971
42
ibid
43
Mary O’Hara is a well-known Irish singer and harpist who toured extensively in the
British Isles and America from the late 1950s through the 1960s.
44
Mary O’Hara publicity information: “Mary O’Hara and her Briggs Harp”

37
peoples mind is the best small harp player there is”, and by “leading Dutch harpists”

including Edward Witsenburg45.

The company continued until Sanderson and Taylor decided to retire, although Taylor

continued selling woodwind instruments. The adverts (or listings) for Sanderson &

Taylor continued in the Clarsach Society’s Annual Reports until 1981-82, when there was

no listing for them, but then in the 1982-83 Annual Report, there is a listing for Brown &

Bruce, who were previously craftsmen employed by Sanderson and Taylor. Brown &

Bruce continued till the early 1990s (see Appendix II, page 104-108). Ian Brown was

the most interested in the harp manufacture, and made several trips to Holland to sell,

promote and regulate the Brown & Bruce harps (fig. 20). He was previously a cabinet-

maker46. The Brown & Bruce harps are very similar to the original Sanderson & Taylor

harps, although they are slightly more substantial and generally have a more pronounced

varnish.

Sanderson & Taylor soundboxes used a birch ply without any cross braces or centre

support pieces. This caused the soundbox to dimple as it aged and the tension on the

strings pulled the soundboard up which in turn caused the soundbox to gently implode.

The heaviest gauge of gut string was used, but as the short string lengths were short, it

produced a light tension harp. The shape was probably copied exactly from the Briggs

Ossian No. 2 model, although Briggs’ sturdy inner-frame support was not replicated.

45
Letter correspondence between O’Hara and Sanderson held in O’Hara private
collection.
46
Personal communication with Ank van Campen, 8 August 2009.

38
Sanderson & Taylor produced three harp models, the “Clarsach”, the “Chamber Harp”

and the “New Clarsach”. The “New Clarsach” was a product of the late 1970s and early

1980s with wider spacing, as performers were asking for “more room between the

strings”.47 The “Chamber Harp” is nearly the same as the “Clarsach” but has been

described as “more ‘classic’ lute-like”.48

Brown & Bruce produced five models with small variations between them. The

“Dunedin” harp had 31 strings, 28 of gut and 8 of wound wire. It had concert-gauge

string tension49. Sycamore was used for the arm, pillar and laminated back and spruce

for the soundboard. Two varnishes were used, Rosewood or Golden Oak, and they were

available in semi-matt or gloss finish. The “Lothian” model was exactly the same other

than the strings were of a “finer gauge”. Both harps were available in either wide or

narrow string spacing. Both the “Waverly” and the “Holyrood” harps had 34 strings, 23

of gut and 11 of wound wire, and were only available with wide spacing. They were

available in the same woods and finishes as the 32-stringed harps. The only difference

between the two 34-stringed instruments was the string tension, the “Holyrood” being

concert-gauge. The last harp produced by Brown & Bruce was a “Knee Harp” with 24

strings. It had all gut strings, concert-gauge tension, narrow string spacing and was

available in the same woods and finishes as the other harps50.

47
ibid
48
ibid
49
Concert-gauge string tension means that the tension of the strings was equal to that of
the classical pedal harp.
50
“Brown & Bruce: Makers of Clarsach and Celtic Harps”, promotional leaflet.

39
Most of the construction techniques Sanderson & Taylor and Brown & Bruce used were

similar to the Briggs Ossian No. 2 model. They used dowels to add extra support to the

mortise and tenon joint between the arm and pillar (fig. 21), which was not used by

Briggs but were otherwise nearly the same in size (See Appendix IV, page 130 for

comparison tables).

3.2 Firth

Ian Firth was never a full-time instrument maker, but he made many harps. He was a

professor of physics at St. Andrews University. He often took harp players in to show

them his lab at the University where he carried out research regarding harps. One of

these experiments involved scattering coloured sand on a horizontal soundboard,

attaching a vibrating device to the board, and documenting the different patterns in the

sand depending on the frequencies transmitted through the vibrating device. This showed

where the soundboard vibrated well or poorly for the different frequencies51.

Firth’s first harps were dated from the early 1970s,52 and the Clarsach Society’s Annual

Report 1969-70 reported that harps were made by Firth on a commercial basis and had

recently been on view at an exhibition of musical instruments made in Scotland at the

Scottish Craft Centre.53 The Clarsach Society’s Annual Report 1973-74 noted that Firth

51
Personal communication with Iain Hood, 25 July 2009.
52
1971, see Appendix II, page 109.
53
NLS Acc 10247 #5, Annual Reports

40
was awarded the Saltire Society’s John Noble Award for Crafts in the Music Instrument

Section. At the AGM meeting of November 1, 1977, it was reported that “Dr Ian Firth

was not taking any further orders for harps as he had given up harp-making”,54 although

he resumed making harps later. Firth’s daughter Rebecca also made some harps. Her

name first appears in the list of harp makers in the 1985-86 Annual Report and continues

throughout the 1990s (Appendix II, page 115 for Rebecca’s harps). Firth stopped making

harps for the second time around 1994 and passed away in 2001.55

Firth’s harps have two general designs, one modeled on Briggs’ Ossian No. 1 and one

modeled on the Ossian No. 2 (see Appendix II, pages 109-117, and Appendix IV, page

130 for comparison tables). A wide variety of woods were used including maple, birds-

eye maple, and sycamore. Horizontally-grained spruce was always used for the

soundboard. The harps were always left the natural wood colour rather than using dark

stains or varnishes (except the Knee Harp, see Appendix II, page 111). Blades were used

on the first harps, then Loveland levers, and then a new kind of lever that Firth developed

himself.56 The most recent harps also feature a metal plate in which the bridge pins and

levers were set (fig. 22). Firth harps were constructed more solidly than Sanderson &

Taylor harps, so they have lasted with more reliability.

The makers outlined in this chapter, Sanderson & Taylor, Brown & Bruce and Firth, were

among the first to pioneer the construction of the harp into the 21st century. Using ideas

54
NLS Acc 10247 #4, Minute books
55
Personal communication with Marion Firth, 20 August 2009.
56
I was unable to view firsthand any of Firth’s own style of levers.

41
and techniques mostly based on the preceding Briggs harps but sometimes all their own,

they provided much needed instruments to a growing harp community ready to involve

the Scottish harp in the blossoming folk revival. Although none of these makers are still

in production, their harps are still being played and appreciated by people around the

world.

42
 CHAPTER 4:

PRESENT DAY HARP-MAKERS: 1979 - 2009

The harp-makers covered in this chapter, Pilgrim, Norris, Yule and Starfish, are the true

innovators of today’s Scottish harps. They have taken ideas from the past but are not

happy to sit in isolation making harps based on old designs; they are always looking for

ways to improve and refine the instrument’s sound and usability. These makers are

constantly involved with the performers needs and are continually implementing new

ideas proposed or inspired by the performers.

4.1 Pilgrim Harps

John Hoare of Pilgrim Harps was involved in the folk music scene of the 1960s. He

could not afford to buy himself various different new instruments, so he bought broken or

old instruments and rebuilt or redesigned them for playing. His fascination with harps

started when he came across a Grecian Victorian pedal harp that he could hardly get

apart, much less repair. He made a few instruments from scratch, but realised he enjoyed

working with the harps the most. In about 1977 within 24 hours of this realisation, he

contacted a friend of a friend and soon had a job restoring harps with Wilfred Smith57.

Smith made some original small harps but primarily restored pedal harps. The small

harps he made were similar to the Morley clarsachs, (which were similar to the Egan

harps) and were lightly strung with blades (fig. 23).

57
Smith began repairing harps in 1939 in London and began making pedal harps in the
1960s (Rensch 1989: 217) and was first mentioned as making small harps in the Clarsach
Society notes at the AGM of November 23rd, 1970 (NLS Acc 10247 #4)

43
Derek Bell, the harp player from the prominent Irish band “The Chieftains”, approached

Smith and asked him to make a harp with concert tension, as Bell also played the pedal

harp with the Belfast Symphony. It took five years to produce this higher-tension harp.

The teachers preferred this instrument, as they were all classically trained at the time, so

it was easier for them to use as a teaching instrument. The main wood they used at the

time was sycamore because it was easy to procure.

Smith wanted to concentrate on pedal harps and focused on making them lightweight, to

the extent that they began to lose reliability and he lost motivation. In 1979 the business

folded and Smith retired. “Smith’s Godstone workshops, in Surrey, were taken over by a

co-operative firm involved in making harps and harp kits, and also doing harp repair.

Since Godstone is located on the medieval Pilgrims’ Way, this firm was called Pilgrim

Harps.” (Rensch 1989: 217) Six people formed this co-operative limited company in

1980 and they all owned equal shares. Because they were more interested in and were

more knowledgeable about folk instruments, they started working on the folk side of the

market.58 They began producing the first concert-gauge small harps. They had a few

other models at the time, a 28-string “Troubador” harp of oak and another oak Scottish

“Clarsach”. However, these models did not last.

They tried a 32-string model, the idea being to reduce the price with a smaller size. This

harp was made with a lighter tension, as requested by Barry Milner of the Highland

58
John Hoare interview, 20 July 2009.

44
branch of the Clarsach Society. They tried a wire-strung harp but did not find it

successful enough to continue. Kirsten Nogues in Brittany played this wire-strung harp

for a period.

All of Smith’s original levers made from 1972 were cam action59 style vertically planed

circular discs that were placed on the treble side of the string and pushed the string to the

side when the handle was pulled down (fig. 24). The other levers available at that time

also operated by pulling the handle down to engage, and it was the same action as on the

pedal harp (pushing the pedal downwards engaged the mechanisms and the string

sounded a semitone higher). Smith’s levers were entirely made of plastic, including the

mounting bracket. Pilgrim adapted this original lever and kept the plastic circular cam

action but changed the mounting bracket to metal (see fig. 24). They also took out

Smith’s small stops in the cam action, which held the handle in either the “up” or “down”

position. This allowed a smoother cam motion between the engaged and unengaged

position.

In 1985, Pilgrim changed the handle and circular cam to brass and also switched the

direction of the handle movement to be in alignment with the progressing levers around

the world (fig. 25). The lever still sat on the treble side of the string, but when engaged,

the handle is pushed up and the lever pushes against the string from the front rather than

the older method of pushing it from the back.

59
A “cam” is an eccentric or multiply curved wheel mounted on a rotating shaft, used to
produce variable or reciprocating motion in another engaged or contacted part.
(http://www.answers.com/topic/cam)

45
The most well-known Pilgrim harp model is the “Clarsach” (Appendix III, page 119).

This is the descendant of the heavy-tension small harp made for Derek Bell. It is

characterised by a low rounded head reminiscent of the Egan harps. The arm has less of

an upward thrust due to the more perpendicular angle of the strings leaving the

soundboard. It has a rounded soundbox, a flat base and a half-lapped, or half-housing,

head to pillar joint. This means the pillar and arm, both being made out of two pieces of

wood laminated together, overlap the joining section of the arm and pillar joint. On the

back side of the harp, the pillar stretches to the top of the harp, while on the front side of

the harp, the arm of the harp laps over the pillar to the front of the harp (fig. 26). This

reinforces the strength of this joint, as the tension of the strings pulling from the front of

the harp does not allow a crack to open on the back of the pillar at the arm to pillar joint

(as evidenced in many older harps).

In 1992, Pilgrim saw that many performers of the small harp preferred instruments with

lighter tension. They developed the “Ashdown” for this purpose. Its shape is

distinctively different than the “Clarsach”, featuring an upwards pointing squared head

reminiscent of the Briggs Ossian No. 1 model. The “Skylark” model was their “response

to the increased demand for a ‘student’ harp that retains our hallmark of genuine hand-

made craftsmanship.”60

60
www.pilgrimharps.co.uk

46
Performer Isobel Mieras, well-known for singing with the harp, is an advocate of her

Pilgrim harp. She says it has “a sound which is exactly what I want to go with the

voice.”61 Isobel continues to point out that “there are other harps with different sounds

for other purposes. And it’s absolutely marvelous now, the difference in the harp

world,”62 referring to how there are so many makers producing harps in modern times

that there are different sounds that have developed to suit different players’ styles and

needs.

4.2 Norris

Mark Norris served a four-year apprenticeship at the Arnold Dolmetsch Inc. company

from 1976 -1980. Dolmetsch was largely responsible for the Early Music Revival, and

also for the promotion of the recorder as an instrument for teaching music in schools63.

Norris was the last Dolmetsch apprentice before the company ended in 1980. He was

trained as a musical-instrument maker, and specialised in early keyboard instruments

such as clavichords and harpsichords. This experience provided Norris with a solid

grounding in craftsmanship, but he realised he did not desire to stay in the early music

reproduction scene, as he enjoyed the process of designing as well as replicating64.

In 1980, harp performer Savourna Stevenson, then 19 years old, was playing a Sanderson

& Taylor harp, which according to Norris was “nice sounding, but too delicately made”.

61
Isobel Mieras interview by Patsy Seddon 17 March 2008 (SA 2008.025)
62
ibid
63
Dolmetsch also made a few small harps, although he was not well-known for them.
64
Mark Norris interview 28 June 2009.

47
Savourna broke three Sanderson & Taylor harps through her strong playing style. Norris

found the balance between a delicate structure for resonance and a sturdy structure for

longevity an interesting quandary and decided to design a harp.

With this in mind, he looked at the existing small harps of the time (Pilgrim and

Sanderson & Taylor), and tried to take the positive elements but improve on the problems

that were causing Sanderson & Taylor’s lack of endurance. His previous harp experience

had been only with pedal harps. He gathered most of his design elements from studying

pedal harps. He was not concerned with trying to make a ‘clarsach’ or replicating the

ancient harps, he wanted to make an instrument of good sound quality.65

Norris has three goals to achieve with his harps: 1. To make them as musically

satisfying as possible through good semitones, professional quality sound and sufficient

dynamic volume. 2. To accommodate the practical demands on the player by making an

instrument that is manageable to carry and to transport via air travel. 3. To make an

aesthetically pleasing instrument with beautiful wood and inlays.

Norris uses a birch ply for his soundboxes, like Sanderson & Taylor, but reinforces it

with several laminated sheets and glue to help strengthen and hold the curved shape. The

top layer of the laminate is the veneer that matches the rest of the harp. He uses a

sycamore frame which is made up of a base and top plate, two D shaped cross braces

(ribs), corner strips for the soundboard to attach to, side rails and spinal pieces to

65
ibid

48
reinforce the thin sides of the soundholes (fig. 27). The tension from the strings on the

soundboard wants to pull the soundboard up into a curved shape, so by bracing the sides

of the soundbox it allows for a thinner soundboard, which benefits the sound. The

soundboards are tapered in all directions so that the thickest part is the mid range below

the centre strip (fig. 28). This was a technique developed by Erard66.

Norris uses a lap joint between the arm and pillar, although on some of his more

expensive models he uses a mortise and tenon joint.

To construct his harmonic curve, Norris first designed his strings and worked out what

diameter and tension he wanted for each tone. This mathematical analysis produced the

curve through the known variables of set pitch and tension. By making the strings have a

sharp, steep angle to the soundboard, his harmonic curve arches higher than, for example,

Pilgrim harps.

Norris’ first harps had blades. He then used some of the plastic cam levers offered by

Pilgrim (see fig. 24). In 1986 he was awarded £3500 from the Scottish Development

Agency to develop a new lever technology. He spent half a year designing a new

mechanism. He was influenced by the pedal harp and especially Erard’s fourchette

mechanism, which grips the string from both sides and produces a good tone and does not

wear the string or cause displacement.

66
Erard (1752 – 1831) patented improvements on the single action pedal harp and
invented the double action pedal harp (perfected and patented in the summer of 1810,
Patent no 3332).

49
Through that time, he developed the “ultimate Norris Semitone Levers” which he now

uses on all his harps (fig. 29). The handle is attached to a rod which, when engaged,

rotates an asymmetric circular disc on a horizontal plane with two fourchette-style rods.

These two rods simultaneously grip the string in a double vise creating a strong Z style

hold on the string without any displacement. All the lever parts are metal, creating no

sound difference between the engaged and unengaged sound. The lever handle,

horizontal circular disc and table pin are all mounted on the harp through a medal plate,

possibly also inspired by the pedal harp design.

Norris promotes four main models (Appendix IV, pags 112-123). The Norris

“Professional”, the “Basic Pro”, the “Lute-Back” and the “Rounded Back”. All have 34

strings and can be made with heavy- or light-tension strings. The “Basic-Pro” reduces the

decorative elements in order to make a more affordable option. All the harps have a

rounded soundbox except the “Lute-Back” model, which features 12 staves. Norris

prefers the simplicity and reliability of the rounded back models67. It is similar to the

pedal harp and has had years of refinement. Norris uses figured sycamore, American

black walnut or English walnut for the harps as well as spruce for the soundboard.

One noticeable development is the base of the harp. Norris used to screw the feet directly

onto the bottom of the harp, but as a result of several breakages, developed a new method

of putting a plinth in between the base of the soundbox and the feet.

67
Mark Norris interview 28 June 2009.

50
Because of the high demand on a one-person business, Norris does not have much time to

test radically different ideas for improvements. He is driven by demand for what he is

already known for making. He realises that there is so much more that could be done to

forward the instrument, but there is not enough time and people will also buy what they

know and trust verses an experiment. A new idea that he would like to try is that of

titanium tubing to reduce the weight.68

4.3 Yule

John Yule was born and brought up on a farm in East Lothian. He grew up surrounded

by Scottish folk songs and music and played the melodeon. He was trained as a boat-

builder and started his own joinery business in 197869. Barbara McDermitt, who later

became his wife, encouraged him to try making a harp. He described how the process

began:

I couldn’t find any useful books of instruction, so I decided the best thing
to do was to get information first-hand. I looked at as many harps as
possible, asked teachers and players for advice and found out what they
wanted from an instrument… I’m not one for copying someone else’s
ideas – I like to do things my own way. I’ve tried to keep the appearance
of my clarsachs similar to the ancient Irish harps but with a good resonant
sound combined with strength in the framework70

Yule made his first trial harp in 1982, and sold his first harp in November of 1983. He

was first listed as a harp-maker in the Clarsach Society’s Annual Report in 1981-82. The

harps that were available to him to view and measure were Brown & Bruce, Pilgrim and

68
ibid
69
Yule interview 21 August 2009.
70
“Just Stringing Along” Evening News 16/03/85

51
Norris, but he made his own designs. The boatbuilding experience helped with the

construction techniques, and he set out to design instruments with the balance of strength

for durability and flexibility for resonance. From 1983 to 1986, he only built harps part-

time as he still worked in his joinery business, but in 1986 he began to make harps full-

time. By 1995 he had made 100 harps.71 In 2000, Yule moved from Scotland to

Colorado which has put a temporary halt to most harp-making endeavors, although he did

make three harps in 2003 for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival to represent Scottish harp-

making. By 2000 he had made around 150 harps, and plans to resume making in the

future.72

Yule used cherry and oak, but preferred sycamore. The soundboards were always made

of Sitka spruce. Yule started with the plastic cam lever offered by Pilgrim, and then

moved to Loveland levers. He still uses Loveland levers except on his wire-strung harps,

where he uses the brass levers currently offered by Pilgrim (refer to fig. 24, 25 and 31).

Yule’s “Carnethy” harp is a professional quality harp with tension and string spacing

close to the pedal harp. The arm and pillar are uniquely made of a three-piece

lamentation. He mostly used sycamore for all three layers, but could substitute walnut or

cherry for the outside layers, but always retained sycamore for the middle layer. The

distinctive shape of the Yule Harp’s arm and pillar pieces are characterised by the strong

thickly squared forms. Every effort was made to make harps that would last. The

71
“Distinctive Harps”, Yule promotional brochure, 1997.
72
Yule interview 21 August 2009.

52
soundbox has a rounded back, but unlike the rounded backs of earlier harps that used ply,

Yule makes the back out of 11 staves made of quarter-sawn red cedar, rounds the corners,

and covers it with a veneer of the same hardwood used for the frame. The base is flat and

has feet or detachable legs which raises the instrument six inches higher.

The “Soutra” is designed as a less expensive alternative to the “Carnethy”. It has

identical tension, string spacing and volume, although the tone is slightly brighter. The

main differences between it and the “Carnethy” is the two-piece lamination for the arm

and pillar (rather than three) and the squared soundbox. The sides of the soundbox are

splayed inwards slightly for greater ease of playing. The “Soutra Chieftain”, introduced

in 1995, is a further development of the “Soutra”, mainly featuring more elaborate

carving.

Yule’s first harps had concert-gauge tension, as he did not like the sound of the lighter-

tension harps that were available in the early 1980s. One of his customers accidentally

bought folk-gauge tension strings to put on her Yule harp, and discovered that it was a

nice sound. Yule began to develop a line of harps focused on the lighter tension

stringing. The “Lapwing” and “Raven” fall into this category. These harps feature the

unique aspect of soundholes on the side of the soundbox, rather than the back (see

Appendix II, page 125). Yule states of this distinct component:

There is no reason to have the soundholes in the back, the sound hits the
players’ body and becomes muffled. If the holes are to the side, it frees
the sound. Have you ever seen a guitar or fiddle with the soundholes in
the back?73

73
Yule interview, 21 August 2009.

53
The string band on the lighter-strung models is also off-centre of the main soundboard,

which was designed so the right hand (the hand that plays the upper treble notes) had

easier access to the upper strings.74 Yule stresses the importance of being “innovative in

order to be original” by implementing these new ideas.

William Jackson, one of the first professional harp players in Scotland to use a Yule harp,

says:

“Many people have commented on the volume of the instrument not only
when being played on its own but also with various other instruments…
when I am playing with Ossian we use the clarsach together with the
Highland Bagpipes and much to the surprise of the audience the harp is
clearly audible. Another important aspect is strength. I have flown over
thirty times in a six week tour of the USA and the instrument is always
used to the rough handling it receives at airports, and needs a minimum of
tuning when I arrive at the venue.75

Jackson also now plays a lighter strung Larry Fisher harp made in America. He says of

the main change in playing styles, “Harp players were not originally playing dance

music, but more accompaniment. Harps are more light strung now, especially with

carbon fibre for the faster dance tunes.”76

74
ibid
75
Yule, John “Distinctive Harps”, February 1997
76
Personal correspondance with William Jackson, 8 August 2009.

54
4.4 Starfish

Founded in 1987 by Mike and Gay Anderson, Starfish Designs are now in their 22nd

year. Anderson started out as a cabinet-maker, and made his first harp for his youngest

daughter Judy because the available harps were all too expensive. This first harp was

deemed “an unqualified success.” Judy’s teacher was thrilled with it and lost no time in

encouraging Mike to make more. It was not long before he had acquired so many

commissions that he became a full-time harp maker (Wuthier 1993: 14). Anderson had

looked at Michael Colville harps, from Barra, and Pilgrim harps to construct his first few

models77. By 1993, there were seven Starfish models available. They had three different

31-string models. In 1992 the business was joined by boatbuilder Dave Shepton and

formed an official partnership in 200078. 2003 saw the addition of another boat builder,

Davey Tod. In 2004 they formed a limited company, Starfish Designs (Scotland) Ltd.

The first harps were made with concert-gauge stringing because that was all that was

available at the time. There was the option of stringing the harps an octave higher

(moving all the strings up one octave), but this made the harp too lightly (low tension)

strung79. Starfish began to request special strings from Bowbrand,80 which were made

specifically to Starfish’s specifications, about halfway between the concert-gauge tension

and the octave higher tension. A few years later when Salvi took over Bowbrand, they

77
Mike Anderson interview 23 June 2009.
78
www.starfishdesigns.co.uk
79
ibid
80
Bowbrand is the main harp string dealer in the UK.

55
introduced these strings as ‘folk-gauge’ strings and made them generally available.

Starfish now produces most of their harps with this folk-gauge tension.

With its medium tension it still provides the resistance to pull that is
required to learn correct technique. It is bright and clear sounding and
especially good for playing traditional music with its fast jigs etc. As the
strings are smaller in diameter they can be positioned slightly closer
(about one tenth closer than concert gauge). This means that the hand
stretch needed is less and also helps when playing faster pieces.81

Starfish used a birch ply on the shoulder joint for the first three to four years, but have

since developed an emphasis on solid wood construction. The main woods used by

Starfish are American cherry, American maple and American black walnut. They use

quarter-sawn spruce from Austria for the soundboard, which is stocked from a piano

soundboard maker. They make the neck out of laminated pieces for added strength. A

more recent development has been the continuation of the stave lines into the shoulder

instead of the older, rounder shoulder style.

Starfish used a circular plastic rotating cam style lever (see fig. 24) on their first harps,

which was riveted to a mounting bracket and secured to the harp by two screws. These

levers were provided first from Border Harps and later supplied by Pilgrim Harps. The

circular cam had a handle molded onto the plate and a graduated edge which contacted

the string when the cam was rotated from the “off” position to the “on” position.82 This

cam style lever had several downsides including excessive wear on the string, inordinate

amount of fastening space needed on the arm of the harp, substantial string displacement

81
www.starfishdesigns.co.uk
82
Loveland lever patent, prior art summary.

56
when the cam was engaged, and ample possibilities for buzzing as the contact of the cam

is in a direction parallel to the plane of the string band.

Starfish next moved to levers made by Robinsons Harp Shop in California (fig. 30). This

lever consists of a slotted L shaped mounting-bracket, which is riveted to a rotating

handle that includes a brass dowel with a turned groove to accept the string. When the

handle is pushed up, the dowel is brought up from under the string, displacing the

alignment of the string.83 The brass dowel caused a slightly different tone quality than

the upright table pin, but it was an improvement because it passed over metal rather than

plastic. The rivets of the handles did not age well and were unpredictable, often

becoming either loose or stiff. However, the main problem was that with a “sufficiently

firm stroke,” the string could dislodge and create a buzz (Bunker 1990: 7).

On 26 June 1990, Robert Bunker from Loveland Colorado patented the Loveland lever

(fig. 31) which, according to Starfish, was a great improvement. The dowel part of this

lever is fixed to the L shaped mounting bracket (rather than on the rotating cam like

Robinson), and the rotating handle lowers a grooved cam down pushing the string against

the stationary dowel. The use of Delrin84, a self-lubricating nylon, for the handle of the

lever cut down on string wear. It also helped that the groove in the cam fit the different

83
Loveland and Cunningham lever patent, prior art summery.
84
Polyoxymethylene, in the United States also commonly known under DuPont's brand
name Delrin, is an engineering plastic, which is often marketed and used as a metal
substitute. Delrin is a lightweight, low-friction, and wear-resistant thermoplastic with
good physical and processing properties.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyoxymethylene_plastic)

57
string sizes. There was no possibility for buzzing because of the string placement

between the nylon handle and metal pin.

In 2005, Starfish transferred to Camac85 levers (fig. 32) from France. The Camac levers

operate on a vertical plane cam action system. One peg, mounted on the rotating circular

cam with attached handle, moves to lock the string in a loose Z-shape against a stationary

peg mounted to the L-shaped mounting block. All the parts are nickel-plated cast and

machined metal, with some plastic parts and are noted for their smooth mechanical

function. They have evolved from a tear-shaped metal handle to a key-shaped metal

handle.

In 2009, Starfish began trying the new Delacour levers (fig. 33), also from France. The

advanced mechanisms in the Delacour levers feature a tangential lever operated disk with

gripping fourchettes. The two rotating circles have an off-centre hole and the pegs move

around the outside of the circle.

Starfish used to make three different models of 31-string instruments. There was high

demand for that number of strings because the Briggs and the Sanderson & Taylor harps

had 31 strings, with the lowest string being E. In about 2002 or 2003, Starfish started to

discontinue some of their 31-string models because 34-string models were becoming

more popular.

85
Camac is a well-known pedal and lever harp factory in France, founded in 1972 and
now producing world-renowned instruments.

58
In 2009, they have a range of six harps (Appendix III, pages 126-129). The “Tiree” is the

last remaining 31-string harp and is “a very sweet sounding harp… the result of many

years of 31-string harp development… its appeal is to people who do not want the extra

bulk of a bigger harp and are willing to sacrifice the extra three strings.”86 Starfish

attributes this change in preference from the 31 string to the 34 string mainly to the

development and popularity of the graded music exams in schools, which often required

the instrument to go down to the low C. The three models with 34 strings include their

most popular harp, the “Glencoe”, known for its big sound and beautiful tone that is well-

used by both professionals and students. It has 11 staves. The “Student” harp is a more

affordable 34-string option with only 5 staves and a smaller soundbox. It is significantly

lighter and smaller. The “Lochaber” is the only Starfish harp with concert-gauge strings,

which appeals to people who already perhaps play the pedal harp or are looking for a

harp strung with heavier tension. The last harp produced by Starfish is the 37-string

“Mamore”, developed in 2001. This harp has a larger soundbox and extra strings to

appeal to the professional harp player or those playing in group settings.

All the Starfish harps make use of the half-lapped joint between the arm and pillar. The

Glencoe harp utilises a center brace inside the soundbox of birch ply at the E above

middle C and two cross braces at G above middle C and D below middle C. These cross

braces provide support for the soundbox, which was what was lacking in many of the

older harps.

86
www.starfishdesigns.co.uk

59
The harmonic curve Starfish uses is unique in its discontinuous curve. The curve arches

up fairly high with the lowest gut strings, then drops quite low for the highest of the metal

bass strings and arches up again (fig. 34). This configuration allows for a longer lower

gut string, which produces a better sound.

Starfish have recently developed two very new harps based completely on the needs of

performers. The first is the McKay Harp (Appendix III, page 129), developed for

Catriona McKay who was looking for a harp with extra chromatic possibilities. She felt

restricted that the harp is so diatonic, and often felt “locked in” the diatonic range. She

wanted a harp with chromatic options, not for the melodic purposes, but to allow for

“creative doors to open… ideas that can found on that harp [the McKay harp] that then

can be transferred to the other harps.” 87 The McKay harp was developed with a full

chromatic range in the middle octave. This harp will not appeal to the general market,

but it is a strong example of a maker complying to the developing needs of the performer.

The other example of Starfish adapting to the performers’ needs is that of making an

instrument that is as light in weight as possible. This new Glenelle harp (Appendix III,

page 129) has just been released in 2009 upon the request of performers such as Rachel

Hair and Catriona McKay, who needed a harp as light as possible to accommodate their

traveling and touring needs. As airport stipulations become more stringent and baggage

weight allowances decrease, traveling by air with the harp for performing musicians is

becoming more difficult. There was a clear need for an instrument that still had the

87
Catriona McKay interview 20 August 2009.

60
performance-standard sound but was also as light as possible to facilitate easier

movement via air travel as well as day to day usage for locally based gigs. Hair states:

My priority over the past few years was that it [the harp] has to be as
physically light as possible, as I fly so much… and also the stress
carrying it is on my back, and therefore they’ve [Starfish] listened to my
woes and created the Glenelle harp. As for the actual design of the harp…
I’m not bothered about how it looks, just about how it sounds and how
workable it is. They are also working on a custom built fiberglass flight
case that will be as light as possible.88

The Glenelle harp was produced with the singular goal of maintaining sound quality but

reducing weight wherever possible. This was achieved by taking the Glencoe model and

drilling circular holes out of the normally solid pieces of wood wherever possible except

where obviously visible. The two laminated pieces of wood compromising the arm and

pillar both had matched holes drilled out of the inner sides that get glued together. The

holes are matched to make for greater glue contact for the remaining solid-wood areas. If

the wood was approximately 20mm thick, about 14-15mm is drilled out, taking out about

75% of the weight for that area. Similar holes were also drilled out of the center brace,

bottom brace, the two thicker staves on both sides of the harp, and the bottom plate (fig.

35). This has reduced the weight of the harp from the normal Glencoe model by about

two kilograms, a nearly 20% reduction in weight.

The biggest change, according to Starfish, between the harps produced through the 1980s

to the harps produced today, is the use of apoxy resin as the adhesive. This viewed by the

company as a considerable improvement on the old glues that Briggs, Thomson, and

Sanderson & Taylor would have used. The apoxy resin soaks into not only the space

88
Rachel Hair personal communication 6 August 2009.

61
between two adjoining pieces of wood, but also the surrounding wood on either side

making the joint areas actually stronger than the solid wood areas. Other modern

contributions include the use of fiberglass or carbon fibre sheets to reinforce the pillar

arm joint, especially in the new Glenelle harp.

By looking at the construction techniques of Pilgrim, Norris, Yule and Starfish and the

interactions they have with the performers who play their harps, it becomes clear that the

harps of today have adapted to suit various different performing styles. Performers such

as Wendy Stewart have noted the biggest change in harp development to be the change in

string tension, “it’s interesting because quite a few of the makers now, Pilgrim, Starfish,

Norris are starting to realise that the heavy concert gauge tension and spacing is not

entirely suitable for the kind of traditional playing that I think we’re into.”89 The string

tension is perhaps one of the larger and more obvious developments, but various small

changes to the levers, stands, soundboxes, harmonic curves, soundholes, soundboards,

and feet have all affected the overall sound which has developed to the stipulations of the

various generations of Scottish harp performers.

89
Wendy Stewart interview conducted by Patsy Seddon, 2 April 2008 (SA 2008.026)

62
 CHAPTER 5:

CONCLUSION

In my introductory chapter, I enumerated a number of questions. Was the construction of

the first commercially produced harps in Scotland during the 1930s based on replicas of

Scottish harps or influenced by the pedal harp? How has the development of the

construction of harps in Scotland evolved from the 1930s through to 2009 and what were

the motivations propelling the makers? How has the changing performer’s styles

influenced these developments? In addressing these issues I have found the

organological development of the Scottish harp to be a process driven by the demands of

the players and performers. I have also found that the process of development is by no

means finished or stabilised; most makers are keen to continue experimenting and

developing their designs when financial and time constrains permit.

Through the catalogues and figures presented in this work, as well as through the analysis

of the commercially produced harps constructed from the 1930s, it becomes clear that the

early builders of that time were heavily influenced by the pedal harp as well as by the

ancient Scottish clarsach. When Briggs made his Dalriada model, which was based on

the Queen Mary harp, he only replicated the Queen Mary in the most basic aesthetic

sense, not in any of the actual construction techniques. His soundboxes where either

rounded or staved, neither of which was of the traditional single-block historical Scottish

design. Blades were added to all the harps to facilitate more chromatic modern music as

well as to aid rapid key changes without retuning the instrument. All the harps were

63
strung with gut rather than wire. The soundboards were made of horizontally-grained

spruce or pine, corresponding to the pedal harp. There were wooden supports along the

inside of the soundbox, encircling the soundholes and providing reinforcement to the

rounded back.

The Ossian No. 2 model, which became the ‘standard’ Scottish harp design, retained the

pedal harp elements of the Dalriada: rounded or staved soundbox, horizontally grained

soundboards, inner-soundbox supports, blades, and gut strings, as well as introducing a

new shape of arm. This elegantly shaped rounded head has become the guide for nearly

all the harp-makers in Scotland since. The Ossian No. 2 also introduced the flat base and

usage of feet on the harps in Scotland, rather than the protruding block of the ancient

Scottish harps.

These construction developments were in alignment with the beginnings of the small harp

revival in Scotland, England, Ireland and America. This is evidenced by the first small

harps made by John Egan in Dublin in the 1820s, the later small harps made by Morley’s

in London from the 1890s, and the Clark harps made in New York in the early 1900s.

Future research would benefit from linking these makers and analysing the connections

between the various countries to look at the development of the small harp post-revival in

the Western World. Further research would also be needed to look into the social,

economic and political conditions of the various countries during the production of these

revival instruments and to analyse the changing circumstances that impacted these harps.

64
By analysing the harps produced in Scotland from the 1930s through to 2009 and by

delving into newspaper and Clarsach Society archives, the developments and the

motivations behind these developments become palpable. The makers from the 1930s

did not start out as harp-makers, they produced other instruments and, in the case of

Briggs, were approached and queried about making harps. Although this may not have

been a favourable proposition at the time, he persevered and became the only harp maker

to serve Scotland and much of the British Isles from the early 1930s to the late 1950s. In

the case of Thompson, he doubtless tried to capitalise on what he saw as possibly the next

big instrument movement, although events out of his control stopped his harp making.

The makers who followed Briggs, including Paris and then Sanderson & Taylor (and

linked with them, Brown & Bruce), Firth, Pilgrim, Norris, Yule and Starfish Designs all

in some respect used aspects of the Briggs as a basis for their own designs. Paris, being

Briggs’ son-in-law as well as his assistant, made harps that were identical to Briggs other

than a few small deviances. Sanderson & Taylor harps were very similar to Briggs’

Ossian No. 2 copies as well, as the makers were specialists in other instruments and were

only called upon to make harps due to the fact that there were no harp-makers in the

country at the time. The Sanderson & Taylor harps were the same height and width as

the Briggs Ossian No. 2, but slightly smaller around the base of the soundbox. There

were fewer inner supports and they were generally made more delicately than the Briggs,

which contributed to the lack of longevity of the instrument and the dimpling of the

soundbox. Sanderson & Taylor started using dowels to reinforce the mortise and tenon

joint at the head of the instrument.

65
The late 1970s is the first time when makers voluntarily began making harps because

they saw a need for the instrument, rather than having it requested by a small number of

individuals. This shows the noticeable increase of players that were beginning to appear

throughout the 1970s to warrant this increase in numbers of harp-makers. They began

making harps because they saw the need for more instruments, whether it was because

they were providing for a single performer, or because their daughters wanted to play the

harp. The harp performers throughout the 1980s and 1990s began pushing the

boundaries of what had previously been done with the harp and required stronger harps,

or harps with certain string tensions to assist their playing, or louder harps or harps with

more strings. Performers were moving out of the genteel drawing-room Gaelic song

accompaniment phase that the harp had been in for many decades following its revival in

Scotland. The advent of graded music exams being available for the small harp also

increased the amount of children who needed harps, along with the fact that more

teachers were available who specialised in the small harp. These motivations inspired the

makers to change the blades to levers, develop suitable string tensions, change the

standard number of strings, and reinforce the soundbox for more reliable stability. The

harps have also increasingly become larger in almost every respect: taller, wider, bigger

and with longer soundboxes. Advances in technology also aided these developments, as

glues changed to apoxies, special plastics and advanced metal plating for mass

production of small pieces became available for highly mechanical levers, and further

knowledge about tensions working against the harp aided the exact tapering of the

soundboard to provide the best possible sound as well as a stable instrument.

66
The interaction between performer and harp-maker can easily be seen directly up to the

present day. Performers such as Catriona McKay and Rachel Hair work closely with

Starfish Designs to create instruments that are ideal for their needs. Norris Harps have

developed through the interaction with performer Savourna Stevenson. This co-

dependant relationship benefits both the performer and the maker as the performers are

given new strings or levers to try from the experimental point of view of the maker, and

conversely the performer brings their needs, concerns and opinions to the maker. This

allows the maker to develop better instruments to suit the playing styles of today’s

performer, which in turn affects not just the harps of the performers, but the harps of all

the players and learners of the instrument.

As the harp in Scotland has only been developing for less than a century since its revival,

and the main upsurge in performance and building has happened only in the last three

decades, we can expect to see a considerable amount of development and changes in the

years to come. The small harp has always been an instrument that has avoided the

standardisation that affects most other instruments and this paves the way for future

invention, experimentation and development.

67
 FIGURES

Fig. 1:
Examples of harp
measurement diagrams.

Photo and start of diagram by Avril

Garvold

Photo by Jean Fleetwood,

Diagram by C. Brown

68
Fig. 2: Queen Mary harp and Lord Archibald revival harps

Queen Mary harp

Photo http://www.nms.ac.uk

Glen Harp
Photo courtesy of Highland Folk Museum, Kingussie

Buchanan Harp
Photo C. Brown

69
Fig. 3: Miniature instruments made by Schreiber during war internment (except the
harp), shown with 2 pence piece. Photo C. Brown

Fig. 4: Briggs and Schreiber in the workshop

Photos from “Artist in Violins” Scotland’s Magazine July 1949, p 14-16 (Mitchell Library)

70
Fig. 5: Mortise and tenon joint
Diagram C. Brown

Fig. 6: Queen Mary extra final peg hole

Photo Simon Chadwick

Fig. 7: Protruding base on Briggs

Purpose-built and Dalriada harps
Photo C. Brown

71
Fig. 8: Arm on Dalriada (left) and Ossian No. 1 (right)
Photos C. Brown

Fig. 9: V shaped molding along the top of the arm on Ossian No. 1
Photo C. Brown

Fig. 10: Dalriada (left) verses Ossian No. 1 (centre) and Ossian No. 2 (right) pillars
Photos by C. Brown

72
Fig. 11: Base screw on Ossian No. 1
Photo C. Brown

Fig. 12: Faceted pillar on Ossian No. 1

Photo Briggs Catalogue

73
Fig. 13: Ossian Feet
Photo C. Brown

Fig. 14: Ossian No. 2 arm (left) verses Ossian No. 1 arm (right)
Photos C. Brown

Fig. 15: John Egan harp

Photo Nancy Hurrell, NMI

74
Fig. 16: Inner support of Briggs
Photo C. Brown

Fig. 17: Thompson Harp

Photos Mitchell Library: Russell-Fergusson Collection and Glasgow Scrapbook

75
Fig. 18: Paris arm V shape not continued (left) verses Briggs (right)
Photos C. Brown

Fig 19: Paris signature

Photo C. Brown

76
Fig. 20: Ian Brown in Holland, 1984.
Photos courtesy of Ank van Campen

Fig. 21: Sanderson & Taylor and Brown & Bruce dowel usage in mortise and tenon joint
Photo C. Brown

Fig. 22: Firth metal plate

Photo C. Brown

77
Fig. 23: Wilfred Smith harp (left), Morley harp (centre), Egan harp (right)
Photos Ruth Excell-Stevenson, Ben Morley, C. Brown

Fig. 24: Cam style levers

Diagram Bunker Patent prior art (Patent No. 4936182), Photo C. Brown

Fig. 25: Modern Pilgrim levers

Photo C. Brown

78
Fig. 26: Lapped joint
Diagram by C. Brown

Fig. 27: Norris inner structure

Photo C. Brown

79
Fig. 28: Soundboard tapering
Diagram C. Brown

Fig. 29: Norris Levers

Photo C. Brown

80
Fig. 30: Robinson’s Harp levers
Diagram Cunningham Patent prior art (Patent No. 6080921)

Fig. 31: Loveland levers

Diagram Cunningham Patent prior art (Patent No. 6080921)

Fig. 32: Camac levers

Photo C. Brown

81
Fig. 33: Delacour levers
Photo C. Brown

Fig. 34: Starfish discontinuous curve

Photo C. Brown

Fig. 35: Starfish Glenelle

Photos C. Brown

82
 APPENDIX I:

POST REVIVAL HARPS CATALOGUE

1932 - 1964
Briggs and Paris

Containing:
Purpose-built harps
Dalriada
Ossian No. 1
Ossian No. 2
Paris harps
Custom-made harps
Schreiber Miniature Harp

83
Briggs: Purpose-built (1933) (owned by St Cecilia’s, Edinburgh)

Inscription on metal plate: Presented to Charles MacConville ESQ

Winner of Daily Record Clarsach
For Gaelic Melody Competition
April 1933

Sound box: seven staves

Sound board: horizontal pine
Sound holes: 3 squared
Wood: walnut
Model: purpose-built

Strings: 30, G to A.

Custom built box

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to shoulder top: 38.5 in (with protruding block).
Width horizontal arm: 21.25 in.
Curve of pillar outside: 35 in. to bottom of curve, 18 in to end of pillar
Around base soundbox: 17.625 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 34.625 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.625 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Across front top of soundboard: 4.875 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.5 in.

84
Briggs: Purpose-built Fort William (West Highland Museum)

Inscription running up inside of pillar: COMUNN NA CLAIRSACH

Notes from museum display: The salmon carving was the Briggs’ motif. This clarsach
probably dates to the 1920s. On loan from the Clarsach Society (No 42).

Sound box: 7 staves Clarsach Society AGM 1962:

Sound board: horizontal pine An appeal for assistance by the
Sound holes: 3, squared Society had been sent by the
Bottom: Queen Mary style National Museum Fort William,
Neck: 3 piece construction of which the President was the
Hon Maclean of Ardgove and
Model: purpose-built Vice president Cameron of
Date: unknown Locheil. It was unanimously
agreed that the museum, which
Strings: 30, gut, blades. contained many exhibits of
history indeed deserved help from
Wood: walnut, dark stain the Society and it was decided to
give a donation of two guineas
Dimensions: and to offer the gift of one of the
(Dimensions approximate, and several older clarsach belonging to the
unattainable due to museum location) Society (of one those considered
Height vertical pillar to head top: 42 in. unplayable).
(with stand)
Stand: 8 in. Annual Report 1962-63
Edge of soundbox length: 32.5 in. The clarsach given to Fort
William Museum is now on show
there. Mrs Matheson visited the
Museum and saw it.

85
Briggs: Dalriada (1933)
Elaborate carvings.
Label on base: Dalriada Clarsach,
Briggs, Maker, Glasgow 1933
Sound box: staved, 7 panels
Sound board: Spruce
Sound holes:
Bottom: Queen Mary style, carved, custom stool
Model: Dalriada
Date: 1933
Strings: 31, E to G.
Custom built stool (Briggs)
Wood: sycamore
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 38 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: 39 in.
Around base soundbox: 18 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.25 in.
String band pillar to neck: 34 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.875 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11.25 in.
Length across top of soundbox: 4.25
(housed by Jean Fleetwood)
Owner’s history: “I hold at
present as a member of The Friends
of Highland Music. This came
about as our FoHM Treasurer, Alan
Findlay, found the harp in his
father's loft in Perth when they
were clearing out the house after he
died. He took it north with a view
to lending it out as a fund raiser for
FoHM. I think he put it to Bill
Taylor at Strathpeffer, who strung
it, and tuned it to a slightly lower
pitch as there is a very slight twist
in the top. I said it could come here
and that Gillian would play it from
time to time to keep it going. It
became clear as soon as Gillian saw
it, that with the blades it was no use
as a beginner's harp, and especially
as it couldn't be tuned up
sufficiently.
So it has sat here since then, 2 or 3
years or so.”
86
Briggs: Dalriada (1934) (owned by Mary Fleming, Edinburgh)

Inside Inscription on paper: Dalriada Clarsach. Briggs, Maker. Glasgow 1934.

Elaborate carvings.

Sound box: rounded Owner’s history: Mary played

Sound board: Spruce classics on Briggs harps
Sound holes: 4 oval holes professionally. A pupil of Jean
Bottom: Queen Mary style, carved Campbell’s saw it in a 2nd hand
Neck: 3 piece (solid arm, addition either side) store and bought it. Jean was
annoyed she’d bought it unstrung.
Model: Dalriada However, strung up it sounded fine!
Date: 1934 Several years later, a letter arrived
saying she wanted to sell it. Mary
Strings: 31, E to G. bought it around 1977/8. She
strung it with one octave heavier
Custom built stool (by Mary’s mother, not Briggs) strings, to make it more powerful to
play with the violin.
Wood: sycamore

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 42.72 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: 40.375 in.
Around base soundbox: 17.375 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.375 in.
String band pillar to neck: 34.375 in.
Height of end of arm: 4 in.

87
Briggs: Dalriada (1943, #24) (owned by Christine Martin)

Elaborate carvings.
Original invoice. Date: March 15th, 1943. Mrs Fulton, 12 University – Glasgow.
Carved Clarsach, No. 24.

Sound box: staved, 7 panels Owner’s history: It came with the

Sound board: Spruce original receipt (for £35 and 3
Sound holes: shillings 9 p for the taxi to deliver
Bottom: Queen Mary style, carved, custom stool it) and I got it many years ago from
a man in Aberdeenshire who said it
Model: Dalriada was his mother (a doctor) who
Date: 1943 bought it in 1943 but that Briggs
Strings: 31, E to G. made it for the Glasgow Empire
Exhibition in 1935. I think it is in
Custom built stool (Briggs) good condition because it spent
most of its life in an attic of a big
Wood: birdseye and wavy maple? house!

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 38 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: 37.5 in.
Around base soundbox: 18 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.5 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.5 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11.25 in.
Length across top of soundbox: 4.25 in.

88
Briggs: Dalriada (owned by Jean Hutchings)

Elaborate carvings.

Sound box: rounded Owner’s history: The harp was

Sound board: horizontal bequested to Jean by her friend
Sound holes: 4 Violet Hooper who was the
Bottom: Queen Mary style, carved, custom stool Secretary of the Bristol Branch of
the Clarsach Society.
Model: Dalriada
Date: unknown
Strings: 31, E to G

Wood: beech, walnut

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 42 in.
Height vertical to shoulder top: 41.5
Width horizontal arm: 22.875 in.
Curve of pillar outside: 40.625 in.
Around base soundbox: 18 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 34.875 in.
String band pillar to neck: 34.125 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.375 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 10.75 in.
Length across top of soundbox: 3.5 in.

89
Briggs: Ossian No. 1 (1933) (owned by Mary Fleming, Edinburgh)

Inscription: ‘Ossian’ Clarsach Maker Briggs, Glasgow, 1933

Sound box: rounded (3 layer ply)

Sound board: spruce, 8 layers
Owner’s history: Mary’s first
Sound holes: 4 oval holes
harp was hired from the Clarsach
Bottom: flat base, feet, hole in base.
Society. It was a twin to this one.
Neck: 3 piece (solid arm, addition either side)
She was given permission to buy
that Society harp. Later she sold
Model: Ossian
it to a talented pupil in 2000.
Date: 1933
(This harp was labeled with an
‘N’ and was from 1932.) This
Strings: 31, E to G.
harp, labeled “K” was also a
Clarsach Society hire harp.
Wood: beech

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Around base soundbox: 17.5 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.375 in.
String band pillar to neck: 32.5 in.
Height of end of arm: 4 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.

90
Briggs: Ossian No. 1 (owned by Patsy Seddon)

Inscription: been covered up by repairs

Sound box: 7 staves

Sound board: spruce, 7 or 8 layers
Owner’s history: Alison
Sound holes: 4 oval holes, tapered
Kinnaird told Patsy that
Bottom: flat base, feet, hole in base.
Sanderson & Taylor was doing up
Neck: 3 piece (solid arm, two additions to blade side)
a Briggs. Patsy went to look at it
in 1979 and luckily got it just
Model: Ossian
before someone else! Had been
Date: 1931?
hiring previously.
Strings: 30, E to F.

Wood: walnut

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 40.25 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 35.5 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: na double curve
Around base soundbox: 17.625 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 34.75 in.
String band pillar to neck: 31.375 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.75 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Length across top of soundbox: 3.375 in.

91
Briggs: Ossian No. 1 (owned by Jean Hutchings)

Sound box: rounded

Sound board: horizontal
Owner’s history: Jean bought
Sound holes: 4 oval holes
the harp from Munson & Harbour
Bottom: flat base, feet, hole in base.
sometime in the 1970s. A
professional harpist had owned it
Model: Ossian No. 1
before and had used it for her
Date: unknown
pupils as a subsidiary harp.
Strings: 31, E to G.

Wood: walnut, birdseye maple

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 39.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 38.5 in.
Width horizontal arm: 23 in.
Around base soundbox: 18.125 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.625 in.
String band pillar to neck: 32.875 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.25 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Length across top of soundbox: 3.5 in.

92
Briggs: Ossian No. 1 (1938, #51) (owned by Avril Garvild)

Inscription: signature, #51

Sound box: rounded

Sound board: spruce
Owner’s history: Avril thinks it
Sound holes:
was made for the Empire
Bottom: flat base, feet, hole in base.
Exhibition Scotland of 1938 in
Glasgow. Alison Kinnaird told
Model: Ossian
her that she was told this by the
Date: 1938
first owner, the lady she bought it
from a long time ago, who
Strings: 31, E to G.
presumably bought it at the
exhibition.
Wood: satinwood?

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 39.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22.75 in.
Curve of pillar outside: na double curve
Around base soundbox: 17.5 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.5 in.
String band pillar to neck: 35.25 in.
Height of end of arm: 4.5 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Length across top of soundbox: 3.5 in.

93
Briggs: Ossian No. 1 (owned Mona Silli, Austria)

Sticker on front: BRIGGS

GLASGOW – SCOTLAND
MAKER OF DALRIADA & OSSIAN
CELTIC HARPS

Sound box: 7 staves

Bottom: flat base, feet
Neck:

Model: Ossian
Date: unknown
Owner’s history: bought at
Strings: 31, E to G. Edinburgh International Harp
Festival a few years ago (c. 2005)
Wood: Golden satinwood and birdseye maple

Dimensions:
(measurements unavailable)

94
Briggs: Ossian No. 2 (#85) (owned by Kirsty MacGregor)

Sticker on front unreadable, but looks the same as other Briggs harps.
Signature: Henry Briggs signature and “85”

Sound box: rounded, 3 ply.

Sound board: spruce.
Sound holes: 4, tapered from long and thin (top) to short and wide (bottom)
Bottom: flat base, feet
Neck: Four piece: arm, two on inside, one on outside

Model: Ossian #2
Date: c. 1935
Strings: 31, E to G.
Levers/blades: Metal levers, not original. Owner’s history: Kirsty bought
from Anne MacDearmid in the
Wood: sycamore mid/early 1980s. Alison Kinnaird
Dimensions: arranged the sale and arranged for
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41 in. levers to be put on.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: n/a
Around base soundbox: 17.75 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 36 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33 in.
Height of end of arm: n/a
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Length across top of soundboard: 3.5 in.

95
Briggs Ossian No. 2 (#86)
No sticker on front
Signature: Henry Briggs signature and “86”
Sound box: rounded, 3 ply.
Sound board: spruce.
Sound holes: 4, tapered from long and thin (top)
to short and wide (bottom)
Bottom: flat base, feet
Neck: Four piece: arm, two on inside,
one on outside
Model: Ossian #2
Date: c. 1935
Strings: 31, E to G.
Levers/blades: Loveland levers, not original.
Wood: sycamore?
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: n/a
Around base soundbox: 17.75 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 36 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33 in.
Height of end of arm: n/a
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Length across top of soundboard: 3.5 in.
(owned Kirsty MacGregor)
Owner’s history: Bought in 2007 from
Flo Galbraith. Previous owner was
Florence Wilson. Ms Galbraith writes: …
the earliest reference to Mrs Wilson I can
find is 1938. She had been harpist with the
Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra and the
Covent Garden Orchestra till she married
and moved to Scotland. She was Hon
Secretary of the Clarsach Society for 15
years and was well known as a clarsach
player and adjudicator. The last reference I
can find is in 1966 and I think she died not
long after that (before I joined the Society
in 1969). In 1974 her sister contacted me
about giving her music to the Society and
also asked if I knew of anyone who would
like to buy her clarsach. I had heard a
recording and bought it myself. It was in a
bad state, needing new blades and strings.
Later I had the blades replaced with levers.
96
Briggs: Ossian No. 2 (1938, #108) (owned by Alison Kinnaird)

Sticker on front unreadable, but looks the same as other Briggs harps.
Label on inside has disintegrated, but reads: “This Ossian Clarsach was specially
designed and made….. Empire Exh……” (The Empire Exhibition was an international
exposition held at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, from May to December 1938. Ref.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Exhibition,_Scotland_1938)
Signature: Henry Briggs signature and “108”

Sound box: rounded, one cross brace at middle C, two layer ply.
Sound board: spruce. Vertical crack just below middle C, across string band as well, but
well monitored and no change in many years.
Sound holes: 4, tapered from long and thin (top) to short and wide (bottom)
Bottom: flat base, feet
Neck: 3 piece construction

Model: Ossian Owner’s history: After playing

Date: 1938 (as in relation to the Exhibition)
Strings: 31, E to G.
Wood: beech
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 40 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 38.75 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: n/a
Around base soundbox: 19.75 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.75 in.
String band pillar to neck: 32.625 in.
Height of end of arm: n/a
Across front base of soundbox: 11.75 in.
Length across top of soundboard: 3.875 in.
the Paris harp for several years,
Alison was told about this harp in a
junk store window in Perth. Junk
store person had got it from a house
sale in Montrose. She bought it for
£140, although offered him more.
Took it to Brown&Bruce for repair.
They wanted to replace
soundboard, but she convinced
them to keep it original. Blades
more accurate than the Paris, tone
more even.

97
Briggs: Ossian No. 2 (1953)
Sound box: rounded
Bottom: flat base, feet
Model: Ossian No. 2
Date: 1953
Strings: 31, E to G.
Levers/blades: original blades.
Wood: sycamore
Dimensions:
Dimensions unknown
(owned by Mary O’Hara)
Owner History: “It was when I
flew from Dublin to Glasgow to
pick up the second Briggs harp
that I met Henry Briggs in early
1954, having bought my first harp
from him in 1953. My memory is
of someone who was very quiet,
wise and exceptionally generous.
I remember seeing him first in his
small workshop (where he made
his harps) in a music firm on
Sauchiehall St. and later at his
home outside the city. He lived
there with his daughter in a large
old house, part of which he’d
rented out in flats. My father and
I were very impressed to hear that
despite being urged to do so, he
refused to raise the rents on the
flats as landlords elsewhere had
done. He said he felt it would be
unjust to do so.”
98
Briggs: Ossian No. 2 (#152) (housed by Danny Sweeney)

Signature by Briggs looks rubbed out, signature by Angus Paris still visible. “152”
clearly printed.

Sound box: rounded, 3 ply.

Sound board: spruce.
Sound holes: 4, tapered from long and thin (top) to short and wide (bottom)
Bottom: flat base, feet
Neck: Four piece: arm, two on inside, one on outside

Model: Ossian #2 Owner History: found in attic.

Date: c. 1950s early 1960s
Strings: 31, E to G.
Levers/blades: original blades.

Wood: mahogany?
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39.875 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22.75 in.
Curve of pillar outside: n/a
Around base soundbox: 18 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.875 in.
String band pillar to neck: 32.875 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in
Across top of soundboard: 3.625

99
Paris (#15) (owned by Alison Kinnaird)

Label on inside reads: “Handmade by ANGUS J. PARIS, 5, ALDER AVENUE,

LENZIE, No. 15 SCOTLAND 1964”

Model: Ossian ?
Date: 1964
Strings: 31, E to G.
Wood: sycamore
Sound box: rounded, unusually divided off centre of soundholes. 3 layer ply.
Wooden string knobs except lowest 3 strings. Strengtheners squared and tapered.
Sound board: spruce. No cracking. 6 layers (?)
Sound holes: 4, tapered from long and thin (top) to short and wide (bottom)
Bottom: flat base, carved feet
Neck: 3 piece construction Owner’s history: Alison bought in
Pillar Arm: Solid. Pillar beveled for last string. the 1960s for £40 with case.

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22.75 in.
Curve of pillar outside: n/a
Around base soundbox: 18 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.875 in.
String band pillar to neck: 31.625 in.
Height of end of arm: n/a
Across front base of soundbox: 10.75 in.
Length across top of soundboard: 3.75 in.

100
Briggs: Ossian No. 2 Hilda Mary Campbell’s (1932?) (owned by JF)

No sticker on front
Elaborate carving
Signature: soundboard replaced, so no signature

Sound box: rounded,

Sound board: spruce.
Sound holes: 4, tapered from long and thin (top)
to short and wide (bottom)
Bottom: flat base, carved feet
Neck: two piece: arm, one inside
Model: Ossian #2
Date: 1932?
Strings: 31, E to G.
Levers/blades: blades
Wood: sycamore
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 40.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22.5 in.
Curve of pillar outside: n/a
Around base soundbox: 20 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 35.625 in.
String band pillar to neck: 32.5 in.
Height of end of arm: n/a
Across front base of soundbox: 11.5 in.
Length across top of soundboard: 3.5 in.
Owner’s history:
Harp only had two owners. Made for
Hilda Mary Campbell, probably 1932.
Used in promotional material for
Clarsach Society and for Briggs.
Margaret Daunt (Balfour) was Hilda
Mary’s young prodigy. She left
Margaret the harp. Margaret played it
throughout her career and also for use in
music therapy. When Margaret became
ill, present owner wrote to express an
interest in the harp and explained it’s
significance. John Hoare was asked to
put a value on it in 2006/07. This was
determined at around £2500.

101
Briggs: Knee Harps

Schreiber Miniature Clarsach (owned by Alison Schreiber)

102
 APPENDIX II:

POST REVIVAL HARPS CATALOGUE

1970 – 1990s

Containing:
Sanderson & Taylor
Brown & Bruce
Firth

103
Sanderson & Taylor harp (owned by Mike Baldwin)

No visible labels or inscriptions. No carvings.

Sound box: rounded.

Sound board: Spruce
String band: string pegs on all but bottom octave.
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: Two layers glued together in unison.
Pillar: Two layers glued together in unison. Two through wooden dowel pins indicate
pinned corner mortise tenon joint with arm. No bevel at inner bottom for bottom
string.
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Neck: two main arm pieces, two additional pieces on inside, one additional piece on
outside (5 total)
Levers/blades: Blades. Material padding.
Owner’s history:
Date: unknown No information on harp.
Bought from Pilgrim
Strings: 31, E to G. early 2009. Pilgrim has
no information either.
Wood: maple dark finish No one is sure if it is a
Sanderson & Taylor or
Brown & Bruce.
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 37.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 42.75in.
Width horizontal arm: 23 in.
Around base soundbox: 17 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37.25 in.
String band pillar to neck: 36.25 in.
Across front base of soundbox/board: 11 in.
Length across top of soundbox/board: 3.75 in.

104
 Brown & Bruce (owned by Mary Veal, Glasgow)

No visible labels or inscriptions. No carvings.

Sound box: rounded. Has inner stiffeners, ends 6 strings from top. One cross support at
A below middle C (could be from Starfish?)
Sound board: Spruce
String band: string pegs on all but bottom octave.
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: Two layers glued together in unison.
Pillar: Two layers glued together in unison. Two through wooden dowel pins indicate
pinned corner mortise tenon joint with arm. No bevel at inner bottom for bottom
string.
Bottom: flat base, feet. No hole in base. Concealed inner block with hole for pillar bolt.
Neck: two main arm pieces, two additional pieces on inside, one additional piece on
outside (5 total)
Levers/blades: Blades originally.
Date: unknown
Strings: 31, E to G. Owner’s history: bought
Wood: maple dark finish, underside (no finish) fairly recently. Starfish
light wood, maple? upgraded original blades to
Loveland levers.
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41.5 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Curve of pillar outside: did not calculate
Curve of pillar to join: 36.75 in.
Around base soundbox: 16.5 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 36.25 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.

105
Brown & Bruce (owned by Jennie Brockie, Edinburgh)

No visible labels or inscriptions. Celtic carvings on pillar and arm.

Sound box: rounded, 5 layer ply (4 light, 1 dark laminate) Two cross braces at mid G
and G below. Has inner stiffeners.
Sound board: Spruce
String band: no string pegs
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: Solid
Pillar: Solid. Celtic carving on outside of pillar. Two through wooden dowel pins
indicate pinned corner mortise tenon joint with arm. Pillar beveled at inner
bottom for bottom string.
Bottom: flat base, feet. No hole in base. Concealed inner block with hole for pillar bolt.
Neck: main arm, two additional pieces on inside, one additional piece on outside (4
total)
Levers/blades: levers seem to be original. Original design.
Date: 1989?
Strings: 31, E to G.
Wood: walnut dark finish, underside (no finish) light wood, maple?
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 24 in.
Curve of pillar outside: 39.625 in.
Curve of pillar to join: 35.74 in.
Around base soundbox: 16.5 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 36.25 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.75 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.

106
Brown & Bruce (owned by Anne Garrison)

Sound box: rounded.

Sound board: Spruce
String band:
Sound holes:
Arm: Two layers glued together in unison.
Pillar: Two through wooden dowel pins indicate pinned corner mortise tenon joint with
arm.
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Neck: two main arm pieces, two additional pieces on inside, one additional piece on
outside (5 total)
Levers/blades: brass Blades. Material padding.
Model: Dunedin Owner’s history: Bought new from
Date: unknown Brown & Bruce (took over from
Sanderson & Taylor in early 1980s)
Strings: 31, E to G, 8 wound wire, rest gut. in Edinburgh in 1986. Made in
Weight: 13.5 lbs sycamore with spruce table with a
Wood: light finish golden oak finish. Knows B&B
business didn’t last long, went to
Dimensions: workshop only once. For sale.
Height vertical pillar to head top: 42 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 25 in.
Around base soundbox: 16.75 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.5 in
Across front base of soundbox: 12 in.
Across top of soundbox: 3.5 in.

107
Brown & Bruce (housed by Isobel Mieras)

Carving on pillar and round celtic carving on back of head above dowels
Sound box: rounded.
Sound board: Spruce
String band: no string pegs
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: Two layers glued together in unison.
Pillar: Two through wooden dowel pins indicate pinned corner mortise tenon joint with
arm.
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Neck: two main arm pieces, two additional pieces on inside, one additional small piece
on outside (5 total)
Levers/blades: brass Blades. Material padding.
Date: unknown
Strings: 31, E to G, 8 wound wire, rest gut.
Wood: maple light finish

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41.25 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 38.5 in.
Width horizontal arm: 33.625 in.
Curve of pillar outside: did not calculate
Curve of pillar to join: 36 in.
Around base soundbox: 17 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 36.25 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.5 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11 in.
Across top of soundboard: 3.75 in.

108
Firth (1971) (owned by Meredith McCracken)

Sound box: rounded, birds eye maple

Sound board: horizontal spruce
String band: string pegs except last 5 strings
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: 2 piece lapped head joint
Pillar: 2 piece Owner’s history: “This one
Bottom: flat base, feet. was one of the first, if not
Levers/blades: blades the first clarsach that Ian
made!”
Date: 1971

Strings: 32, E to A
Wood: maple, birds eye maple

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 40 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 39 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22 in.
Around base soundbox: 20 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37 in.
String band pillar to neck: 34 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 12 in.
Across top of soundboard: 4 in.

109
Firth (1973) (owned by Iain Hood)

The badge you can see on the front of the harp was Iain’s George Watson’s school badge
(instead of a clan badge which was quite popular at the time).

Sound box: rounded, birds eye maple

Sound board: Spruce Owner’s history: Ian Firth asked
String band: string pegs except last 9 strings Iain to have a play of some of his
Sound holes: 4 oval later ones to possibly sell them to
Arm: 2 piece unison, lapped joint pupils (approx 1992) and Iain
Pillar: 2 piece unison remarked he had put the strings closer
Bottom: flat base, feet. together. Firth was surprised by this
Neck: two main arm pieces, and said he had been using the same
Levers/blades: blades design since the mid 1970's so my
one must have been before that. It
Date: approx 1973 was made approx 3 years before I got
it in 1976.
Strings: 32, E to A
Wood: sycamore for top, birdseye maple for soundbox

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41.2 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 40.8 in.
Width horizontal arm: 24 in.
Around base soundbox: 20 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 36.8 in.
String band pillar to neck: 34 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 12 in.
Across top of soundboard: 4.4 in.

110
Firth Knee Harp (mid 1970s) (owned by Meredith McCracken)

Sound box: rounded, stained green

Sound board: horizontal spruce, painted designs
Sound holes: 4 oval Owner’s history: This one was made
Arm: solid probably only a few years after my
Pillar: solid first one (1971), for an elderly lady
Bottom: flat base, feet. who had advanced arthritis, wanted to
Levers/blades: blades play, but was too weak to manage the
clarsach. I was probably only about 8
Date: mid 1970s or 9 when I met Isobel, so I was very
fond of her little harp. To my
Strings: 24 surprise, many years later, she died
Wood: sycamore and left me the knee harp in her will!

Dimensions: I think Ian may have made a couple

Height vertical pillar to head top: 29 in. more of these, but they are probably
Height vertical to neck top: 27 in. more ornamental.
Width horizontal arm: 16 in.
Around base soundbox: 14 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 25 in.
String band pillar to neck: 23 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 8 in.
Across top of soundboard: 3 in.

111
Firth (1975/76) (owned by Marie-Louise Napier)

Sound box: rounded Owner history: Marie

Sound board: horizontal spruce Louise bought it in 1975/6
Sound holes: 4 oval and it has her initials MLC
Arm: Two layers glued together in lapped joint. (Marie Louise Cumming) on
Pillar: 2 piece the front pillar.
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Levers/blades: brass Blades screwed directly into wood. “The bass notes were always
good but of course the blades
Date: 1975/76 are really a mess nowadays.
Nice piece of wood though. I
Strings: 32, E to A wondered about getting better
Wood: unknown blades put on, but there isn't
enough space. It is very small
Dimensions: compared to the clarsachs of
Unable to procure. today.”

112
Firth (1977) (owned by the Clarsach Society)

Sound box: rounded

Sound board: horizontal spruce, bluebell paintings
String band: string pegs top 7 strings
Sound holes: 3 oval
Arm: Two layers glued together in lapped joint.
Pillar: solid
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Neck: two main arm pieces, two additional pieces on inside (4 total)
Levers/blades: brass Blades screwed directly into wood.

Date: 1977
Owner’s history: An old ex-rental
Strings: 32, E to A Clarsach Society harp, will be sold as
Wood: maple not suitable for rental.

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 40.75 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 40.5 in.
Width horizontal arm: 22.5 in.
Curve of pillar to join: 34.375 in.
Around base soundbox: 19.375 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.375 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 12 in.
Across top of soundboard: 3.875 in.

113
Firth (late 1970s, early 1980s)
Sound box: rounded
Sound board: horizontal spruce
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: Ossian No. 1 style, solid wood
Pillar: solid
Levers/blades: blades
Date: late 1970s, early 1980s
Strings: 32
Wood: unknown
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 40.5 in.
Width horizontal arm: 23 in.
Around base soundbox: 20 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.5 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 12 in.
Across top of soundboard: 4.25 in.
(owned by Karen Hickmott)
Owner’s history: “I think that this
one was made for an arts and craft
show and that is why it has more
ornate carvings on the pillar than his
normal ones. It certainly is very
beautiful and has a lovely sound. We
bought this harp from Isobel and I
can't remember exactly when but it
would have been in the late 1970s or
early 1980s. I'm not sure about this
but I have a feeling that it was the last
(or one of the last ones) that he
made.”
114
Firth, Rebecca (date unknown) (owned by the Clarsach Society)

No name, date or inscription

Sound box: rounded, 4 ply

Sound board: Spruce
String band: no string pegs
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: Ossian No. 1 style, solid
Pillar: solid
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Neck: two main arm pieces, two additional pieces on inside (4 total)
Levers/blades: brass Blades screwed directly into wood.

Date: unknown
Owner’s history: An old
Strings: 32, E to A ex-rental Clarsach Society
Wood: unknown harp, will be sold as not
suitable for rental.
Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 40.875 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 40.375 in.
Width horizontal arm: 23 in.
Around base soundbox: 20.375 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.875 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 12.625 in.
Across top of soundboard: 4.25 in.

115
Firth (date unknown) (owned by Helen Christie)

Ornamental brass plaque on pillar, appears to be original.

Sound box: rounded, with separate pieces?

Sound board: Spruce
String band: no string pegs
Sound holes: 4 oval
Arm: 2 piece unison
Pillar: 2 piece unison
Bottom: flat base, feet.
Neck: two main arm pieces, three additional pieces on inside (not sure about outside)
Levers/blades: Lovelands
Owner’s history: The harp
Date: unknown belongs to Stephie’s daughter
Helen. They bought it from
Strings: 32, E to A the MacGregor family of
Wood: maple Temple around 1997.
Originally Kirsty
Dimensions: MacGregor’s as a child.
Height vertical pillar to head top: 41 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 40.5 in.
Width horizontal arm: 23 in.
Around base soundbox: 19 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 37 in.
String band pillar to neck: 33.5 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 11.75 in.
Across top of soundboard: 3.75 in.

116
Firth (1994) (owned by Meredith McCracken)

Sound box: rounded

Sound board:
String band: mother of pearl inlay
Sound holes: 3 oval
Arm: solid
Pillar: solid Owner’s history: This one
Bottom: flat base, feet. was one of the last, if not the
Levers/blades: levers, developed with help from Salvi last clarsach that Ian made
(most recent).
Date: 1994

Strings: 34, C to A
Wood: sycamore

Dimensions:
Height vertical pillar to head top: 44 in.
Height vertical to neck top: 44 in.
Width horizontal arm: 24 in.
Around base soundbox: 23 in.
Edge of soundbox length: 41 in.
String band pillar to neck: 37 in.
Across front base of soundbox: 13 in.
Across top of soundboard: 4 in.

117
 APPENDIX III:
PRESENT DAY MAKERS CATALOGUE
1979 – 2009

Containing:
Pilgrim
Norris
Yule
Starfish

Note: As these makers are still in production and their harps are easily procurable,
detailed photographs and measurements have not been taken. All photographs are from
the harp-makers publicity materials.

118
Pilgrim: Clarsach

Strings: 34
Range: 1st A to 6th C
Height: 109cm, 43in
Extreme Width: 69cm, 27in
Weight: 8.2kg, 18lbs

Concert gauge stringing, tension and spacing

Frame made from Maple
Hire purchase and hire schemes
All brass semitone levers
Soundboard selected from the finest European Spruce
Available with or without legs
Covers & accessories available
Hand-painted and carved decorations available
5 year warranty

119
Pilgrim: Skylark

Strings: 34
Range: 1st A to 6th C
Height: 110cm, 43in
Extreme Width: 69cm, 27in
Weight: 8.2kg, 18lbs

Gut Strung
Maple Satin or choose from a range of colours
Hire purchase and hire schemes
All brass semitone levers
Soundboard selected from the finest European Spruce
Available with or without legs
Covers & accessories available
Hand-painted & carved decorations available
2 year warranty

120
Pilgrim: Ashdown

Strings: 34
Range: 1st A to 6th C
Height: 119cm, 47in
Extreme Width: 70cm, 27.5in
Weight: 8.2kg, 18lbs

Folk gauge stringing

Frame made from Ash or Mahogany wood
All brass semitone levers
Soundboard selected from finest European Sitka Spruce
Available with or without legs
Hand-painted and carved decoration available
5 year warranty

121
Norris: The Basic Pro

Norris: Professional

122
Norris: Round back

Norris: Lute back

123
Yule: Carnethy

Yule: Soutra

124
Yule: Soutra Chieftain

Yule: Lapwing

125
Starfish: Tiree

31 strings
1st Octave G to 6th Octave E
23 gut strings; 8 metal strings
1,120mm (44”) high approx
610mm (24”) wide approx
8.5kg (18.5lbs) approx

folk-gauge strings

Starfish: Lochaber

34 strings
1st Octave A to 6th Octave C
24 gut strings
10 metal strings
1,130mm (44”) high approx
680mm (26.75”) wide approx
12kg (26.5lbs) approx

concert light gauge strings

126
Starfish: Glencoe

34 strings
1st Octave A to 6th Octave C
24 gut strings; 10 metal strings.
1,170mm (46”) high approx
635mm (25”) wide approx
10.5kg (23lbs) approx

folk gauge strings

Starfish: Mamore

37 strings
1st Octave A to 6th Octave G
26 gut strings; 11 metal strings
1,350mm (53”) high approx
740mm (29”) wide approx
12.5kg (27.5lbs) approx

folk gauge strings

127
Starfish: Student

34 strings
1st Octave A to 6th Octave C
24 gut strings; 10 metal strings
1,140mm (44.75”) high approx
640mm (25”) wide approx
9kg (20lbs) approx

folk gauge strings

Starfish: Columba

26 strings
1st Octave G to 5th Octave C
23 gut strings; 3 metal strings
850mm (33.5”) high approx
545mm (21.5”) wide approx
6.5kg (14lbs) approx

folk gauge strings

128
Starfish: McKay

Starfish: Glenelle

129
 APPENDIX IV:
COMPARISON TABLES

130
131
132
133
134
135
136
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armstrong, Robert Bruce, Musical Instruments: The Irish and the Highland Harps
(Edinburgh: David Douglas, 1904)

Baptie, David, Musical Scotland Past and Present (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag,
1972)

Blaustein, Richard, “Rethinking Folk Revivalism: Grass-roots Preservationism and Folk

Romanticism”, Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined, ed Neil
V. Rosenburg (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993)

Briggs, Henry B. Dalriada and Ossian Clarsachs or Celtic Harps brochure. NLS
Shelfmark HP1.81.1423

Cheape, Hugh, Tartan: The Highland Habit (Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland,
1991)

Collinson, Francis, The Traditional and National Music of Scotland (London: Routledge
and Kegan Paul, 1966)

Eydmann, Stuart, The Life and Times of the Concertina: the adoption and usage of a
novel musical instrument with particular reference to Scotland (The Open
University PhD, 1995)

Feintuch, Burt, “Musical Revival as Musical Transformation”, Transforming Tradition:

Folk Music Revivals Examined, ed Neil V. Rosenburg (Urbana and Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 1993)

Freshwater, Jane, Harping on Edge: The Clarsach Revival and the Island Communities of
Barra and Eriskay 1974 – 2004 (University of Edinburgh Masters dissertation,
2004)

Hobsbawm, Eric, and Terence Ranger, The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 1983; repr. 1993)

Kennedy-Fraser, Marjory, A Life of Song (London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford

University Press, 1929)

Kennedy-Fraser, Marjory, Songs of the Hebrides (London: Boosey & Co, 1909)

Lanier, S. C., “ ‘It is new-strung and shan’t be heard’: nationalism and memory in the
Irish harp tradition” British Journal of Ethnomusicology vol. 8 (1999), 1-26

137
Linnett, Oona, The Development of the Gut Strung Irish Harp c. 1819 – 1912 (University
of Wales Masters dissertation, 2003)

Livingston, Tamara E, “Music Revivals: Towards a General Theory” Ethnomusicology,

vol. 43:1 (winter 1999), 66-85

The Lyon & Healy Harp: A facsimile of our 1899 Harp Book, reprinted in 1979 in
celebration of our 90th Anniversary (Chicago: Lyon & Healy Harps Inc, 1979)

Magee, John, The Heritage of the Harp (Belfast: Linen Hall Library, 1992)

Marson, John, The Book of the Harp (Suffolk: Kevin Meyhew Ltd, 2005)

McKinney, Rebecca, Old Tunes for New Times: Contemporary Scottish Nationalism and
the Folk Music Revival (University of Edinburgh PhD, 1999)

Munro, Ailie, The Folk Music Revival in Scotland (Surrey: Biddles Ltd, 1984)

Plowright, Dennis G, Dictionary of Violin & Bow Makers (Exmouth: Bartlett Printing
Ltd, 1994)

Pratt, Samuel O., Affairs of the Harp (USA: Colin Harp Music, 1964)

Purser, John Scotland’s Music: A History of the Traditional and Classical Music of
Scotland from Early Times to the Present Day (Edinburgh: Mainstream
Publishing Company Ltd, 2007)

Rattray, David, Violin Making In Scotland 1750 – 1950 (Oxford: British Violin Making
Association, 2006)

Rensch, Roslyn, Harps and Harpists (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1989, repr.
1998)

Rensch, Roslyn, Three Centuries of Harp Making (Indiana: Indiana University Press,
2007)

Rimmer, Joan, The Irish Harp Cláirseach na hÉireann, 2nd edn. (Cork: Mercier Press,
1977)

Rosenberg, Neil V., “Starvation, Serendipity, and the Ambivalence of Bluegrass

Revivalism”, Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined, ed Neil
V. Rosenburg (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1993)

Sanger, Keith, and Alison Kinnaird, Tree of Strings: Crann nan Teud (Temple: Kinmore
Music, 1992)

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Seddon, Patsy, ‘Scottish Harps’, Scottish Harps: Edinburgh International Festival
(August 1998), 16-17

Slobin, Mark, “Rethinking ‘Revival’ of American Ethnic Music” New York Folklore, 9
(1983), 37-44

Thompson, Frank, The National Mod (Stornoway: Acair Limited, 1979)

Watt, Janet, Summary of Archive: Comunn na Clarsaich unpublished, archives NLS

Woolley, Chloë The Revival of Manx Traditional Music: From 1970s to the Present Day
(University of Edinburgh PhD, 2004)

ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

National Library of Scotland Manuscripts Division:

Inventory: Acc. 10247, “Clarsach Society”:

#1: Minute book, 1931-37 with Constitution and Rules and Annual Reports
#2: Minute book, 1936-47 with Annual Reports
#3: Minute book, 1946-57 with Annual Reports
#4: Minute book, 1957-75 with Annual Reports
#4a: Minute book, 1977-89 with Annual Reports
#5: Annual Reports, 1975-90
#7: Constitution and Rules
#10: Greeting cards, Briggs catalogue, 1938
#16: “The Story of the harp in Scotland”, by Jean Campbell
#17: Manuscript music arranged by Jean Campbell
#20: Letters to Jean Campbell. Anonymous letter.
#24: Instructions for playing Morley’s portable harp.
#29: Life stories of Hilda Mary Campbell and Margaret Hewett
#32: “Comunn na clarsaich: a summary of the archives 1931-90” by Janet Watt
#33: 4 audio cassettes of Scottish music, performances by members of the Society
#40-43: Photographs
#57: Harp makers’ catalogues and information
#59: Press cuttings

Mitchell Library Archives:

The Russell-Fergusson Collection of Photographs of Harps From Earliest Times

Volume C: British Isles

Volume F: Players: 1. 1-36
2. 37-80

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Volume G: Large Mounts from Other Sections

The Post Office Glasgow Directory

Years 1910 – 1933

NEWSPAPERS (in chronological order where possible)

“What the Crisis Meant To Me: Glasgow Woman’s Fears for Her Sudeten Husband” The
Weekly News, Saturday (Schreiber personal collection)

“Clarsach Day At the Mod: Some of the Harpists: Medal Class Finalists” The Bulletin,
September 29, 1933 (NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press
Cuttings)

“Glasgow and the Clarsach” The Evening Citizen, Nov 30, 1934, Glasgow Scrapbook,
Mitchell Library. Vol. 17, page 11

“The Science of Musical Instrument Making” Town and Country News, 3 May, 1935
(Schreiber personal collection)

“The Man who Invented Clarsach: Glasgow Craftsman’s Years of Experiment:

Descendant of English Quakers” Glasgow Weekly Herald, September 7, 1935
(Schreiber personal collection)

“I Meet Such Interesting People”, The Sunday Post, September 19, 1937, page 18.
(Schreiber personal collection)

“Germans’ Frantic Appeals To Glasgow Business Man”, The Weekly News May 27, 1939
(Schreiber personal collection)

“The Old Violin Maker is Turning Out His Masterpiece – After Fifty-seven Years:
Coaxes Melody from Wood”, Daily Graphic, April 7, 1948 (Schreiber personal
collection)

“America Wants the Clarsach”, Weekly Scotsman, date unknown, estimated at 1948
(Schreiber personal collection)

“These Craftsmen Make Fine Violins”, Daily Graphic, August 27, 1948 (Schreiber
personal collection)

“Famous Glasgow violin craftsman has retired”, Evening Times, June 8, 1949. (Schreiber
personal collection)

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“James Dow’s Diary: Keep the Briggs business going, says America”, newspaper
unknown, date unknown, but presumably around 1949 (Schreiber personal
collection)

Prichard, Caradog “Harps are One Man’s Life” Everybody’s Mary 6, 1954 (NLS Acc.
10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

“Seventeen Musicians” Scotsman, 1980 (NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society Archives,
#59: Press Cuttings)

Taylor, Liz “The girl with the sycamore harp” The Scotsman January 25, 1982 (NLS Acc.
10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

Anderson, Helen “Just Stringing Along” Evening News March 16, 1985 (NLS Acc.
10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

“Clarsach Course a big success”, Oban Times 1985 (NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society
Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

Jones, Peter “Harp maker wins award” paper and date unknown, estimated 1986 (NLS
Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

“Plucky big to boost harp” paper and date unknown, estimated 1986 (NLS Acc. 10247,
Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

“The Young ones keep harping on” Scotland On Sunday November 20, 1988 (NLS Acc.
10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings)

MAGAZINES (ordered chronologically where possible)

“Artist in Violins” Scotland’s Magazine (July 1949), 14-16 (Mitchell Library)

“From Canada – and She Plays the Clarsach” The People’s Journal (October 15, 1949),
NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings

Clark, Ronald W., “It’s women who like harps” John Bull (May 20, 1950), NLS Acc.
10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings

“Sanderson & Taylor” Scots Magazine (May 1971), NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society
Archives, #59: Press Cuttings

“Over 1100-Mile Journey – For Clarsach Lessons!” The People’s Journal (April 15,
1972), NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press Cuttings

141
Weidensaul, Jane B., “Lyon & Healy: the First Ninety Years” American Harp Journal
Vol. 7, #2 (Winter 1979), 5-9

Gwyther, Matthew, “Modern Times: Stringing Along” The Independent Magazine 3

(December, 1988), NLS Acc. 10247, Clarsach Society Archives, #59: Press
Cuttings)

“Histories of Glasgow companies: William Thomson & Sons”, Glasgow Scrapbook #23,
180-181 (Mitchell Library)

“The dancing harp”, HARPA (2/1991), 29-30

“A new lever-fork device”, HARPA (3/1991), 36

Wurthier, Kora, “Musical Starfish and other Scottish Marvels” HARPA Nr. 9 (1/1993),
14-15

Bryan, Howard, “A Piece of the Puzzle”, American Harp Journal Vol. 15 #3 (Summer
1996), 27-29

Frick, Rudolf, “The Origin of Small Modern Harps” HARPA, No. 16 (winter 1994), 37-
44

Will, Ulla, “Paddy Cafferky – Jan Muyllaert” HARPA, No. 17 (summer 1995), 16-19

Frick, Rudolf, “Wandering Minstrels: Edinburgh Harp Festival 1995” HARPA, No. 18
(summer 1995), 65-68

Fischer, Evelin, “Edinburgh Harp Festival 1996” HARPA, No. 22 (summer 1996), 12-15

“A Century of String Making”, Harp Toda,y Vol. 1 (fall 1997), 25-27

Moor, Martha, “The Swanson Harp Company” American Harp Journal, Vol. 16 #2
(Winter 1997), 12-15

“Wood… Your Harp’s Most Valuable Resource”, Harp Today Vol. 2 (spring 1998), 12-
17

Bryan, Howard, “An American in Mouzeil”, HARPA No. 28 (spring 1998), 46-48

“Tim Hampson, Harp Maker” HARPA No. 34 (2000), 56-57

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LEAFLETS/PAMPHLETS

“Brown & Bruce: Makers of Clarsach and Celtic Harps” promotional leaflet

Christison, Sir A. F. Philip, “The Clarsach”, An Comunn Gaidhealach No. 8 in Series,

1969

Stevenson, Ronald, “Harps of their own sort”, National Library of Scotland Lecture
Series, 1981

Yule, John, “Distinctive Harps” brochure, February 1997

OWN ESSAYS SUBMITTED FOR MSc COURSE (chronological)

“Literature Review”, 12 December 2008

“The Scottish Harp Revival: The Early Years”, 17 February 2009

“Statement and Defence of Theoretical and Methodological Approaches”, 27 February

2009

“Egan’s Portable Dital Harps”, 13 April 2009

CDS

Daunt, Margaret, 31 Strings and a Voice, 1997 Forties Recording Company.

Kinnaird, Alison, The Harp Key Crann Nan Teud, 1996 Temple Records

PATENTS:

Bunker, Robert, “Sharping lever for a musical instrument”, 1990, United States, Patent
No. 4936182 http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4936182.html

Christiansen, Henning (Lyon & Healy, Inc.), “Harp Construction”, 1973, United States,
Patent No. 3739680 http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3739680.html

Clark, Melville, “Harp”, 1914, United States, Patent No. 1105879

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1105879.html

Cunningham, Robert, “Blade sharping device for a lever harp”, 2000, United States,
Patent No. 6080921 http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6080921.html

143
Truitt, Betty R., “Hand-manipulated sharping lever for a harp”, 1998, United States,
Patent No. 5796020 http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5796020.html

WEBSITES

“Allan Glen’s School” http://www.allanglens.com/SchoolHistory.htm (viewed 2/08/09)

“Cam” http://www.answers.com/topic/cam (viewed 21/08/09)

“Mortise and Tenon” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortise_and_tenon (viewed 1/08/09)

“Musikstadt: Markneukirchen” http://www.markneukirchen.de/engl/haupt.php (viewed

31/07/09)

“Norris Harps” http://www.norrisharps.com/ (viewed 27/07/09)

“Organology”
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/20441?q=orga
nology&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit (viewed 05/12/2008)

“Pilgrim Harps” http://www.pilgrimharps.co.uk/ (viewed 27/07/09)

“Polyosymethylene Plastic” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyoxymethylene_plastic

(viewed 4/08/09)

“Queen Mary Harp” http://www.nms.ac.uk/queenmaryharp.aspx Website published by

National Museums of Scotland (viewed 17/02/09)

“Starfish Designs” http://www.starfishdesigns.co.uk/ (viewed 27/07/09)

144
 LIST OF INTERVIEWS

22-06-2009: Starfish Harps, North Ballachulish

28-06-2009: Mark Norris, Peebles

30-06-2009: Alison Kinnaird, Temple

20-07-2009: John Hoare, Pilgrim Harps, South Godstone, Surrey

21-07-2009: Schreiber family descendants, Glasgow

20-08-2009: Catriona McKay, Glasgow

21-08-2009: Jack Yule, Colorado

145