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FAMOUS SONGS
the Ancient Irish/' and other standard authori-ties. Much information also respecting the harp, particularly in the Highlands of Scotland where it was much used until about the year 1740, will be found in jamieson's " Letters from the North of Scotland/' and John Gunn's " In-quiry;" and from the latter, as giving an inde-pendent statement, I quote the following: "I have been favoured with a copy of an ancient Gaelic poem, together with the music to which it is still sung in the Highlands, in which the poet personifies and addresses a very old harp, by asking what had become of its former lustre ? The harp replies that it had belonged to a King of Ireland and had been present at many a royal banquet; that it had afterwards been succes-sively in the possession of Dargo, son of the Druid of Baal—of Saul—of Finlan—of Oscar —of O'Duivne—of Diarmid—of a Physician— of a Bard—and lastly of a Priest, who in a secluded corner was meditating on a white book" Gunn was born 1765 and died 1810, after a very industrious life. Doubtless it has slipped from the memory of both the Irish and Scottish, and especially the latter, that Ireland was the school of the Highland Scotch, and that it was customary to send to Ireland " all who adopted either poetry or music as a pro-137 |
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