DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1401#0217
d*1
THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR.
165
He is seated on the Lia Fail or Enchanted Stone, said to
be deposited in Westminster Abbey ; he sits in the centre
of a platform, representing all Ireland, which is mapped
out' under him, the coast-line exhibiting prominent
scenery of the four provinces. The panel in front repre-
sents in relief the opening of the Triennial Convention at
Tara in the reign of Cormac " Ulfada," or " Long Beard,"
in the early part of the third century, and anterior to the
introduction of Christianity into the island. Cormac sits
in the centre of the hall, surrounded by ten principal
officers of state, who always accompanied the monarch on
state occasions;—an explanatory key to this panel hangs
beside the object. The
opposite panel represents
the harpers in Tara Hall
performing before the
Monarch and his Queen,
who are seated on a chair
of state, the young Prince
leaning across their
knees ; a canopy formed
by the fossil antlers and
skull of the Giant Deer
supports the drapery; the
Sunburst is embroidered
on the back; heralds and
a body-guard surround
the King, and three
maids of honour stand
behind the Queen; the
harpers enthusiastically
strike their lyres; an
opening in the drapery
discovers the undulating
Hills of Tara, and a
round tower appears in
the distance. The statues
at the four corners are
personifications of Vocal
Music, as it applies to
war, pastoral life, the
drama, and devotion—or,
in other words, the camp,
the field, the stage, and
the sanctuary—compre-
hending the whole range
of song.
We now proceed to
the Standards. The one
emblematical of Warfare
represents a knight of
the twelfth century lean-
ing on his battle-axe, a
group of ancient Irish
armour and weapons of
war completing the
Standard. The corre-
sponding one, symbolical
of Pastoral Life, repre-
sents a country damsel
with her milk-pail listen-
ing to the swain who
plays upon his rustic
flute: this figure repre- .^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
smts an Irish peasant in a dress of Irish home-made frieze.
The remaining part of the Standard is, of course, directly
correspondent, and consists of a beehive, sheaf of wheat,
agricultural implements, and some of their peaceful and
industrial products. The bases of the Standards are en-
graved with ornaments from the harp of Brian Boru ; and
antique letters E.R.I.N. are copied from ornamental
capital letters in the Book of Kells, one of the most
ancient Irish manuscripts.
The whole subject forms a sort of chronological series
commencing 700 years B.C., the date of the foundation of
the Irish monarchy—touching the flourishing state of the
kingdom under Cormac—passing through the chivalric
age of the Crusaders—and ending with the present agri-
cultural age of Ireland, the memorable year 1851.
This beautiful object is carved in bog-yew by the ex-
hibitor, Arthur Jones, Stephen's-green, Dublin.
The following particu-
lars relative to the re-
storation of the Ancient
Harp preserved in the
Dublin University Mu-
seum, and commonly
called the Harp of Brian
Boru, have been furnish-
ed us by the exhibitor,
Dr. Bull: —"The tra-
dition attached to the
original is, that some
time after the death of
Brian, who was killed
at the battle of Clontarf
by the Danes, in 1014,
it was, with other re-
galia, presented to the
Pope in Rome; subse-
quently a successor to
his holiness sent it a3
apresent to Henry VIII.,,
by whom it was returned
to Ireland, to be figured
on his coins, in compli-
ment to the musical taste
of the Irish. In the
course of the last cen-
tury it was given to the
University Museum in a
mutilated state. Erom
this imperfect condition,
in which the broken bow
was fastened down on the
sounding-board, so as to
cover over three of the
string-holes, the form so
commonly used in em-
blematical devices was
devised. The present
director of the Museum
having observed the mu-
tilation, restored the parts
of the harp to their proper
position, and supplied
the lost portions from
analogy. They consist
of about five inches of
the lower end of the bow
and the.foot of the harp ;
the national emblem, the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ shamrock, which is seen
on the original, having two leaves of a scroll pattern, hasbeen
carried down in the restoration on the part supplied. The
I.H.G. in one of its early forms is engraven on the arm. The
harp, when perfect, had thirty strings ; and though it i$
now impossible to prove that it really was the property
-----------r-----------„_, _ of Brian Boru, it has not been questioned that it is the
the stretcher connecting them is decorated with ancient ! oldest known Irish harp. Doubts thrown on its being of
Insh musical instruments, accompanied on either hand by the antiquity ascribed to it were founded on very im-
the mermaid and banshee, whose syren songs and dismal | perfect examination of the instrument, and from a coat of
cries afford subject-matter for the old Irish poems, ballads, I arms rudely nailed upon it, and assumed to be a part of
and legendary tales. The lower stretcher is ornamented the original instrument, but which it would seem probable
ANCIENT IRISH HARP,
in the centre by a bunch of shamrocks, embosomed in the
heart of which are the letters V. and A. tied by a true
lover's knot, and the date 1851 inserted. The four curious
were nailed on by way of ornament in 1760, when it is
said it was carried in procession in Limerick. On the
visit of the Queen to Ireland the harp was exhibited,
>m
THE ILLUSTRATED EXHIBITOR.
165
He is seated on the Lia Fail or Enchanted Stone, said to
be deposited in Westminster Abbey ; he sits in the centre
of a platform, representing all Ireland, which is mapped
out' under him, the coast-line exhibiting prominent
scenery of the four provinces. The panel in front repre-
sents in relief the opening of the Triennial Convention at
Tara in the reign of Cormac " Ulfada," or " Long Beard,"
in the early part of the third century, and anterior to the
introduction of Christianity into the island. Cormac sits
in the centre of the hall, surrounded by ten principal
officers of state, who always accompanied the monarch on
state occasions;—an explanatory key to this panel hangs
beside the object. The
opposite panel represents
the harpers in Tara Hall
performing before the
Monarch and his Queen,
who are seated on a chair
of state, the young Prince
leaning across their
knees ; a canopy formed
by the fossil antlers and
skull of the Giant Deer
supports the drapery; the
Sunburst is embroidered
on the back; heralds and
a body-guard surround
the King, and three
maids of honour stand
behind the Queen; the
harpers enthusiastically
strike their lyres; an
opening in the drapery
discovers the undulating
Hills of Tara, and a
round tower appears in
the distance. The statues
at the four corners are
personifications of Vocal
Music, as it applies to
war, pastoral life, the
drama, and devotion—or,
in other words, the camp,
the field, the stage, and
the sanctuary—compre-
hending the whole range
of song.
We now proceed to
the Standards. The one
emblematical of Warfare
represents a knight of
the twelfth century lean-
ing on his battle-axe, a
group of ancient Irish
armour and weapons of
war completing the
Standard. The corre-
sponding one, symbolical
of Pastoral Life, repre-
sents a country damsel
with her milk-pail listen-
ing to the swain who
plays upon his rustic
flute: this figure repre- .^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
smts an Irish peasant in a dress of Irish home-made frieze.
The remaining part of the Standard is, of course, directly
correspondent, and consists of a beehive, sheaf of wheat,
agricultural implements, and some of their peaceful and
industrial products. The bases of the Standards are en-
graved with ornaments from the harp of Brian Boru ; and
antique letters E.R.I.N. are copied from ornamental
capital letters in the Book of Kells, one of the most
ancient Irish manuscripts.
The whole subject forms a sort of chronological series
commencing 700 years B.C., the date of the foundation of
the Irish monarchy—touching the flourishing state of the
kingdom under Cormac—passing through the chivalric
age of the Crusaders—and ending with the present agri-
cultural age of Ireland, the memorable year 1851.
This beautiful object is carved in bog-yew by the ex-
hibitor, Arthur Jones, Stephen's-green, Dublin.
The following particu-
lars relative to the re-
storation of the Ancient
Harp preserved in the
Dublin University Mu-
seum, and commonly
called the Harp of Brian
Boru, have been furnish-
ed us by the exhibitor,
Dr. Bull: —"The tra-
dition attached to the
original is, that some
time after the death of
Brian, who was killed
at the battle of Clontarf
by the Danes, in 1014,
it was, with other re-
galia, presented to the
Pope in Rome; subse-
quently a successor to
his holiness sent it a3
apresent to Henry VIII.,,
by whom it was returned
to Ireland, to be figured
on his coins, in compli-
ment to the musical taste
of the Irish. In the
course of the last cen-
tury it was given to the
University Museum in a
mutilated state. Erom
this imperfect condition,
in which the broken bow
was fastened down on the
sounding-board, so as to
cover over three of the
string-holes, the form so
commonly used in em-
blematical devices was
devised. The present
director of the Museum
having observed the mu-
tilation, restored the parts
of the harp to their proper
position, and supplied
the lost portions from
analogy. They consist
of about five inches of
the lower end of the bow
and the.foot of the harp ;
the national emblem, the
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ shamrock, which is seen
on the original, having two leaves of a scroll pattern, hasbeen
carried down in the restoration on the part supplied. The
I.H.G. in one of its early forms is engraven on the arm. The
harp, when perfect, had thirty strings ; and though it i$
now impossible to prove that it really was the property
-----------r-----------„_, _ of Brian Boru, it has not been questioned that it is the
the stretcher connecting them is decorated with ancient ! oldest known Irish harp. Doubts thrown on its being of
Insh musical instruments, accompanied on either hand by the antiquity ascribed to it were founded on very im-
the mermaid and banshee, whose syren songs and dismal | perfect examination of the instrument, and from a coat of
cries afford subject-matter for the old Irish poems, ballads, I arms rudely nailed upon it, and assumed to be a part of
and legendary tales. The lower stretcher is ornamented the original instrument, but which it would seem probable
ANCIENT IRISH HARP,
in the centre by a bunch of shamrocks, embosomed in the
heart of which are the letters V. and A. tied by a true
lover's knot, and the date 1851 inserted. The four curious
were nailed on by way of ornament in 1760, when it is
said it was carried in procession in Limerick. On the
visit of the Queen to Ireland the harp was exhibited,
>m