Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1941 (SND Vol. II). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

CLARSACH, CLAIRSHACH, n. The old Celtic harp. Also used attrib.  [′klɑrsɑx, ′klerʃəx]Sc. 1819 Scott L. Montrose v.:
She far exceeds the best performers in this country in playing on the clairshach, or harp.Sc. 1928 W. Jeffrey in Scots Mag. (May) 128:
The torrents leap wi' clarsach voice, And ernes an' ptarmigan rejoice On ilka craig and Ben.Sc. 1990 Sunday Times 18 Nov :
When, back in 1978, Robin Morton, a record producer, sent some tracks of clarsach music to the London company he was working for, he was disappointed, but not too surprised, when they were turned down. Sc. 1992 Herald 3 Dec 12:
The Clarsach will be playing and cocktails are at 7pm. Sc. 1994 Scotland on Sunday 20 Feb :
The Barra event, with its emphasis on teaching everything from Gaelic song to clarsach playing to children of all ages, has become the model for more than 30 similar festivals from Sutherland to the lowlands and even abroad. Sc. 1996 Scotsman 8 Aug 18:
... the Battlefield Band have taken the Queen's Hall for three nights of folky fireworks (16-18 August), with special guests including the Irish flute-player Seamus Tansey, clarsach guru Alison Kinnaird ... Sc. 1997 Edinburgh Evening News 29 Dec 32:
I spent the midnight hour in Tom's church with my left lug virtually jammed against the clarsach of Isobel Mieras providing exquisite accompaniment to Silent Night. Sc. 2004 Press and Journal 15 Dec 3:
The event, at Banchory Town Hall, will feature a saxophone quartet from Cults Academy and local clarsach player Kirsten Zappert.wm.Sc. 1989 Anna Blair The Goose Girl of Eriska 162:
Those songs and legends, the playing of his little clarsach and the pleasure he took in sailing the sounds and firths in fine weather, may perhaps have been a consolation that Lachlan scarcely knew he needed in his unproud position under Olav.