1.
Psaltery
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A psaltery is a stringed instrument of the zither family. The psaltery of Ancient Greece is a harp-like instrument, the psaltery was originally made from wood, and relied on natural acoustics for sound production. In the Christian era, a psaltery consisting of a soundboard with several pre-tuned strings that are usually plucked came into use and it was also known by the name canon from the Greek word κανών, which means rule, principle, and also mode. The modern Greek folk instrument is called by its diminutive, kanonaki, the instrument is usually small enough to be portable, its shape and range vary. From the 12th through the 15th centuries, psalteries are widely seen in manuscripts, paintings and they vary widely in shape and the number of strings. In the 19th century, several related zithers came into use, notably the guitar zither, in the 20th century, the bowed psaltery came into wide use. It is set up in a format so that the end portion of each string can be bowed. Similar instruments include the large cimbalom and the smaller dulcimer, both played using small hammers to hit the strings. Gusli Kantele Nevel Psalterium Santur Zither Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Psaltery, Psaltery Discussion of psalteries, with image from the exhibition Making Musical Instruments, The making of musical instruments in Canada by the Canadian Museum of Civilisation
2.
String instrument
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String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when the performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum—and others by hitting the strings with a wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord or piano, with bowed instruments, the player rubs the strings with a horsehair bow, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician operates a wheel that rubs the strings. Bowed instruments include the string instruments of the Classical music orchestra. All of the string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers. Some types of string instrument are mainly plucked, such as the harp, in the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, string instruments are called chordophones. Other examples include the sitar, rebab, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, in most string instruments, the vibrations are transmitted to the body of the instrument, which often incorporates some sort of hollow or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates, along with the air inside it, the vibration of the body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber make the vibration of the string more audible to the performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is hollow, some, however—such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on electronic amplification—may have a solid wood body. Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments in Ancient Mesopotamian sites, like the lyres of Ur, the development of lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism to tighten and loosen the string tension. During the medieval era, instrument development varied from country to country, Middle Eastern rebecs represented breakthroughs in terms of shape and strings, with a half a pear shape using three strings. Early versions of the violin and fiddle, by comparison, emerged in Europe through instruments such as the gittern, a four stringed precursor to the guitar and these instruments typically used catgut and other materials, including silk, for their strings. String instrument design refined during the Renaissance and into the Baroque period of musical history, violins and guitars became more consistent in design, and were roughly similar to what we use in the 2000s. At the same time, the 19th century guitar became more associated with six string models. In big bands of the 1920s, the guitar played backing chords. The development of guitar amplifiers, which contained a power amplifier, the development of the electric guitar provided guitarists with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers. Electric guitars have magnetic pickups, volume control knobs and an output jack, in the 1960s, larger, more powerful guitar amplifiers were developed, called stacks
3.
Musical instrument classification
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Throughout history, various methods of musical instrument classification have been used. The most commonly used system divides instruments into string instruments, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and percussion instruments, the oldest known scheme of classifying instruments is Chinese and dates from the 3rd millennium BC. It grouped instruments according to the materials they are made of. However, the Chou-Li, an anonymous treatise compiled from sources in about the 2nd century BC, had the following order, metal, stone, clay, leather, silk, wood, gourd. The same order was presented in the Tso Chuan, attributed to Tso Chiu-Ming, more usually, instruments are classified according to how the sound is initially produced. The modern system divides instruments into wind, strings and percussion, the scheme was later expanded by Martin Agricola, who distinguished plucked string instruments, such as guitars, from bowed string instruments, such as violins. Classical musicians today do not always maintain this division, but distinguish between wind instruments with a reed and those where the air is set in motion directly by the lips, many instruments do not fit very neatly into this scheme. The serpent, for example, ought to be classified as a brass instrument, however, it looks more like a woodwind instrument, and is closer to one in many ways, having finger-holes to control pitch, rather than valves. Keyboard instruments do not fit easily into this scheme, for example, the piano has strings, but they are struck by hammers, so it is not clear whether it should be classified as a string instrument or a percussion instrument. Ottoman encyclopedist Hadji Khalifa also recognized the three classes in his Kashf al-Zunun an Asami al-Kutub wa al-Funun, a treatise on the origin. The division pervades Tboli thought about cosmology, social characters of men and women, victor-Charles Mahillon later adopted a system very similar to this. This scheme was taken up by Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs who published an extensive new scheme for classication in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. Their scheme is used today, and is most often known as the Hornbostel-Sachs system. Electrophones, such as the guitar or electric bass, which produce sound through electricity and is required to be plugged in to an amplifier. Later Sachs added a category, electrophones, such as theremins. Modern synthesizers and electronic instruments fall in this category, within each category are many subgroups. The system has been criticised and revised over the years, in 1932, comparative musicologist André Schaeffner developed a new classification scheme that was exhaustive, potentially covering all real and conceivable instruments. The Kpelle of West Africa also use this system and they distinguish the struck, including both beaten and plucked, and the blown
4.
Chordophone
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A chordophone is a musical instrument that makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. What many would call string instruments are classified as chordophones, violins, guitars, lyres, and harps are examples. However, the word also embraces instruments that many would hesitate to call string instruments, such as the musical bow, Hornbostel-Sachs divides chordophones into two main groups, instruments without a resonator as an integral part of the instrument, and instruments with such a resonator. Most western instruments fall into the group, but the piano. Hornbostel and Sachs criterion for determining which sub-group an instrument falls into is that if the resonator can be removed without destroying the instrument, then it is classified as 31. This is not true of the violin, because the passes over a bridge located on the resonator box. Electric string instruments often have a pickup that produces a signal that can be amplified. The electric guitar is the most common example, but many other chordophones use pickups—including mandolins, violins, when a chordophone is played, the strings vibrate and interact with each other. There is usually something that makes the sound resonate, such as the body of a guitar or violin, the strings are set into motion by either plucking, strumming, by rubbing with a bow, or by striking. Common chordophones are the banjo, cello, double bass, dulcimer, guitar, harp, lute, piano, sitar, ukulele, viola and violin
5.
Harp
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The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard, which are plucked with the fingers. Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa and Europe, Harps vary globally in many ways. In terms of size, many smaller harps can be played on the lap, whereas larger harps are quite heavy, different harps may use strings of catgut or nylon, or of metal, or some combination. While all harps have a neck, resonator, and strings, frame harps have a pillar at their end to support the strings, while open harps, such as arch or bow harps. Modern harps also vary in techniques used to extend the range and chromaticity of the strings, the earliest harps and lyres were found in Sumer,3500 BC, and several harps were found in burial pits and royal tombs in Ur. The oldest depictions of harps without a forepillar can be adjacent to the Near East, in the wall paintings of ancient Egyptian tombs in the Nile Valley. These murals show an instrument that resembles the hunters bow. The chang flourished in Persia in many forms from its introduction, about 3000 BC, around 1900 BC arched harps in the Iraq–Iran region were replaced by angular harps with vertical or horizontal sound boxes. By the start of the Common Era, robust, vertical, angular harps, in the last century of the Sasanian period, angular harps were redesigned to make them as light as possible, while they became more elegant, they lost their structural rigidity. At the height of the Persian tradition of illustrated book production, such light harps were still frequently depicted, the works of the Tamil Sangam literature describe the harp and its variants, as early as 200 BC. Variants were described ranging from 14 to 17 strings, and the instrument used by wandering minstrels for accompaniment, another early South Asian harp was the ancient veena, unlike the modern instrument of the same name, the ancient veena was a harp vice the modern lute-type instrument. Some Samudragupta gold coins show of the mid-4th century AD show the king Samudragupta himself playing the instrument, the ancient veena survives today in Burma, in the form of the saung harp still played there. The harp was popular in ancient China and neighboring regions, though harps are largely extinct in East Asia in the modern day, the Chinese konghou harp is documented as early as the Spring and Autumn period, and became extinct during the Ming Dynasty. A similar harp, the gonghu was played in ancient Korea, Harps are essentially triangular in shape, and are made primarily of wood. Harp strings are made of gut or metal, the top end of each string is secured on the crossbar or neck of the instrument, where each will have a tuning peg or similar device to adjust the pitch of that string. It is the distance between the tuning peg and the soundboard, as well as the tension and weight of the string, the body is hollow and when a taut string is plucked, the body resonates, projecting sound. The longest side of the harp is called the column or pillar, though some earlier harps, such as a bow harp, on most harps, the sole purpose of the pillar is to hold up the neck against the great strain of the strings. On harps which have pedals, the pillar is a column and encloses the rods which adjust the pitch of strings
6.
Musical instrument
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A musical instrument is an instrument created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument, the history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have used for ritual, such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment, Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications. The date and origin of the first device considered an instrument is disputed. The oldest object that some refer to as a musical instrument. Some consensus dates early flutes to about 37,000 years ago, many early musical instruments were made from animal skins, bone, wood, and other non-durable materials. Musical instruments developed independently in many populated regions of the world, however, contact among civilizations caused rapid spread and adaptation of most instruments in places far from their origin. By the Middle Ages, instruments from Mesopotamia were in maritime Southeast Asia, development in the Americas occurred at a slower pace, but cultures of North, Central, and South America shared musical instruments. By 1400, musical instrument development slowed in areas and was dominated by the Occident. Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, Instruments can be classified by their effective range, their material composition, their size, etc. However, the most common method, Hornbostel-Sachs, uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of instruments is called organology. Once humans moved from making sounds with their bodies—for example, by using objects to create music from sounds. Primitive instruments were designed to emulate natural sounds, and their purpose was ritual rather than entertainment. The concept of melody and the pursuit of musical composition were unknown to early players of musical instruments. A player sounding a flute to signal the start of a hunt does so without thought of the notion of making music. Musical instruments are constructed in an array of styles and shapes
7.
Lute
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The European lute and the modern Near-Eastern oud descend from a common ancestor via diverging evolutionary paths. The lute is used in a variety of instrumental music from the Medieval to the late Baroque eras and was the most important instrument for secular music in the Renaissance. It is also an instrument, especially in vocal works. The player of a lute is called a lutenist, lutanist or lutist, the words lute and oud possibly derive from Arabic al-ʿud. Recent research by Eckhard Neubauer suggests ʿud may in turn be an Arabized version of the Persian name rud and it has equally been suggested the wood in the name may have distinguished the instrument by its wooden soundboard from skin-faced predecessors. Gianfranco Lotti suggests the wood appellation originally carried derogatory connotations because of proscriptions of all music in early Islam. Lutes are made almost entirely of wood, the soundboard is a teardrop-shaped thin flat plate of resonant wood. In all lutes the soundboard has a single decorated sound hole under the strings called the rose. The sound hole is not open, but rather covered with a grille in the form of a vine or a decorative knot. Robert Lundberg, in his book Historical Lute Construction, suggests ancient builders placed bars according to ratios of the scale length. He further suggests the inward bend of the soundboard is an adaptation by ancient builders to afford the lutenists right hand more space between the strings and soundboard. Soundboard thickness varies, but generally hovers between 1.5 and 2 mm, some luthiers tune the belly as they build, removing mass and adapting bracing to produce desirable sonic results. The lute belly is almost never finished, but in cases the luthier may size the top with a very thin coat of shellac or glair to help keep it clean. After joining the top to the sides, a half-binding is usually installed around the edge of the soundboard, the half-binding is approximately half the thickness of the soundboard and is usually made of a contrasting color wood. The rebate for the half-binding must be precise to avoid compromising structural integrity. The back or the shell is assembled from strips of hardwood called ribs. There are braces inside on the soundboard to give it strength, the neck is made of light wood, with a veneer of hardwood to provide durability for the fretboard beneath the strings. Unlike most modern stringed instruments, the fretboard is mounted flush with the top
8.
Harp lute
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The harp lute, or dital harp, is a musical instrument that combines features of harp and guitar and to increase its compass of the latter. It was invented in 1798 by Edward Light and this instrument consists of a pear-shaped body, to which is added a curved neck supported on a front pillar or arm springing from the body, and therefore reminiscent of the harp. The dital or key, on being depressed, acts upon a stop-ring or eye, which draws the string down against the fret, the fingers then stop the strings as usual over the remaining frets. A further improvement was patented in 1816 as the British harp lute, kora Gravikord This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Schlesinger, Kathleen. Kennedy, Michael, Bourne, Joyce, dital harp, retrieved 10 August 2009 Harp Lute by Edward Light, Metropolitan Museum of Art
9.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
10.
Brittany
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Brittany is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Brittany has also referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain. It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and its land area is 34,023 km². Since reorganisation in 1956, the administrative region of Brittany comprises only four of the five Breton departments. The remaining area of old Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique department around Nantes, at the 2010 census, the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,475,295. Of these, 71% lived in the region of Brittany, while 29% lived in the Loire-Atlantique department, in 2012, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes, Rennes, and Brest. Brittany is the homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the French Republic, the word Brittany, along with its French, Breton and Gallo equivalents Bretagne, Breizh and Bertaèyn, derive from the Latin Britannia, which means Britons land. This word had been used by the Romans since the 1st century to refer to Great Britain and this word derives from a Greek word, Πρεττανικη or Βρεττανίαι, used by Pytheas, an explorer from Massalia who visited the British Islands around 320 BC. This term probably comes from a Gallic word, aremorica, which close to the sea. Another name, Letauia, was used until the 12th century and it possibly means wide and flat or to expand and it gave the Welsh name for Brittany, Llydaw. Later, authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth used the terms Britannia minor, breton-speaking people may pronounce the word Breizh in two different ways, according to their region of origin. Breton can be divided into two dialects, the KLT and the dialect of Vannes. KLT speakers pronounce it and would write it Breiz, while the Vannetais speakers pronounce it, the official spelling is a compromise between both variants, with a z and an h together. In 1941, efforts to unify the dialects led to the creation of the so-called Breton zh, on its side, Gallo language has never had a widely accepted writing system and several ones coexist. For instance, the name of the region in that language can be written Bertaèyn in ELG script, or Bertègn in MOGA, Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic. This population was scarce and very similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe and their only original feature was a distinct culture, called Colombanian. One of the oldest hearths in the world has found in Plouhinec
11.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
12.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
13.
Welsh language
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Welsh is a member of the Brittonic branch of the Celtic languages. It is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, historically it has also been known in English as the British tongue, Cambrian, Cambric and Cymric. The United Kingdom Census 2011 counted 3.1 million residents of Wales, 27% of whom had been born outside Wales, and 73% of whom reported having no Welsh language skills. Of residents of Wales aged three and over, 19% reported being able to speak Welsh, and 77% of these were able to speak, read and this can be compared with the 2001 Census, in which 20. 8% of the population reported being able to speak Welsh. 787,854 of residents in Wales aged three and over had one or more skills in Welsh, in surveys carried out between 2004 and 2006, 57% of Welsh speakers described themselves as fluent in the written language. An estimated 110,000 to 150,000 people speak Welsh in England, Welsh emerged in the 6th century from Common Brittonic, the common ancestor of Welsh, Breton, Cornish and the extinct language known as Cumbric. The Middle Welsh period is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, the name Welsh originated as an exonym given to its speakers by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning foreign speech. The native term for the language is Cymraeg, and for the name of the country of Wales it is Cymru, Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic, the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons. Classified as Insular Celtic, the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and was spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth. During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, evolving into Welsh and it is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Kenneth H. Jackson suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern was complete by around 550, Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to the Cynfeirdd or Early Poets – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was composed in the Hen Ogledd, raising further questions about the dating of the material. An 8th century inscription in Tywyn shows the language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns, the next main period, somewhat better attested, is Old Welsh, poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of the language. Both the works of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin were in this era, Middle Welsh is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts, Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible, albeit with some work, to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The famous cleric Gerald of Wales tells, in his Descriptio Cambriae, during one of the Kings many raids in the 12th century, Henry asked an old man of Pencader, Carmarthenshire whether the Welsh people could resist his army
14.
Breton language
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Breton /ˈbrɛtən/ is a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Brittany. Breton is most closely related to Cornish, both being Southwestern Brittonic languages, Welsh and the extinct Cumbric are the more distantly related Brittonic languages. The other regional language of Brittany, Gallo, is a langue doïl, Gallo is consequently close to French, although not mutually intelligible, and a Romance language descended from Latin. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes has risen 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709, Breton is spoken in West Brittany, roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha and La Roche-Bernard. It comes from a Brittonic language community that extended from Great Britain to Armorica and had even established a toehold in Galicia. Old Breton is attested from the 9th century and it was the language of the upper classes until the 12th century, after which it became the language of commoners in Lower Brittany. The nobility, followed by the bourgeoisie, adopted French, the written language of the Duchy of Brittany was Latin, switching to French in the 15th century. There exists a tradition of Breton literature. Some Old Breton vocabulary remains in the present day as philosophical, during the French Revolution, the government introduced policies favouring French over the regional languages, which it pejoratively referred to as patois. The revolutionaries assumed that reactionary and monarchist forces preferred regional languages to try to keep the peasant masses underinformed, in 1794, Bertrand Barère submitted his report on the patois to the Committee of Public Safety in which he said that federalism and superstition speak Breton. Teachers humiliated students for using their regional languages, and such practices prevailed until the late 1960s, the majority of todays speakers are more than 60 years old, and Breton is now classified as an endangered language. At the beginning of the 20th century, half of the population of Lower Brittany knew only Breton, by 1950, there were only 100,000 monolingual Bretons, and this rapid decline has continued, with likely no monolingual speakers left today. A statistical survey in 1997 found around 300,000 speakers in Lower Brittany, few 15- to 19-year-olds spoke Breton. In 1925, Professor Roparz Hemon founded the Breton-language review Gwalarn, during its 19-year run, Gwalarn tried to raise the language to the level of a great international language. Its publication encouraged the creation of literature in all genres. In 1946, Al Liamm replaced Gwalarn, other Breton-language periodicals have been published, which established a fairly large body of literature for a minority language. In 1977, Diwan schools were founded to teach Breton by immersion and they taught a few thousand young people from elementary school to high school. See the education section for more information, the Asterix comic series has been translated into Breton
15.
Irish language
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Irish, also referred to as Gaelic or Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people. Irish enjoys constitutional status as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland and it is also among the official languages of the European Union. The public body Foras na Gaeilge is responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland and it has the oldest vernacular literature in Western Europe. The fate of the language was influenced by the power of the English state in Ireland. Elizabethan officials viewed the use of Irish unfavourably, as being a threat to all things English in Ireland and its decline began under English rule in the 17th century. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was a decrease in the number of speakers. Irish-speaking areas were hit especially hard, by the end of British rule, the language was spoken by less than 15% of the national population. Since then, Irish speakers have been in the minority, efforts have been made by the state, individuals and organisations to preserve, promote and revive the language, but with mixed results. Around the turn of the 21st century, estimates of native speakers ranged from 20,000 to 80,000 people. In the 2011 Census, these numbers had increased to 94,000 and 1.3 million, there are several thousand Irish speakers in Northern Ireland. It has been estimated that the active Irish-language scene probably comprises 5 to 10 per cent of Irelands population, there has been a significant increase in the number of urban Irish speakers, particularly in Dublin. In Gaeltacht areas, however, there has been a decline of the use of Irish. Údarás na Gaeltachta predicted that, by 2025, Irish will no longer be the language in any of the designated Gaeltacht areas. Survey data suggest that most Irish people think highly of Irish as a marker of identity. It has also argued that newer urban groups of Irish speakers are a disruptive force in this respect. In An Caighdeán Oifigiúil the name of the language is Gaeilge, before the spelling reform of 1948, this form was spelled Gaedhilge, originally this was the genitive of Gaedhealg, the form used in Classical Irish. Older spellings of this include Gaoidhealg in Classical Irish and Goídelc in Old Irish, the modern spelling results from the deletion of the silent dh in the middle of Gaedhilge, whereas Goidelic languages, used to refer to the language family including Irish, comes from Old Irish
16.
Celtic harp
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The Celtic harp is a triangular harp traditional to Brittany, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is known as a telenn in Breton, cláirseach in Irish, clàrsach in Scottish Gaelic, in Ireland and Scotland, it was a wire-strung instrument requiring great skill and long practice to play, and was associated with the Gaelic ruling class. It appears on the coins and coat of arms of the Republic of Ireland, the early history of the triangular frame harp in Europe is contested. The first instrument associated with the tradition in the Gaelic world was known as a cruit. This word may originally have described a different stringed instrument, being related to the Welsh crwth. It has been suggested that the word clàrsach/cláirseach was coined for the triangular frame harp which replaced the cruit, the last two are examples of the small low-headed harp, and are both made from hornbeam, a wood not native to Scotland. All three are dated approximately to the 15th century and may have made in Argyll in western Scotland. Many “Irish” harps from later periods have no provenance and could possibly be of Scottish origin, gerald refers to the cythara and the tympanum, but their identification with the harp is uncertain, and it is not known that he ever visited Scotland. In construction the Irish and Scottish harps may in general be considered as one, a characteristic feature is the metal strings. Historical sources mention various types of wire, including brass and iron, some also argue for the use of silver. The wires were attached to a massive soundbox typically carved from a log, commonly of willow, although other woods including alder. This harp also had a reinforced curved pillar and a substantial neck, the strings, usually played with the fingernails, produced a brilliant ringing sound. This type of harp is also unique amongst single row triangular harps in that the first two strings tuned in the middle of the gamut were set to the same pitch. In Scottish Gaelic, the names of the components of the clàrsach were as follows, amhach, cnagan, corr, com r forepillar), teudan, cruidhean nan teud, the corr had a brass strap nailed to each side, pierced by tapered brass tuning pins. The treble end had a tenon which fitted into the top of the com, on a low-headed harp the corr was morticed at the bass end to receive a tenon on the làmh-chrann, on a high-headed harp this tenon fitted into a mortice on the back of the làmh-chrann. The com was usually carved from a piece of willow. A panel of timber was carefully inserted to close the back. Cruidhean nan teud were usually made of brass and prevented the metal strings from cutting into the wood of the soundbox, the urshnaim may refer to the wooden toggle to which a string was fastened once it had emerged from its hole in the soundboard
17.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
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Wire
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A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads or electricity and telecommunications signals, Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Wire gauges come in standard sizes, as expressed in terms of a gauge number. The term wire is used more loosely to refer to a bundle of such strands, as in multistranded wire. Wire comes in solid core, stranded, or braided forms, edge-wound coil springs, such as the Slinky toy, are made of special flattened wire. In some cases, strips cut from metal sheet were made into wire by pulling them through perforations in stone beads and this causes the strips to fold round on themselves to form thin tubes. This strip drawing technique was in use in Egypt by the 2nd Dynasty, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE most of the gold wires in jewellery are characterised by seam lines that follow a spiral path along the wire. Such twisted strips can be converted into solid round wires by rolling them between flat surfaces or the wire drawing method. The strip twist wire manufacturing method was superseded by drawing in the ancient Old World sometime between about the 8th and 10th centuries AD, there is some evidence for the use of drawing further East prior to this period. Square and hexagonal wires were made using a swaging technique. In this method a metal rod was struck between grooved metal blocks, or between a punch and a grooved metal anvil. Swaging is of great antiquity, possibly dating to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE in Egypt and in the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe for torcs, twisted square-section wires are a very common filigree decoration in early Etruscan jewelry. In about the middle of the 2nd millennium BCE, a new category of decorative tube was introduced which imitated a line of granules. True beaded wire, produced by mechanically distorting a round-section wire, appeared in the Eastern Mediterranean and Italy in the seventh century BCE, a forerunner to beaded wire may be the notched strips and wires which first occur from around 2000 BCE in Anatolia. Wire was drawn in England from the medieval period, the wire was used to make wool cards and pins, manufactured goods whose import was prohibited by Edward IV in 1463. The first wire mill in Great Britain was established at Tintern in about 1568 by the founders of the Company of Mineral and Battery Works, apart from their second wire mill at nearby Whitebrook, there were no other wire mills before the second half of the 17th century. Despite the existence of mills, the drawing of wire down to fine sizes continued to be done manually. Wire is usually drawn of cylindrical form, but it may be made of any desired section by varying the outline of the holes in the draw-plate through which it is passed in the process of manufacture
19.
Ruling class
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The ruling class is the social class of a given society that decides upon and sets that societys political agenda. The sociologist C. Wright Mills, argued that the ruling class differs from the power elite, the latter simply refers to the small group of people with the most political power. Many of them are politicians, hired political managers, and military leaders, a common term used to refer to people who directly influence politics, education, and government with the use of wealth or power is the ruling class. Under the feudal society, feudal lords had power over the vassals because of their control of the fiefs and this gave them political and military power over the people. In slavery, because complete rights of the persons life belonged to the owner, they could. Globalization theorists argue that today a transnational capitalist class has emerged, there are several examples of ruling class systems in movies, novels, and television shows. In the novel Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, everyone is genetically made, the Alpha class is the ruling class because they have the highest positions possible and control most of the world in the novel. This situation can also be found in the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four where Big Brother and the government literally control what the nation hears, sees, and learns. Examples in movies include Gattaca, where the genetically-born were superior and the class, and V for Vendetta
20.
Irish euro coins
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The same harp is used as on the official seals of the Taoiseach, and government ministers and the Seal of the Uachtaran. The coins design also features the 12 stars of the EU, the year of minting and these in turn are surrounded by the 12 stars of the flag of Europe. On the one-euro coin the stars appear on the gold coloured surround with the harp, the colours are in the reverse for the two euro coin. * No coins were minted that year for that denomination ** Data not available yet Limited release in 2010, featuring an Irish hunter horse, Limited release in 2011, featuring a Salmon and smolt. Limited release in 2012, featuring an Irish wolfhound and pup, coins of the Republic of Ireland Identifying marks on euro coins The Euro Information Website – Ireland euroHOBBY Ireland
21.
Coins of the pound sterling
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The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom is denominated in pounds sterling, and, since the introduction of the two-pound coin in 1994, ranges in value from one penny to two pounds. Since decimalisation, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence, from the 16th century until decimalisation, the pound was divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. British coins are minted by the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Wales, the Royal Mint also commissions the coins designs. As of 30 March 2010, there were an estimated 28 billion coins circulating in the United Kingdom, the first decimal coins were circulated in 1968. These were the five pence and ten pence, and had values of one shilling, the decimal coins are minted in copper-plated steel, nickel-plated steel, cupro-nickel and nickel-brass. The two-pound coins, and, as of the 28th March 2017, all the circulating coins have an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse, and various national and regional designs, and the denomination, on the reverse. The exception, the 2008 one-pound coin, depicts the shield of arms on the reverse. All current coins carry a Latin inscription whose full form is ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX, meaning Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen, in addition to the circulating coinage, the UK also mints commemorative decimal coins in the denomination of five pounds. Prior to decimalisation, the denomination was five shillings, that is. Crowns, therefore, had a value of 25p from decimalisation until 1981. Ceremonial Maundy money and bullion coinage of gold sovereigns, half sovereigns, some territories outside the United Kingdom, that use the pound sterling, produce their own coinage, with the same denominations and specifications as the UK coinage but local designs. In the years just prior to decimalisation, the circulating British coins were the half crown, the farthing had been withdrawn in 1960. There was also the Crown, which was legal tender but only minted on special occasions, all modern coins feature a profile of the current monarchs head. The direction in which they face changes with each successive monarch, for the Tudors and pre-Restoration Stuarts, both left and right-facing portrait images were minted within the reign of a single monarch. In the Middle Ages, portrait images tended to be full face, the English silver penny was derived from another silver coin, the sceat, of 20 troy grains weight, which was in general circulation in Europe during the Middle Ages. In the 12th century, Henry II established the silver standard for English coinage, of 92. 5% silver and 7. 5% copper. The coinage reform of 1816 set up a ratio and physical sizes for silver coins. Silver was eliminated from coins, except Maundy coins, in 1947, the history of the Royal Mint stretches back to AD886
22.
Coat of arms
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A coat of arms is an heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to a person, family, state. The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals, the first evidence of medieval coats of arms has been attributed to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. However, that heraldic interpretation remains controversial, coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the social classes of Europe. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, in the German-speaking regions both the aristocracy and burghers used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology, the coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms is and has controlled by the College of Arms. Unlike seals and other emblems, heraldic achievements have a formal description called a blazon. Many societies exist that also aid in the design and registration of personal arms, in the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, wives, undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an apparent or an heir presumptive. Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents and this has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called heraldry. In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, the author Helen Stuart argues that some coats of arms were a form of corporate logo
23.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
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United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
25.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
26.
Origin of the harp in Europe
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The origins of the triangular frame harp are unclear. Triangular objects on the laps of seated figures appear in artwork of the Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales and this page outlines some of the scholarly controversies and disagreements on this subject. The connection of Scotland its love of stringed instruments is both ancient and recorded, an Iron Age lyre dating to circa 300 BC was discovered on the Isle of Skye making it Europes earliest surviving stringed instrument. The earliest descriptions of a European triangular framed harp i. e. harps with a fore pillar are found on carved 8th century Pictish stones, Pictish harps were strung from horsehair. The instruments apparently spread south to the Anglo Saxons who commonly used gut strings and then west to the Gaels of the Highlands, exactly thirteen depictions of any triangular chordophone instrument from pre-11th-century Europe exist and twelve of them come from Scotland. Moreover, the earliest Irish word for a harp is in fact cruit, only two quadrangular instruments occur within the Irish context on the west coast of Scotland and both carvings instruments date two hundred years after the Pictish carvings. The Utrecht Psalter was penned between 816–835 AD, while Pictish Triangular Chordophone carvings found on the Nigg Stone dates from 790–799 AD. and pre-dates the document by up to thirty-five to forty years. Other Pictish sculptures predate the Utrecht Psalter, namely the harper on the Dupplin Cross c.800 AD, the earliest drawings of triangular-frame harps appear in the Utrecht Psalter, written and illustrated in the early 9th century from a scriptorium in Rheims. Ten of the illustrations show figures holding harp-like instruments, and in six of them the forepillar is clearly shown, the Utrecht Psalter was penned between 816–835 AD. and found its way to the scriptorium at Christ Church in Canterbury, England 970AD. However lyres are physically different instruments from triangular harps and it is unlikely the characteristic medieval harp developed from them, gerald of Wales cites the Cythera Kithara of St Kevin playing by Irish abbots and bishops for chants and funeral lamentations. Such instruments were prized in Ireland well into the 12th century, curved arm lyres are depicted on the cross of scriptures at Clonmacnoise, the West Cross at Kells, and the Cross at Castle town County Offaly. Oblique lyres are depicted on the South Cross at Kells, the Crosses of Muirdach, other articles discuss the triangular harp was first appeared in Ireland at the start of the Anglo-Norman invasion. The knowledge and designs of harps and lyres probably arrived in ancient Europe via Grecian regions from the ancient Middle-East. This may have happened as early as in the peak times of the Celtic civilization, as suggested by the lyre fragment found at the High Pasture Cave site. John Bannerman, The Clàrsach and the Clàrsair, in Scottish Studies,3,1991 Keith Sanger and Alison Kinnaird, Tree of Strings – Crann nan Teud, Kinmor 1992 Seamus Roch Ryan, The Sound of Revolution 2006 Henry George Farmer. A History of Music in Scotland London,1947 p.280 Roslyn Rensch, harps and Harpists Indiana University Press,1989 pp. 125–127 Francis Collinson. The Bagpipe, Fiddle and Harp. from Traditional and National Music of Scotland, Routledge & Kegan Paul, reprinted by Lang Syne Publishers Ltd.1983
27.
Crwth
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Four examples have survived and are to be found in St Fagans National History Museum Cardiff, National Museum Wales Aberystwyth, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Other Celtic words for violin also have meanings referring to rounded appearances, in Gaelic, for example, cruit can mean hump or hunch as well as harp or violin. Like several other English loanwords from Welsh, the name is one of the few words in the English language in which the letter W is used as a vowel, the traditional English name is crowd, and the variants crwd, crout and crouth are little-used today. In Medieval Latin it is called the chorus or crotta, the Welsh word crythor means a performer on the crwth. The Irish word is cruit, although it also was used on occasion to designate certain small harps, the English surnames Crewther, Crowder, Crother and Crowther denote a player of the crowd, as do the Scottish names MacWhirter and MacWhorter. In this article crwth denotes the modern, or most recent, a variety of string instruments so designated are thought to have been played in Wales since at least Roman times. Continuous, clear records of the use of crwth to denote an instrument of the lyre class date from the 11th century, Medieval instruments somewhat resembling the crwth appear in pictures as far back as the 11th century, shortly after bowing was first known in the West. In Wales, the crwth long took second place to the harp in the musical hierarchy, the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica mentioned the crwth in an article about transition of instruments from the lyre to plucked and bowed instruments. The crwth consists of a simple box construction with a flat, fretless fingerboard and six gut strings. The original report of that tuning, from which most subsequent others appear to draw their information, jones also states that the tuning procedure began by tightening the highest string as much as possible without breaking it, subsequently tuning the others to it intervalically. Such was not a practice in the days before standardized pitch and was, in fact. A second tuning, reported by William Bingley, features the drones tuned in octaves, traditionally the soundbox, or resonator, and a surmounting yoke in the shape of an inverted U, were carved as a single unit from a block of maple or sycamore. The soundboard, or belly, a piece, was most often made of deal or some other soft wood. Two soundholes, or circular openings about an inch to an inch, the two G strings ran parallel to the fingerboard, but not over it, so those strings were used as fixed-pitch drones which could be plucked by the players left thumb. The remaining strings, which were tightened and loosened with metal harp wrest-pins, one characteristic feature of the crwth is that one leg of the bridge goes through a soundhole and rests on the back of the instrument. Since that piece is flat, unbraced, and usually made of soft wood, all surviving pictures of crwth players show a playing position with the lower end of the crwth braced against the chest, supported with a strap around the players neck. The sound of the crwth was described by medieval poet Gruffydd ap Dafydd ap Hywel as in the hand a hundred voices, a three-stringed version also existed which required less skill and was played by minstrels. Its sound that goes well with the timbres of the harp, for all its technical limitations, the crwth has great charm, and is much more than a historical curiosity
28.
Trinity College harp
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The Trinity College harp is a medieval musical instrument on display in the long room at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. It is an early Irish harp or wire strung cláirseach and it is dated to the 14th or 15th century and, along with the Queen Mary Harp and the Lamont Harp, is one of the three oldest surviving Gaelic harps. The harp was used as a model for the coat of arms of Ireland, the harp may be the oldest existent harp in the world. It is uncertain who commissioned the Trinity College harp, although evidence suggests it was made in the 15th century. It is similar in construction and design to the Queen Mary Clarsach in Scotland and it is likely, however, that the harp was made for a member of an important family, for it is skilfully constructed and intricately ornamented. According to Charles Vallancey writing in 1786, it was once owned by Brian Boru. However, this link was dismissed by George Petrie in 1840 as a clumsy forgery, Petrie dates its construction to the fourteenth, or more probably to the early part of the fifteenth century. The Trinity College harp is the symbol of Ireland, being depicted on national heraldry, Euro coins. A left-facing image of this instrument was used as the symbol of Ireland from 1922. A right-facing image was registered as a mark for Guinness in 1876. All three surviving Gaelic harps are considered to have made in Argyll in South-West Scotland sometime in the 14th–15th century. The harp is of a small Low Headed design with brass pins for 29 strings, one extra bass pin was added at some point in its playing life. In 1961 the harp was exhibited in London, and it was dismantled and reconstructed by the British Museum into the shape it has nowadays. The earlier heraldic and trade mark designs that were modelled on it were based on a form that was the result of a bad restoration in the 1830s. Visitors are therefore often surprised at how wide the real harp is, compared to the harp on Irish coins
29.
Trinity College, Dublin
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Trinity College is the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin, a research university in Ireland. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, originally it was established outside the city walls of Dublin in the buildings of the dissolved Augustinian Priory of All Hallows. Trinity College was set up in part to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy in Ireland, although Catholics and Dissenters had been permitted to enter as early as 1793, certain restrictions on their membership of the college remained until 1873. From 1871 to 1970, the Catholic Church in Ireland forbade its adherents from attending Trinity College without permission, women were first admitted to the college as full members in January 1904. Trinity College is now surrounded by Dublin and is located on College Green, the college proper occupies 190,000 m2, with many of its buildings ranged around large quadrangles and two playing fields. Academically, it is divided into three faculties comprising 25 schools, offering degree and diploma courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The Library of Trinity College is a deposit library for Ireland. The first University of Dublin was created by the Pope in 1311, following this, and some debate about a new university at St. The first Provost of the College was the Archbishop of Dublin, Adam Loftus, two years after foundation, a few Fellows and students began to work in the new College, which then lay around one small square. During the eighteenth century Trinity College was seen as the university of the Protestant Ascendancy, Parliament, meeting on the other side of College Green, made generous grants for building. The first building of this period was the Old Library building, begun in 1712, followed by the Printing House, during the second half of the century Parliament Square slowly emerged. The great building drive was completed in the nineteenth century by Botany Bay. In December 1845 Denis Caulfield Heron was the subject of a hearing at Trinity College, Heron had previously been examined and, on merit, declared a scholar of the college but had not been allowed to take up his place due to his Catholic religion. Heron appealed to the Courts which issued a writ of mandamus requiring the case to be adjudicated by the Archbishop of Dublin, the decision of Richard Whately and John George de la Poer Beresford was that Heron would remain excluded from Scholarship. This decision confirmed that the position remained that persons who were not Anglicans could not be elected to Scholarship, Fellowship or be made a Professor. However within less than three decades of this all disabilities imposed on Catholics were repealed as in 1873, all tests were abolished. Prior to 1956 it was the responsibility of the local Bishop, the nineteenth century was also marked by important developments in the professional schools. The Law School was reorganised after the middle of the century, the Engineering School was established in 1842 and was one of the first of its kind in Ireland and Britain
30.
Queen Mary Harp
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The Queen Mary Harp or Lude Harp, is a Scottish clarsach currently displayed in the National Museum of Scotland. It is believed to back to the 15th century, and to have originated in Argyll. It is one of the three oldest surviving Gaelic harps, the others being the Lamont Harp and the Trinity College Harp, lady Gardyns son had a servant in 1588 called Anthony McEwan McChlairser, which provides a clue as to who might have played this clarsach. The last harpist to play the instrument is noted as John Robertson of Lude, his repertory was preserved in the family, all three surviving Gaelic harps are considered to have been made in Argyll in South-West Scotland at some time in the 14th or 15th centuries. The Queen Mary harp is noted for being the most complete and it is covered in original and intricate carving. The forepillar or Lamhchrann is elaborately carved with a zoomorphic figure. Some traces have been analyzed and identified as vermilion, the decoration includes a number of pieces of Christian symbolism suggesting that the harp may have been made as a commission for a church or monastery. A grave-slab in the chapel at Keills in Knapdale has a carving of a similar in appearance to the Queen Mary
31.
Lamont Harp
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The Lamont Harp, or Clàrsach Lumanach is a Scottish Clarsach currently displayed in the National Museum of Scotland. It is believed to back to the 15th century. Along with the Queen Mary Harp and the Trinity College harp, the Lamont harp was presented to the Robertson family of Lude 1460-1464 as part of a marriage dowry to Charles Robertson of Lude. The Lamont Harp was handed down in the Robertson family and remained at Lude in Perthshire until 1805, in 1880 both clarsachs were deposited by a John Stewart of Dalguise in the National Museum of Edinburgh now the Museum of Scotland, where they remain to this day. The Lamont Harp stands 95 cm tall and 42.5 cm wide and is larger than the 2 other medieval harps. The Lamont harp bears the inscription “Al Stew of Clunie his Harp 165” although this is too late a date for the construction of the harp this may relate to the repair. In 1805 both the Lamont Harp and Queen Mary Harp were exhibited to the Highland society of Scotland and it may be that during its lifetime the Lamont harp was re-strung with heavier, possibly brass wires, in order to change its volume or tone. It is speculated that the original stringing used gold wire in the bass, to achieve satisfactory tone, ann Heymann and others have successfully strung medieval harps with gold bass strings. Student replicas based on measurements from the original are available from the Historical Harp Society of Ireland
32.
Hornbeam
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Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus Carpinus in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the regions of the northern hemisphere. The common English name hornbeam derives from the hardness of the woods and the Old English beam, the botanic name for the genus, Carpinus, is the original Latin name for the European species. Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a family, Corylaceae. Hornbeams are small to medium-sized trees, Carpinus betulus reaching a height of 32 m, the leaves are deciduous, alternate, and simple with a serrated margin, and typically vary from 3–10 cm in length. The flowers are wind-pollinated pendulous catkins, produced in spring, the male and female flowers are on separate catkins, but on the same tree. The fruit is a nut about 3–6 mm long, held in a leafy bract, the bract may be either trilobed or simple oval. The asymmetry of the seedwing makes it spin as it falls, the shape of the wing is important in the identification of different hornbeam species. Typically, 10–30 seeds are on each seed catkin, the 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, with the greatest number of species in east Asia, particularly China. Only two species occur in Europe, only one in eastern North America, and one in Mesoamerica, Carpinus betulus can be found in Europe, Turkey and Ukraine. Hornbeams yield a hard timber, giving rise to the name ironwood. Dried heartwood billets are nearly white and are suitable for decorative use, for general carpentry, hornbeam is rarely used, partly due to the difficulty of working it. The wood is used to construct carving boards, tool handles, handplane soles, coach wheels, piano actions, shoe lasts, the wood can also be used as gear pegs in simple machines, including traditional windmills. It is sometimes coppiced to provide hardwood poles and it is also used in parquet flooring and for making chess pieces. — European hornbeam - widespread across much of Europe, Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, - Nepal, Himalayas of northern India Carpinus fangiana Hu - Sichuan, Guangxi Carpinus hebestroma Yamam. - Tibet, Yunnan Carpinus omeiensis Hu & W. P. Fang - Sichuan, — Oriental hornbeam - Hungary, Balkans, Italy, Crimea, Turkey, Iran, Caucasus Carpinus paohsingensis W. Y. Hsia - China Carpinus polyneura Franch. — Chonowskis hornbeam - China, Korea, Japan Carpinus turczaninowii Hance — Korean hornbeam, - China, Korea, - China, Korea, Himalayas, northern Indochina Acer carpinifolium, hornbeam maple Eichhorn, Markus. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham
33.
Argyll
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Argyll, archaically Argyle, is an ancient shire of western Scotland. At present, Argyll is one of the counties of Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the ancient kingdom of Dál Riata, Argyll was also a medieval bishopric with its cathedral at Lismore, as well as an early modern earldom and dukedom, the Dukedom of Argyll. Between 1890 and 1975, Argyll was a county with a county council, there was an Argyllshire constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 until 1983. The name derives from Old Gaelic airer Goídel, however, the word airer naturally carries the meaning of the word coast when applied to maritime regions, so the placename can also be translated as Coast of Gaels. The mainland area, renamed Airer Goídel, would have contrasted with the islands of Innse Gall. They were referred to this way because during the 9th to 12th centuries, the first record of Argyll as a shire dates from 1326, when a sheriff was appointed. At that time the shire covered a larger area than the later county. It included the islands which later formed Buteshire, which became a shire by 1388. It also included the area of Ross-shire, which was separated from Argyll by an act of 1503, between 1890 and 1975, Argyll had a county council. Argylls neighbouring counties were Inverness-shire, Perthshire, Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Ayrshire are on the other side of the Firth of Clyde. Bute is a county of islands in the firth, the county town of Argyll was historically Inveraray, which is still the seat of the Duke of Argyll. Lochgilphead later claimed to be the county town, as the seat of government for the county from the 19th century. Neither town was the largest settlement geographically, nor in terms of population, argylls largest towns were Oban, Dunoon and Campbeltown. The island of Egg or Eigg was already in Inverness-shire, the use of the County of Argyll for local government purposes ceased in 1975 with its area being split between Highland and Strathclyde Regions. A local government district called Argyll and Bute was formed in the Strathclyde region, including most of Argyll, the Ardnamurchan, Ardgour, Ballachulish, Duror, Glencoe, Kinlochleven and Morvern areas of Argyll were detached to become parts of Lochaber District, in Highland. They remained in Highland following the 1996 revision, in 1996 a new unitary council area of Argyll and Bute was created, with a change in boundaries to include part of the former Strathclyde district of Dumbarton. There was an Argyllshire constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801, the Argyll and Bute constituency was created when the Argyll constituency was abolished
34.
Gerald of Wales
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Gerald of Wales was a Cambro-Norman archdeacon of Brecon and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively and he both studied and taught in France and visited Rome several times, meeting the Pope. He was nominated for several bishoprics but turned them down in the hope of becoming bishop of St Davids and his final post was as archdeacon of Brecon, from which he retired to academic study for the remainder of his life. Born c. 1146 at Manorbier Castle in Pembrokeshire, Wales, he was of mixed Norman and Welsh descent. His mother was Angharad FitzGerald, a daughter of Gerald FitzWalter of Windsor, Constable of Pembroke Castle, and his wife Nest ferch Rhys, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last King of South Wales. Gerald received his education at the Benedictine house of Gloucester, followed by a period of study in Paris from c. 1165–74. He was appointed in 1174 archdeacon of Brecon, to which was attached a residence at Llanddew and he obtained this position by reporting the existence of the previous archdeacons mistress, the man was promptly fired. While administrating this post, Gerald collected tithes of wool and cheese from the populace, upon the death of his uncle, the Bishop of St Davids, in 1176, the chapter nominated Gerald as his successor. St Davids had long-term aims of becoming independent of Canterbury, such an appointment would only give strength to the Welsh and increase their pride. The chapter acquiesced in the decision, and Gerald, disappointed with the result, 1179-8, he studied and taught canon law and theology. He returned to England and spent an additional five years studying theology, in 1180, he received a minor appointment from the Bishop of St. Davids, which he soon resigned. Gerald became a clerk and chaplain to King Henry II of England in 1184. He was chosen to one of the kings sons, John. He followed it up, shortly afterwards, with an account of Henrys conquest of Ireland, both works were revised and added to several times before his death, and display a notable degree of Latin learning, as well as a great deal of prejudice against a foreign people. His account of that journey, the Itinerarium Cambriae was followed by the Descriptio Cambriae in 1194. It is uncertain whether Gerald was a Welsh speaker, although he quotes Welsh proverbs and appears familiar with the language and he turned them all down, possibly in the hopes of landing a more prominent bishopric in the future. He was acquainted with Walter Map whose career shares some similarities with Gerald, retiring from royal service, he lived in Lincoln from c. 1196 to 1198 where his friend William de Montibus was now chancellor of the Cathedral. It was in period that De instructione principis was probably first written
35.
Tympanum (hand drum)
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In ancient Greece and Rome, the tympanum or tympanon, was a type of frame drum or tambourine. It was circular, shallow, and beaten with the palm of the hand or a stick, some representations show decorations or zill-like objects around the rim. The instrument was played by worshippers in the rites of Dionysus, Cybele, the instrument came to Rome from Greece and the Near East, probably in association with the cult of Cybele. The first depiction in Greek art appears in the 8th century BC, the tympanum is one of the objects often carried in the thiasos, the retinue of Dionysus. The instrument is played by a maenad, while wind instruments such as pipes or the aulos are played by satyrs. The performance of frenzied music contributed to achieving the state that Dionysian worshippers desired. From the 6th century BC, the iconography of Cybele as Meter may show her with the tympanum balanced on her arm, usually seated. The Homeric Hymn to the Great Mother says that the goddess loves the sound of the tympanum, the drum continued to feature as an attribute of Cybele into the Roman Imperial era
36.
Keills Chapel
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Keills Chapel is a small chapel located in the west Highlands, Scotland, near the village of Tayvallich, Knapdale. The chapel is in the care of Historic Scotland as is Kilmory Knap Chapel on the shore of Loch Sween. It is open at all times and there is no entrance charge. The name originates from the word keeill, meaning chapel, the original has been moved inside the chapel to protect it from the elements. The complete and well-preserved late 8th-early 9th century cross is carved from local grey-green epidiorite and it is only decorated on one face, the sides and back being dressed smooth without further decoration. Its proportions are unusual, with very short side-arms broader than the shaft, the latter shows the archangel St. Michael standing over a serpent. The lower limb shows Christ on the Judgement Seat and he is holding a book, possibly the Bible or New Testament, symbolising mercy, in his left hand, and a flail in his right, symbolising judgement. There is a design at the crossing, with three round objects in the centre, which may symbolise the Holy Trinity. Around this are four animals representing the four evangelists, keills Chapel – site information from Historic Environment Scotland
37.
Cumdach
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A cumdach or book shrine is an elaborate ornamented box or case used as a reliquary to enshrine books regarded as relics of the saints who had used them in Early Medieval Ireland. Several were then reworked in the Gothic period. Several were carried on a chain or cord, often suspended round the neck and they were also used to witness contracts. Many had hereditary lay keepers from among the families who had formed links with monasteries. Most surviving examples are now in the National Museum of Ireland, only five early examples survive, including those of the Book of Dimma and Book of Mulling at Trinity College, Dublin, and the Cathach of St. Columba and Stowe Missal at the Royal Irish Academy. Only the cumdach for the Gospels of St Molaise survives, while the book is lost and it probably dates to the 8th century and was found in a peat bog near Moylough, County Sligo. Several of the earliest documented examples have now been lost, the Book of Durrows is mentioned below, the Book of Armagh was covered in 937, and perhaps lost its cover when it was captured in battle and ransomed by the Norman John de Courcy in 1177. Once in the shrine it was rarely if ever removed for use as a book. The shrine known as the Domhnach Airgid was originally 8th century, the top face is mainly silvered bronze and silver-gilt and has the four symbols of the Evangelists in the spaces between a cross, with gold filigree knotwork panels. There is a reproduction in New York, probably the best-known is the cumdach for the Cathach of St. It belonged to the ODonnell dynasty and was carried by them as a battle standard in its cumdach. Another cumdach used in battle was that of the Moisach, from Clonmany, County Donegal, whose metal cord survives for carrying it, originally late 11th century, it was recovered in 1534 with repoussé silver decoration with many figures round a cross. The manuscript inside was originally associated with St Cairneach of Dulane, County Meath, the cumdach of the Book of Dimma is from the 12th century, again with a reproduction in New York. On one face it has panels of decoration in Viking Ringerike style. Like the manuscript, it is in Trinity College Library, Dublin, the Stowe Missal of about 750 retains its cumdach, with metalwork plaques attached with nails to a wooden core of oak. The centre of the cross was replaced, probably at the same time as the later face, by a setting for a large stone with four lobed sections. The sides have unsilvered copper alloy plaques with figures of angels, animals, clergy and warriors, the newer upper face, of silver-gilt, is again centred on a cross with a large oval rock crystal stone at the centre and lobed surrounds, and other gems. The inscription invokes a prayer for Pilib Ó Ceinnéidigh, king of Ormond and his wife Áine and it also refers to Giolla Ruadhán Ó Macáin, abbot of the Augustinian priory of Lorrha and the maker, Domhnall Ó Tolairi
38.
Turlough O'Carolan
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Turlough OCarolan, was a blind early Irish harper, composer and singer whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the sense, Carolan is considered by many to be Irelands national composer. Harpers in the old Irish tradition were still living as late as 1792, Ó Hámsaigh did play some of Carolans music but disliked it for being too modern. Some of Carolans own compositions show influences of the style of classical music. Carolan was born in 1670 in Nobber, County Meath, where his father was a blacksmith, the family moved from Meath to Ballyfarnon, County Roscommon in 1684. In Roscommon, his father took a job with the MacDermott Roe family of Alderford House, Mrs. MacDermott Roe gave Turlough an education, and he showed talent in poetry. After being blinded by smallpox at the age of eighteen Carolan was apprenticed by Mrs. MacDermott Roe to a good harper, at the age of twenty-one, being given a horse and a guide, he set out to travel Ireland and compose songs for patrons. For almost fifty years, Carolan journeyed from one end of Ireland to the other, one of his earliest compositions was about Brigid Cruise, with whom he was infatuated. Brigid was the daughter of the schoolmaster at the school for the blind attended by Carolan in Cruisetown. In 1720, OCarolan married Mary Maguire and he was then 50 years of age. Their first family home was a cottage on a parcel of land near the town of Manachain in County Leitrim and they had seven children, six daughters and one son. Turlough OCarolan died on 25 March 1738 and he is buried in the MacDermott Roe family crypt in Kilronan Burial Ground near Ballyfarnon, County Roscommon. The annual OCarolan Harp Festival and Summer School commemorates his life and work in Keadue, a statue was erected to him at his place of birth in 2002, during the Annual OCarolan Harp Festival, the first of which was held in Nobber in 1988. Carolan composed both songs and instrumental music, reflecting various styles of composition. About a third of Carolans surviving music have associated Irish lyrics that survive to this day, largely these lyrics are unknown to the musicians of today, who have for the most part adapted Carolans repertoire to the currently popular Irish fare of jigs and reels. Carolans activities during his career are only partially documented historically, as an example, he is known to have played his song Dr. John Stafford in Staffords parlour at Elphin. As Irish was the majority language in Ireland at the time, as he did not speak English very well, he composed only one song in English, Carolans Devotion. Most of his songs were dedicated to and written about specific individual patrons, many of his tunes are widely performed and appreciated today, and a handful of his Irish songs have been recorded by various artists
39.
Great Highland bagpipe
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The Great Highland bagpipe is a type of bagpipe native to Scotland. It has acquired widespread recognition through its usage in the British military, the bagpipe is first attested in Scotland around 1400, having previously appeared in European artwork in Spain in the 13th century. Though widely famous for its role in military and civilian pipe bands, though popular belief sets varying dates for the introduction of bagpipes to Scotland, concrete evidence is limited until approximately the 15th century. One Clan still owns a remnant of a set of bagpipes said to have carried at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. There are many ancient legends and stories about bagpipes which were passed down through minstrels and oral tradition, however, textual evidence for Scottish bagpipes is more definite in 1396, when records of the Battle of the North Inch of Perth reference warpipes being carried into battle. However, the loss of the chiefs power and patronage. It was soon realised that Highlanders made excellent troops and a number of regiments were raised from the Highlands over the half of the eighteenth century. The custom was revived by the 51st Highland Division for their assault on the lines at the start of the Second Battle of El Alamein on 23 October 1943. Each attacking company was led by a piper, playing tunes that would allow units to recognise which Highland regiment they belonged to. Although the attack was successful, losses among the pipers were high, the Great Highland bagpipe is classified as a woodwind instrument, like the bassoon, oboe, and clarinet. Although it is classified as a double-reed instrument, the reeds are all closed inside the wooden stocks. The Great Highland bagpipe actually has four reeds, the chanter reed, a modern set has a bag, a chanter, a blowpipe, two tenor drones, and one bass drone. The scale of the chanter is in Mixolydian mode, which has a flattened seventh scale degree and it has a range from one whole tone lower than the tonic to one octave above it. The drones are tuned to this note, called A. So the scale sounds actually as A♭, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, historically it was indeed flatter, as evidenced by recordings, and extant instruments. Highland bagpipe music is written in the key of D major, due to the lack of chromatic notes, to change key is also to change modes, tunes are in A Mixolydian, D major, B minor, or occasionally E Dorian. In concert pitch it will be B♭ Mixolydian, E♭ major, traditionally, certain notes were sometimes tuned slightly off from just intonation. For example, on some old chanters the D and high G would be somewhat sharp, today, however, the notes of the chanter are usually tuned in just intonation to the Mixolydian scale
40.
Laird
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Laird is a generic name for the owner of a large, long-named Scottish estate, roughly equivalent to an esquire in England, yet ranking above the same in Scotland. In the Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranks below a baron and this rank is only held by those lairds holding official recognition in a territorial designation by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. They are usually styled of, and are entitled to place The Much Honoured before their name. g. THE HOLDER IS THE LORD OF THE MANOR/LAIRD OF and it is a description rather than a title, and is not appropriate for the owner of a normal residential property, far less the owner of a small souvenir plot of land. It goes without saying that the term ‘laird’ is not synonymous with that of ‘lord’ or ‘lady’, ownership of a souvenir plot of land is not sufficient to bring a person otherwise ineligible within the jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon for the purpose of seeking a Grant of Arms. Historically, the bonnet laird was applied to rural, petty landowners. Bonnet lairds filled a position in society below lairds and above husbandmen, the word laird is known to have been used from the 15th century, and is a shortened form of laverd, derived from the Old English word hlafweard meaning warden of loaves. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the designation was used for land owners holding directly of the Crown, lairds reigned over their estates like princes, their castles forming a small court. Originally in the 16th and 17th centuries, the designation was applied to the chief of a highland clan. The laird may possess certain local or feudal rights, a certain level of landownership was a necessary qualification. A laird is said to hold a lairdship, a woman who holds a lairdship in her own right has been styled with the honorific Lady. Although laird is sometimes translated as lord and historically signifies the same, the designation is a corporeal hereditament, i. e. the designation cannot be held in gross, and cannot be bought and sold without selling the physical land. A laird possessing a Coat of Arms registered in the Public Register of All Arms, several websites, and internet vendors on websites like Ebay, sell Scottish lairdships along with small plots of land. They see their contract purporting to sell a plot of Scottish souvenir land as bestowing them the right to the title Laird. This is despite the fact that the buyer does not acquire ownership of the plot because registration of the plot is prohibited by Land Registration Act 2012, s 22. While tolerating public access, he feels threatened by new legislation, traditionally, a laird is formally styled in the manner evident on the 1730 tombstone in a Scottish churchyard. It reads, The Much Honoured Laird of, the section titled Scottish Feudal Baronies in Debretts states that the use of the prefix The Much Hon. is correct, but that most lairds prefer the unadorned name and territorial designation. By the early 20th century, the wife came to adopt her husbands full surname
41.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
42.
African harp
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African Harps, particularly arched or bow harps, are found in several Sub-Saharan African music traditions, particularly in the north-east. The ennanga, nanga, nnanga or enanga is a type of arched harp played by the Ganda people of Uganda, the sound box is made of a single piece of wood and roughly hemispherical. The top of the box is a stretched resonant membrane made of antelope skin, the neck is attached to the inside of the box, exits through a small round opening on the membrane, and curves upward for about 60 to 70 cm. Seven or eight strings are attached to a piece of wood inside the box, sometimes small metallic rattling pieces are attached to the pegs, to color the sound. It is usually used to accompany mens singing, abalanga are skilled performers and composers who work within a very structured paradigm to ensure that no two abalanga performances are the same. The kundi is the harp of the Azande and related people of Central Africa. It is an instrument traditionally played by men and boys. A similar type of harp played by the Nzakara people, the instruments are well known for their ornately-carved heads. The instrument has fallen from popularity, though in 1993 some older players were recorded on the album Music from the Bandia Courts. African music Kafir harp Kora Gravikord Congolese franc#Second franc, 1997–, one banknote of which has a Zande harp on its reverse Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Nanga
43.
Saung
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The saung is an arched harp used in traditional Burmese music. The saung is regarded as a musical instrument of Burma. The saung is unique in that it is a very ancient harp tradition and is said to be the only surviving harp in Asia. The Burmese harp is classified as an arched horizontal harp since the body is more horizontal as opposed to the Western harp. The main parts of the harp are the body, the curved neck, carved out of the root of a tree. The top of the body is covered with a tightly stretched deer hide. The standard dimensions of the saung are 80×16×16 centimetres, the neck terminates in a highly decorated representation of the bo tree leaf. The whole of the body is decorated with pieces of mica, glass, gilt. The ends of the strings on the harp is decorated with red cotton tassels, the saungs strings are made of silk or nylon. The thirteen to sixteen strings of the harp angle upwards from the bar to the string bindings on the lower part of the curved arch of the neck. Traditionally, tuning was accomplished by twisting and adjusting the string bindings, recently constructed harps have machine heads or tuning pegs to make tuning easier. The traditional silk strings have also been supplanted by nylon strings, a full-sized harp has a body of about 80 cm long,16 cm wide, and 16 cm deep, and the arch rises about 60 cm from the body. Smaller harps have been made for smaller players, the harp is played by sitting on the floor with the body in the lap, and the arch on the left. The strings are plucked with the right hand fingers from the outside, the left hand is used to dampen the strings to promote clarity and produce staccato notes. Stopped tones are produced by using left thumbnail to press against the string from the inside to increase its tension, the Burmese harp is a very ancient instrument. The earliest archaeological evidence of the harp is at the Bawbawgyi temple of the Sri Ksetra kingdom of the Pyu people, at that site, there is a sculptured decoration where the arched harp with about five strings appears in a scene where musicians and a dancer are depicted. This site has dated to the early eighth century. Contemporary Chinese chronicles from the same period cite Pyu musicians playing the arched harp, the harp has survived continuously since that time, and has been mentioned in many chronicles and texts
