Friends, family, and members of the Heartland Harp Ensemble explored the “land of song.”
By Fiona Potts
As a Dulcimer Players News reader, you may already be familiar with Lorinda Jones as a mountain dulcimer teacher and player. You may not know that she also plays the harp. She is, in fact, so talented that she can even play both at the same time. (No, I’m not kidding.)
It was the harp that took her and other members and friends of the Heartland Harp Ensemble from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on a journey to Wales in June. This ten day trip was the third in a series of international sojourns based around the three Celtic lands which were most influential for the development of the harp and which were in turn most influenced by the harp in terms of history and culture.
“To a Welshman, a harp is a very precious and personal thing. There was a law in ancient Wales which said you could seize for debt all a man’s possessions – his house, his cattle, his land, even his wife … but not his harp!”
John Weston Thomas, harp maker
First was Ireland in 2014, which included a visit to the home of the famous blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan. In 2016 they visited Scotland, the World Harp Congress, and the Isle of Skye. The trip to Wales was originally planned for 2020, but postponed until this year because of the pandemic.
Maria Flynn Conway, originally from Ireland but now living in the US, and her staff at Celtic Journeys created the custom itinerary. When she spoke with me about the trip, Jones reflected that it was Conway’s local connections and ability to find unique places, sometimes a little off the beaten path, that made the tour special. Having the logistics taken care of also made the trip more relaxing and enjoyable.
Baths in Bath
The expedition began with a visit to Stonehenge, followed by a stay in the historic town of Bath in southwestern England. Bath was the “Las Vegas” of eighteenth century England, renowned for its healing hot springs and bath houses. At one time it was home to Jane Austen, and she references the Grand Pump Room, a well-known hotel, in her novels “Northanger Abbey” and “Persuasion.”
The group’s time in Bath included a visit to Austen’s home and a private concert by the Pump Room Trio, which was originally founded as the Pump Room Orchestra by Beau Nash in the late 1700s. According to The Roman Baths (romanbaths.co.uk), “the group is believed to be the longest-established resident ensemble in Europe,” with musicians historically providing music and entertainment for the bathers.
One of the songs the Pump Room Trio performed was “The Hole in the Wall,” a tune which Jones said took on more meaning later in the trip when they found the actual hole in the castle wall on Hole in the Wall Street in northern Wales.
Welsh Facts
- The harp is the national instrument of Wales. The Welsh word for harp is telyn.
- Wales has a history of blind harpers, the most notable of whom was Blind John Parry of Ruabon, also known by his bardic name Parri Ddall, Rhiwabon, who died in 1782.
- National symbols of Wales include the dragon (draig), daffodil (cennin pedr), and leek (cennin).
- Wales has a population of 3.1 million people, about 900,000 of whom speak Welsh, according to the Annual Population Survey conducted by the Welsh government in 2023.
- Image: “A Bard receiving the Silver Harp as a mark of preeminence in his Science that is rather unfinished.” p. 441 of Thomas Pennant’s “A Tour of Wales” circa 1781, from an illustrated volume in Pennant’s own library. Image from the National Library of Wales.
Dulcimer Diversion
Another song that became more memorable during their travels was “My Little Welsh Home,” by W. S. Gwynn Williams, because of their visit to the home of mountain dulcimer player Geoff Black. He lives right at the border of England and Wales. He and his playing partner Duncan Gibbs gave the group a concert, which highlighted the connection between British ballads and Appalachian songs, followed by a picnic lunch.
Jones said the parallels between Welsh and Appalachian folk songs became more apparent as the group moved on to northern Wales – a connection made clearer by seeing places like Snowdonia National Park first hand. Both the Appalachian mountains and northern Wales are relatively isolated, preventing the traditional music from becoming more widespread, but also keeping it relatively insulated from outside influence.
Conwy
The next stop was the historical town of Conwy, including Conwy Castle, which was one of a series of castles built by King Edward I of England after his conquest of Wales in the late 1200s. From across the pond it is easy to think of Wales as just another region of the United Kingdom and forget its history of fighting for independence and autonomy from England.
One highlight of the time in Conwy was a trip to Llandudno for a concert at St. John’s Methodist Church featuring famous Welsh harper Dylan Cernyw and the Welsh Male Voice Choir (Côr Meibion) Hogia’r Ddwylan.
Part singing has a long history in Welsh culture, even being mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis in his book “Description of Wales” circa 1194.
Photo by Lorinda Jones.
Welsh Triple Harp Society
Another highlight for the harpers was a visit to Oriel Môn, a museum and art gallery on the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn). There they were greeted by Huw Roberts, traditional musician and member of the Welsh Triple Harp Society, who curated the exhibit “Tair Hen Delyn” (Three Old Harps) which is on display at the museum until Feb. 18, 2024.
Photo by Lorinda Jones.
While they toured the museum, they got to hear the society rehearsing for their concert. They did not need to speak the same language to understand what was being said during rehearsal – the same questions and clarifications that need to be covered at every rehearsal. This sort of universality was part of one of the larger lessons that Jones took away from her travels, a reminder of how small the world is and that “we’re all just people trying to get by, and music helps us make it through.”
After enjoying the concert, tea, and scones, the group received a lesson in playing the triple strung harp. Jones explained that there are many different types of harps, featuring a variety of methods for obtaining all the notes needed to play different songs. What she and the ensemble generally play are lever harps, with a single row of strings and levers to sharpen or flatten the notes. Pedal harps have a more sophisticated mechanism for changing the string length and are now more commonly used in the orchestra to accommodate the more chromatic music. There are also double strung harps, which have two parallel rows of strings with the same notes.
The Welsh triple harp has three rows of strings: two on the outside like the double strung harp, plus an offset row in the middle with the sharps and flats. Another big difference between the instruments, Jones explained, is that they are played resting on opposite shoulders. This might not sound like much to a non-player, but because it reverses the hand position, it would be somewhat equivalent to reversing the order of the strings on a dulcimer, or flipping it in your lap.
Famous Welsh tunes
- “Land of my Fathers” (Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau): the unofficial Welsh national anthem, words written in 1756 by Evan James to a tune by his son James James.
- “The Ash Grove” (Llwyn Onn): sung by the miners in the 1941 film “How Green was my Valley?” and the tune of the hymn “Let All Things Now Living.”
- “All Through the Night” (Ar Hyd y Nos): today’s popular English lyrics “Sleep my love and peace attend thee, all through the night” were written by Harold Boulton and included in his anthology “Songs of the four nations: a collection of old songs of the people of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales” circa 1893.
- “New Year’s Eve” (Nos Galan): tune of the carol “Deck the Halls.” For more about the history of this carol, see Wales: The Evolution of ‘Deck the Halls’.
Coming home
The trip ended with a flight out of Manchester, so before they left, the group made a final stop in nearby Liverpool. They spent the night in the Hard Days Night Hotel, and saw Penny Lane, John Lennon’s childhood home, and Strawberry Field.
I asked Jones what she took away from the experience, and she commented that so many of the people they saw were flattered but surprised to find themselves interesting enough to merit inclusion on the tour. For them, they are just going about their everyday lives. She said that while she loved being a part of the community, getting to know new people, and seeing the beauty of Wales, the trip also served as a reminder to take the time to appreciate the wonderful things in her own backyard.
Lorinda Jones and the Heartland Harp Ensemble presented “The Wonder of Wales: A Celtic Journey,” a lecture and concert about their trip, at the Floyd County Library, New Albany Branch, on Sept. 1, 2023, as part of the First Fridays concert series sponsored by the Community Music Alliance of New Albany, Indiana. You can view a video recording of the performance at bit.ly/dpn-wales.
Find Lorinda online at LorindaJones.com and Lessonface.com/LorindaJones.