A TOUR ROUND NORTH WALES. 273 



merly fo much in ufe in Wales, that 

 to play upon it was an accomplifhment 

 indifpenfibly requifite for every gentle- 

 man, and upon this it was that the chief 

 mufician, ufed formerly to perform in the 

 courts of the Princes of Wales. 



The moft ancient harp of thefe coun- 

 tries, now remaining, is an Irifh one, 

 tvhich is faid to have belonged to Brian 

 Boiromh, King of Ireland, who was 

 (lain in battle with the Danes, at Clon- 

 tarf, near Dublin, in the year 1014. 

 It is depofited in the Library of Trinity 

 College, Dublin. It has onlyafingle row 

 of firings, is not quite a yard high and of 

 extraordinary good workmanfhip. The 

 found board is of oak, the pillar and comb 

 of red fallow, and the extremity of the 

 uppermoft bar, or comb, in part is capt 

 with filver, extremely well wrought and 

 chifeled, and it has been otherwife ele- 

 gantly ornamented. It has had twenty 

 eight firings. The bottom on which it 

 refts is a little broken, and the wood 



VOL. n. U is 



