20/07/2026
‘Is cáidh gach ceol go cruit’ ☘️
An old Irish proverb meaning, “Harp music surpasses that of all other instruments.”
The word cáidh is an old Irish word that means “holy” or “pure”.
Its language belongs to the older Gaelic manuscript tradition, and reflects the place of the harp in medieval Irish society. Under the Brehon Laws, while other musicians were regarded as entertainers, the harpist alone held noble status, with the right to sit alongside chieftains and poets, own property and make laws 📜
In the Gaelic order, every seat reflected a person’s rank and the harpist occupied one of the highest places.
Like so many Irish proverbs, it survived through generations of oral tradition in the Gaeltacht before being recorded by folklore collectors in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It remains one of the most enduring expressions of the esteem in which the harp and its music have long been held.
The tune I’m playing here comes from Siúil a Rúin, one of Ireland’s oldest and most cherished songs. Thought to date from around the seventeenth century, it tells of love, longing and separation, and is remarkable for weaving together both Irish and English, reflecting a period of great change in Ireland’s history. Like so much of Ireland’s music, it was carried from one generation to the next through oral tradition before eventually being written down.
I love how the sound of the harp and these old melodies seem to hold something of the landscape itself. They echo the mountains, the Atlantic coast, the wildness of the west and the quiet of the valleys. It is as though the land has its own voice, and through these ancient tunes, it continues to speak. 🏔️🌿
