[WELSH a.] A name specifically applied to the triple-strung harp; also called Welsh triple harp.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, Masque, For Honour of Wales, Wks. (1641), 33. Yow s’all heare the true Pritan straines now, the ancient Welse Harpe.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, 13 June 1649. With him was one Carew, who play’d incomparably on the Welsh Harp.
1753. Scots Mag., May, 215/1. A Welch-harp.
1876. Stainer & Barrett, Dict. Mus. Terms, s.v. Harp, The triple or Welsh harp, with three rows of strings, two rows tuned diatonically in unisons or octaves, the third or inner row arranged to supply the accidentals, sharps or flats.
1880. Encycl. Brit., XI. 489/2. The comparatively modern Welsh triple harp is always strung with gut.
1889. Grove, Dict. Mus., IV. 443. Welsh Triple Harp.
