Harp Stories

Historically the harp has produced many legends and myths. One from Scotland is particularly interesting, since most legends have a particle of truth. One day a young boy was playing on a beach in Scotland where he found and object floating close to shore. He picked it up and set it up against rocks to dry. The object was bow shaped and had strings. He noticed that when it had dried he began to hear wonderful sounds coming from the object. He became obsessed by it and tried to reproduce the sound but could not. He then spent the rest of his life playing this harp. The truth about this legend is if a harp is outside and in a position for the wind to filter through the soundboard and strings there will be ethereal sounds emanating from the instrument, which can't be reproduced.

I love to playing for weddings, all are beautiful, some are very funny. One such, is a wedding in a park which happened to be under the flight path for commercial airlines. I arrived to find the bridal party all wore costumes, the bride was Maid Marion, the groom Robin Hood, the attendants, his merry men and of course the minister was Friar Tuck. There was no seating so people just stood around. Since this was on a sunny Saturday afternoon and the park was a busy place there were plenty of uninvited guests. It was extremely difficult to hear anything being said due to the planes overhead. Occasionally in between planes there was a welcome quiet during one brief interlude just as the bride and groom were exchanging their vows a young boy, one of the wedding guests loudly announced, "This is very boring."

One never to be forgotten ceremony involved a dog. He was rather elderly and had a mind of his own. He belonged to the minister and was well used to people and weddings. Most people loved him and he never bothered anyone, went to church regularly liked to watch a wedding from the sidelines. One member of this wedding party decided she did not want the dog anywhere near the church and proceeded to try to drag him away by the neck. This did not sit well with the dog, and as he was quite large simply refused to move. The minister quietly suggested to just leave him alone and everything would be OK. The damage however was done when she tried again. The wedding got underway and everything was fine, the bride's long train flowed out majestically as she and the groom exchanged their wedding vows. Just as this occurred the DOG made his stately entrance from the side door and slowly walked straight across the bridal train and out the other side. I have it from good authority that the minister said, "The bride was lucky the dog only walked across her train."

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