Origin of the harp in Europe

Triangular objects on the laps of seated figures appear in artwork of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, as well as other parts of north-west Europe.

A bridge thought to be from an Iron Age lyre, and dating to around 300 BC, was discovered on the Isle of Skye which would make it the earliest surviving stringed instrument from western Europe.

The instruments apparently spread south to the Anglo Saxons who commonly used gut strings and then west to the Gaels of the Highlands and to Ireland.

[12] The first true representations of the Irish triangular harp do not appear till the late eleventh century in reliquary and the twelfth century on stone and the earliest harps used in Ireland were quadrangular lyres as ecclesiastical instruments,[7][12][15] One study suggests Pictish stone carvings may be copied from the Utrecht Psalter, the only other source outside Pictish Scotland to display a Triangular Chordophone instrument.

The earliest drawings of triangular-frame harps appear in the Utrecht Psalter, written and illustrated in the early 9th century from a scriptorium in Rheims.

[25] Gerald of Wales cites the "Cythera" Kithara of St Kevin playing by Irish abbots and bishops for chants and funeral lamentations.

[9] The first true representations of the Irish triangular harp does not appear till the late 11th century in reliquary on the St. Moedoc shrine,[9][12][15] while the Gospel of St Maelruain from the same period still traditionally depicts a lyre with three strings.

[a] This may have been happened as early as in the peak times of the Celtic civilization, as suggested by the lyre fragment found at the High Pasture Cave site, dated to approximately 300 BCE.