Definition of "clàrsach"

Thrice, with the same result, his hand / Upon the chords he laid— / He turned the keys, but harsher sound / The trembling clàrsach made: / In honor of the mother, then, / A planxty he composed, / And perfect was the harmony / Until the strain was closed.

1854, William H[owe] C[uyler] Hosmer, “Carolan’s Prophecy”, in The Poetical Works of William H. C. Hosmer, volumes II ([…]), New York, N.Y.: Redfield, […], page 338

In the sea-loch now known as that of Tarbert of Loch Fyne, but in the old far-off days named the Haven of the Foray, there was once a grianân, a sunbower, of so great a loveliness, that throughout all lands of the Gael the strings of the singing men’s clàrsachs ceaselessly stirred to it, as at a breath of the beauty of all beauty.

1899, Fiona Macleod , section III, chapter section I, page 275

Repairs of the highest quality are still very much part of their business but to this they have now added the sale of musical instruments including their own clàrsachs, for which the orders are pouring in from the U.S.A. and many places in Europe.

1972, The Strad, page 281

My harp, my clàrsach, my fiddle, my stringed instruments wherever I go: when I was young, a little girl, your coming would cheer my spirits, you’d get a kiss without having to ask, and I feel now you have a right to one.

2020, Dorothy Brown, “From ‘A Song to Alasdair Mac Colla’”, in Peter MacKay, Jo MacDonald, editors, 100 Dàn as Fheàrr Leinn / 100 Favourite Gaelic Poems, Luath Press, published 2023

A minstrel was ushered in with his clàrsach by one of the servers and given a chair. The man sat down and started to pluck the strings to the melodious sounds of “Sir Patrick Spens.”

2022, Roma Cordon, Bewitching a Highlander, CamCat Publishing, LLC