The Birth of The Harp.

Here is another story of a couple who lived by the sea and it’s called,

The Birth of the Harp.

Once upon a time long long ago there lived a man and a woman in a little cottage by the sea.

The man’s name was Séan and he was a farmer. His wife Mary was an angry woman who spent her life chastising him.

One day Séan returned from his work and sat down at the table. Mary came in from outside and seeing Séan she began to scold him.

"Why are you still at the table?" asked Mary impatiently.

" I’ve just sat down to my lunch five minutes ago. I've been in the fields all day!" replied Séan.

"Well, get back out to the fields. You still have work to do. Take your bread and cheese with you," grumbled Macha.

"Let me get a drink of milk first. It's hot outside," Séan said.

"Don't drink it all. It needs to last for a while."

Séan said, "Mary, will you never be satisfied?"

"How can I be satisfied when you sit in the house all day and do nothing?" grumbled Mary.

Séan grabbed his lunch and walked out of the house slamming the door behind him.

"She never stops complaining," muttered Séan. "I wish I could find just one thing that would make her happy."

A few days later, Mary and Séan were on the beach gathering seaweed. As usual, Mary was grumbling.

Suddenly she stopped.

"What is that sound?" she whispered.

They listened. it was the most haunting sound they had ever heard. Where was it coming from? Séan and Mary couldn’t figure it out.

They kept on walking, searching for the wonderful sound.

All they could see were the bones of a whale that had died on the beach. However, as they stood and looked at the skeleton, Séan noticed that the sound seemed to be coming from the bones. As the wind blew, the sound got louder. When the wind stopped blowing, the music stopped, too.

Séan said, "The wind is causing the music as it blows through the bones."

"It’s the most soothing sound I’ve ever heard," said Mary in a quiet, calm voice.

And Mary was calm and uncomplaining for the rest of the week!

Séan was surprised but pleased with Mary’s new behaviour. He began to think about it. He finally decided that it must be the music that had changed Mary.

"I must find a way to keep the music close to her. That way she will stay happy," said Séan to himself.

"I know what I will do," he said three days later. He went and cut down a large tree. He bought some catgut. He shaped the wood into the shape of the whale's rib bones. He made strings of the catgut and attached them to the wood. Then he painted and polished the wood. It was beautiful!

Séan brought the instrument into the house. He strummed the strings and waited. Mary came out from the back room. She had a lovely smile on her face.

"Oh, Séan," she whispered, "you have brought the music to me! It is so beautiful! You’ve made me so happy!"

She sat down and began to pluck at the strings. It was as if she was born knowing how to play. She played and played.

And Mary was happy from that day forward. Séan was even happier because she no longer complained.

Some say that is how the first harp came to be.  Of course there are other theories.