Fornaidhm
Bunting gives the term 'anfhoirshnadhaim' ('the pin board, or wooden pegs, to which the
strings are fastened') on p30 of the 1840 Introduction.
.
He strangely describes the harp pins as being (impractically) made of wood. He marks the
following terms as coming 'from the information of Arthur O'Neill &c' and these all appear in
two places.
reference
p20
p32
p20
p32
p20
p32
p20
p30
p20
p34
term
com
com
cor
cor
cru na d-tead
crunadted
an fhoirshnadhaim
anfhoirshnadhaim
lamhcrann/lamchrann
lamhchrann
com
crú na ttéd
an fhóir
an fhóir-shnadhaim
- ur-shnadhaim
lámh-chrann
given translation
waist or belly
waist, or belly
the pin board
music pin board
shoe of the strings
shoe of the strings
the wooden pegs
the pin board, or wooden pegs
the front pillar
front pillar
the waist, the belly
the shoe of the strings
the row (the pin board) or arrangment
the knotting of the row or arrangment
the hand-wood, (arm or pillar of the harp)
These names too refer more properly to the stringing or construction of the instrument rather
than to the tuning. Bunting and McDonnell at least tried to collect the names for the main
features of the harp and the above represents the main portion of the fruits of that attempt.
It is notable that the term 'crú na dtéad' is singular in form. This might imply that the raised
band is a single 'crú' (horseshoe) into which the wires are put as nails are put into horseshoes.
MS37 item 17 contains a handwritten list which includes the above terms and which use a
more reliable and consistent Irish spelling. Here are the above terms as they appear in MS37.