Dofhreagrach
As 'dofhreagrach' apparently contains a negative suffix, it might seem a strange term to use in
relation to the production of concordance. The absence of the word from MS12 f18v raises a
question mark over its authenticity. It makes an unpublished appearance, replete with fada
mark, as 'dó fhreagrach' in MS37 item 17 where it is translated as 'the double responsive'.
It is possible that someone made a note of 'freagrach' for the bass strings and 'Do. freagrach'
for the treble, meaning 'ditto freagrach'. This may later have been taken by someone to
represent the a single word 'do-fregrach'. Page 22 of Bunting's 1840 Introduction actually
presents the term as two separate lexical units by showing a gap and using capitalisation thus:
'Do Fregrach'.
The significance of the term 'dofhreagrach' is that it ensures that names of strings in the treble
and bass are not duplicate, eg, 'dofhreagrach téad na feola' versus 'freagrach téad na feola'.
Giving each string a distinct name in connection with tuning might not have been a concern of
the harpers however.
Leathleagadh
Another likely combination of original terms and English adjuncts can be found in p34 of the
same volume which gives the entries 'Leagadh' & 'Orleath leagadh'. This probably derives from
an original note of 'leagadh or leath leagadh'. Bunting noticeably defines 'leathleagadh' as 'a
falling' and 'leagadh' as 'a half fall' when the converse would be correct.
One inference from this could be that the same grace was called both, 'leathleagadh' being the
more complete form. This grace contrasts with the grace called 'leagadh anuas' or 'falling down'
where the hand genuinely moves downwards. The term 'leagadh' or 'leathleagadh' might
originally have related to the Welsh harp terms 'crafiad' (scratch) and 'haner crafiad' (half
scratch) in which the hand moves upward, so the falling would appear to refer to the finger being
placed on a string to dampen it after having struck another string.