Wire-Strung Harps by Witcher

All of the brass-wire-strung harps are made of maple wood, and have stylized brass horseshoes for string shoes. Witcher will stain the maple in various shades of brown and red to your choice.

Jay Witcher lives in Houlton, Maine, where the maple trees grow that he loves to make his harps from. According to Jay, maple has excellent acoustical properties and strength.

Jay makes a wide variety of harps, including historical copies of the old Irish and Scottish harps that have survived (Trinity, Sirr, O'Ffogerty, Lamont, Queen Mary, others). He makes triple- and double-strung harps, as well as a standard line of nylon- and wire-strung harps. This does not cover all the models he produces (Gothic, Trondheim, etc).

His harps are beautiful to look at and listen to, and he is a master at his craft.

Please  note that there is a waiting time for a Witcher harp and one piece of information we can't get you is the date when your harp will be finished. Witcher harps are crafted one at a time and cannot be rushed.

If you are new to harping, please note that wire-strung harps are played with the fingernails, not the flesh of the fingers (as in nylon- and gut-strung harps). This makes it difficult for you to play both kinds of harps, because you need very short-cut nails to play the standard nylon and gut strings. Also, when playing wire strings, you have to damp the strings after almost every note, because wire strings vibrate just about forever after being plucked. (If you don't damp the vibration, the sound mushes all together.)

Main Harps page on this web site
Harps currently for sale on our showroom floor

W1. Trinity College Style (Witcher Design)

34" tall, 29 strings, A (one octave plus two notes below middle C) up to A. This is the same harp that is shown below, except that it is not decorated. $2200

At left, we show a copy of the decorated Trinity harp, also known as the Brian Boru harp, by Witcher. The historical original is on display in the library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, in the same room as the famous Book of Kells.

The colors on the copy are very bright, as the original harp would have been. Over the years, the colors of the original harp faded, because of the dyes that were used. 

W2. (Not shown.) O'Banahan's Witcher Reconstruction. This harp is very similar to the Trinity College harp above, but smaller.

29" high, 20 strings, G (below middle C) up to E. $1800

W3. Lamont Historical Copy

39" high, 26 strings, C (one octave below middle C) up to G. $3000

W4. Castle Otway Historical Copy

44" high, 32 strings, D (nearly two octaves below middle C) up to G. $3500 Although the harp in the picture at left is decorated, the quoted price is for the plain undecorated model.

W5. Ballinderry Witcher Reconstruction From Fragments

47" high, 36 strings, C (two octaves below middle C) up to C. Weighs about 30 lb. $4000

W6. O'Ffogerty Historical Copy

47" high, 28 strings, C (two octaves below middle C) up to B. $5000

W7. Patrick's Harp (Witcher Design). This is the harp played by Patrick Ball.

56" high, 32 strings, C (two octaves below middle C) up to F. Weighs about 35 lb. $4500

W8. Mullah Mast Historical Copy

65", 32 strings, G (2 1/2 octaves below middle C) up to C. $5000

W9. Sirr Historical Copy

The harp shown at left is the Sirr copy by Witcher; Grainne Yeats plays one like it on her recording of the music from the Belfast festival. This harp has a wonderful deep bass sound. Above (center photo) is a thumbnail closeup of the bird's head on top. Above right, a closeup thumbnail of the shoes on the soundboard. 66" high, 36 strings, F ( 2 1/2 octaves below middle C) up to F.  The matching wooden stand in the photo is included. $5125 A thumbnail photo is one that you can click on and an enlargement of the photo will appear.

W10. Dalway Witcher Reconstruction

From fragments and artwork.

50"high, 27 strings, C (two octaves below middle C) up to A. Seven double notes in middle of range. $4500

W11. Trondheim (Witcher Reconstruction)

W11A. 29", 22 strings, F (below middle C) up to F. $1500

W11B. 33", 25 strings, C (one octave below middle C) up to F. $2000

W11C. 39", 29 strings, F (1 1/2 octaves below middle C) up to F. $2700

W11D. 44", 32 strings, C (two octaves below middle C) up to F. $3300

Click here for Witcher nylon-strung harps.

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The Harp and Dragon
25 Madison St, Cortland, NY 13045 USA
Tel 607-756-7372   Fax/Ans mach 607-756-0366