Spanish Peaks International Celtic Harp Retreat

04/27/2026

04/27/2026

02/10/2026

Just found this passage about Marie Antoinette: "from indulgence in lounging habits, it became necessary for a time carefully to bind her back and right shoulder, lest, as she took a fancy to learn music and to play the harp , she should grow up awry and her figure be spoiled. With much pains, and much talking to (of which she complains in her letters, she was brought into shape."

10/12/2025

The ever lovely Julie Norem Hawley playing on the streets of La Veta last summer. Playing down the ghosts of all the harpers and bagpipers who had played on this street in times past.

04/03/2025

Abbotsford, Home of Sir Walter Scott
Scott's daughter , Sophia, played many of the Scottish Border Ballads on the harp for her father and his guests. Her harp was the Erard. The green harp belonged to her sister Anne. Both instruments had 8 pedals.

04/03/2025

Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne (1766-1845)

Carolina Oliphant's upbringing in a staunchly Jacobite family imbued her with a strong sense of the wistful romance of Scotland's history. She channelled her nostalgic feelings, along with her natural talent for music and poetry, into song-writing. At first she rewrote traditional Scots airs to
'purify' their sexual allusions and subversive content, making them acceptable to the country's increasingly moralistic upper and middle classes. Later, she collaborated with Niel Gow to produce new words for his original compositions.
Songs such as " Ye No Come Back Again" have endured to become some of the most popular Scots songs. However, their authorship remained a closely guarded secret until her death, as it was thought inappropriate for a woman of high social status to publish her work commercially.

11/21/2024

How many harps were at YOUR wedding?
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (7 August 1282 – 5 May 1316) , the eighth and youngest daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile, had 9 harpers at her 1297 marriage to Jan of Holland. Not all the harpers were attached to the English Court. one came from the household of a Sottish guest, John 'the Red Comyn'.

10/30/2024

The little girl in this picture is Frances Parke Lewis Butler, the great granddaughter of Martha Washington. Although she was born at Mt. Vernon, she grew up at Woodlawn. Her mother was known for her keyboard musicanship and Fances inherited this talent, playing the harp. The music room at Woodlawn features two harps of the period.