James Ruff,
tenor and early Gaelic harp

Pipe marches to stir the soul, noble laments that bring a tear to the eye, love songs to warm the heart, and stormy politics of 17th and 18th century Scotland and Ireland – James Ruff lends his voice to rare early Celtic music of the Gaelic world, sung in Scottish Gaelic and Irish, and accompanying himself on the wire-strung Clàrsach, whose bell-like tones rang through the great halls of the Gaelic clan chieftans.  Music of the great harpers:  O’Carolan, the Connellans’, Ruaraidh Dall, Denis Hempson, Hugh Higgins, and drawn from the Bunting, Neal, Forde and Straloch manuscripts.