NORFOLK ISLAND STORY

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 473, 16 July 1948, Page 7

NORFOLK ISLAND STORY

Programmes Recorded on the Spot by NZBS

URING the war Norfolk Island was garrisoned by New Zealand troops, many of whom had so much to say in its favour that it has had a steady stream of New Zealand visitors ever since-some to settle; others to dodge their native winter climate. Recently Bryan O’Brien and a technician of the NZBS spent gq fortnight on the island with a tape-recorder, gathering material for broadcasts (to be heard shortly from the ZB stations) about Norfolk’s history, its people and the conditions in which they live in what he calls an "island paradise." The fanciful title, Isle of the Singing Pines,*has been chosen for this feature which will be heard in three episodes. In the first of the three programmes which The Listener heard the other day, there is a foreword by the Administrator, the Hon. Alex. Wilson, who sends greetings from the islanders to New Zealand. The narrator then takes up the tale, with suitable background music. The first episode deals with the gtim days of the penal settlement, and the violent history of a century ago is described graphically. Most of the old prison buildings have now crumbled away, but Bloody Bridge and some of the walls still stand. Guided by Harry Quintal (now 80 years old) Bryan O’Brien visited the site of "Barney Duffy’s Tree," now only a pile of earth. The tree, in which Duffy, an. escapee from the chain-gang had hidden, was burnt down by some visiting vandal. ¢ The second episode is in a pleasanter vein, telling the tale of the settlement of Norfolk by the Pitcairn Island people.

The narrator visits the home of Charlie Et Christian (the "Et" is supposed to distinguish him from sundry other Christians), and talks to a boy of 15, a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian. Then a Mrs. Christian takes pains to explain, on the tape-recorder, that the Pitcairn Islanders now at Norfolk had no connection whatever with the prisoners who were on the island before they arrived. Harry Quintal describes the early whaling days and the methods of present-day fishing. As a preliminary to a visit to the school, the island children. sing the Norfolk Island Ode, and considerable space is given to samples of the native

lingo which the children speak often in preference to English. It is a curious mixture .of Old World English and Tahitian. As Norfolk has a long association with the Melanesian Mission a recording was made of the singing of the Island Choir in the- chapel. Isle of the Singing Pines ends with several of the original Pitcairn Island hymns, sung by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers. The programme will be heard from’ the ZB stations and 2ZA on Sundays, August 1, 8 and 15, in the North Island at 7.30 p.m., and in the South Island at 7.0 p.m., taking the place, on those dates only, of Playhouse of Favourites.