A Night with Otago Pioneers

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 22, 13 December 1929, Page 8

A Night with Otago Pioneers

Something Unique at 4YA ON the night of December 21 4YA, Dunedin, will recapture the atmosphere of the earliest days of pioneer settlement in New Zealand and broadcast it for the entertainment of listeners. The romance of the emigrant sailing ships, the arrival and welcome by the Maoris, the primitive, and astonishingly successful amenities with which the pioneers laid the foundation of social life and culture in New Zealand will all be, as far as is humanly possible, incorporated in this unique programme, The first section of the programme will deal with the voyage out»in the emigrant ships. A number of old diaries in the custody of the Otago DWarly Settlers’ Association have been placed at 4YA’s disposal in order to obtain the proper atmosphere. These contain some really good stories, to be used for the first time since they were written long ago by the first emigrant settlers. Mr. Bert Rawlinson, chanty leader of the Otago Master Mariners’ Association, with a group of master mariners, at least half a dozen of whom will be retired captains of the sailing ship days, will sing sea chanties as they were really sung in the days of sail ships-capstan chanties, when the fiddler sat on the capstan. whilst the men sang as_ they tramped the circle and weighed the anchor; and hoisting chanties, when the men sang as they pulled up the ropes and pulled to the time of the chanty, will be a feature of this section of the programme. The second section of the programme will be the arrival of the emigrant ships. There will be a distinctly Maori atmosphere, with ,hakas, plaintive Maori melodies, poi dances. Old Scottish songs as sung by the pioneers will be a feature of this section. Mr. Steele, a member of the Board on Maori Antiquities, will tell a Maori legend of the coming of the pakeha. The third and last section of the programme will deal with the seitlement of Otago. The southern station has been exceedingly fortunate in obtaining the co-operation and assistance of Mr. William Paterson, secretary of the Otago Barly Settlers’ Association, and a relay line will operate from the very fine museum in Mr. Paterson’s charge at Dunedin. Selections will be played on the first piano made in New Zealand; on the first organ imported into Otago-a barrel organ actually used in the first Bpiscopalian Church, and still wonderfully sweet in tone in spite of its great age; one the first locally-made pipe organ; and on an old oboe used and admired by ‘"Rabbie Burns," Scotland’s national bard. The skirl of the pipes will be heard in this section of the programme, the

pipes in this case /being~none other than those actually used in the Relief of Lucknow, probably the most famous set of pipes in the world. In spite of their age they are very well preserved, and will give a good account of themselves. It is interesting to recall that the public telephone was used in those early days between Invercargill and the Bluff, a primitive instrument that called with a blare of sound, and in which transmitter and receiver were combined. The sound of this early instrument will be heard from 4YA in this part of the programme. , Not the least delightful interesting part of this section should be the "Round the Mike" chat between Big

Brother Bill and some of the remaining pioneers. An_effort will be made to have among these Mr. John Bain, almost the last survivor of those who came in the first group of emigrant ships. Mr. Bain is naturally of great age, but his memory of those earliest days is still unimpaired, and his stories well worth hearing. Another of the Pilgrim Fathers is Mr. McKay, chairman of the Taieri Road Board, who will also be heard during the programme, The entertainment will commence with the striking of the hour on the

ship’s bell of the old "Magnet," the first sailing ship to bring emigrants to Otago, in this case the famous Johnny Jones and his Waikouaiti settlers of 1840, and will end with the pipes skirling again "The Campbells are Coming" and "Auld Lang Syne," the same pipes and the same tunes that brought hope to the besieged in the City of Lucknow in Indian Mutiny Days. In between the beginning and the ending of the programme, listeners will feel again the motions of hope and victory, of courage and endeavour, that belonged to the long,\ago.days when the pioneers emigrated. from their native land to earve out: another national home, and make cities for themselves and their descendants in the wilderness.