THAT CHATEAU.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20438, 14 December 1929, Page 1 (Supplement)

THAT CHATEAU.

AN UNFORTUNATE NAME.

by matanga

So much else is quite right with the Chateau Tongariro that it is somewhat amazing how sadly wrong is its name. The critics have fleshed their swords to some purpose, although they have been denied the satisfaction of knowing on whom their thrusts have got home. No one has staggered out of hiding to acknowledge the crime against reason and good taste, or to say what moved him or her to commit it. 'Responsibility rests finally with the controlling board, but this authority, like the legal corporation described as having neither body to kick nor soul to save, is apparently accountable to nobody, while the someone who has blundered in choosing the name seems inconsistently to prefer personal anonymity. However, this quaint position absolves the critics from any possible charge of personal animus, so perhaps it is as well that their telling thrusts have been made through the arras. Never was a more unfortunate christening since the one Mark Twain has immortalised. Even against the _ "Tongariro" some objection has been rightly raised, on the score of location. But, in fairness to the nameless sponsor, it must be remembered that this part of the name has justification in the title of the National Park, and that authentic history lies behind it. The earliest way of approach to the chain of peaks lay southward from Lake Taupo, and Tongariro was, therefore, the first of them to be known to Maori or pakeha. Bidwill, the first white man to climb to its summit (in 1839). went to it by this customary route. His exploit is especially memorable as accompanied without native permission. Tho Maoris held this mountain in traditional veneration as the backbone of their tupuna (great ancestor), and in Bidwill's day made much of the fact that Te Heuheu, then the supreme chief of the Taupo tribes, had, like it, a white head. After Bidwill's affront. To Heuheu imposed a special tapu on the mountain, and this ban, although Te Heuheu was then absent on a war excursion to Wanganui. was enforced on Dieffcnbach, two years later. Ho had been the white pioneer in the conquest of Mount Egmont, and went by way of Taupo to the foot of Tongariro, ouly to find this solemn tapu an insuperable barrier to an ascent. Earliest approached, Tongariro naturally got pre-eminence in the first naming of the region. Its supremacy may well remain in nomenclature. So let the "Tongariro" pass. But what can be said for " Chateau fluphony and Meaning. Rightly pronounced, it is musical enough, albeit " Tongariro," given its true Maori utterance, has superior euphony; yet no one will be bold enough to argue that the sound of the whole name, even if more pleasing than it actually is in its juxtaposition of French and Maori, makes it satisfactory. As well try to justify calling a boy Angelina or Clanbel. It is against the meaning of "Chateau, not against its sound, that the critics have levelled their at'tack. There might be made a presentable case for " chalet," with its redeeming Swiss associations, but for "chateau there is no alpine warrant. Essentially it means a strong castle or citadel. R Io import this fortress notion was an unhappy inspiration in a day when the multiplication of forts is reprehended. Parrying this thrust, a defender of the name says that the Chateau Tongariro is externally suggestive of a strong castle or citadel. Ihis defence betrays a poverty of reason. It begs the question, assuming that ihings must always be called what they look like. " Chateau Tongariro," to go no farther for an example, may look like a good name, but it does not follow that it really is one; or, if an additional test be applied, would it satisfy paying guests there if mine host merely iooked the part ? Well, if not " Chateau," what ? Quite sensibly, " Whare " has been suggested. It has two obvious merits, one the avoidance of a hybrid, and the other an acknowledgement of the splendid gift of the region made by Te Heuheu's Maori heirs. On both counts, excellent taste would have been shown. Vagaries of Pronunciation. But " Whare,'' we are told, would be frequently mispronounced. It would. Our use of Maori, alas!—to say nothing of what the tourist from overseas would do—is not above reproach. This word suffers lingual violence; so too does ' Tongariro." But the weapon of this argument is two-edged. What about " Chateau " On the north-bound daylight " limited," two days before the official opening, the building was a subject of much talk: the fact that a special carriage contained a number of passengers going from Wellington to the National Park for the ceremonial event started the talk very early in the journey. Two " chiels " took careful notes of the pronunciation of the name by all and sundry —'irst am: second class, smokers and non-smokers. Their (ally showed nine out of every ten passengers to favour " chat-n," the consonantal opening redolent of chops and chutney, cheese and chicory, chunks and chewing, rather than champagne and cheroots. There's nice discrimination of sounds for you! Some considerable doubt was shown as to where the stress should fall, and the " can " got sometimes cut'into two and almost three svilables. The chosen hybrid got. well and deservedly murdered by Philistine lips. "Te Whare Tongariro " could not have suffered more indignity, certainly not so much. Comprehensive Meaning of " Whare." But there remains a trump card in the chateau-lover's hand, and it is played with a triumphant flourish —" whare means a hut, and who wants this palatial place, to be known as the hut ? The idea is mistaken. " Whare "no more mean's a hut than' vehicle means a pie-cart or dress only dungarees or a bib. It is a Maori generic term for " house " —a house of any kind. That should be generally known. What says Pope about " a little, learning," and " the Pierian spring " ? ; , . This word is one of very comprehensive and often beautiful meaning. In general, it covers overv place of habitation. The Rev. I'. If. Spencer, with a lifelong knowledge of Maori. suggests " Wharepuni " —sometimes the principal house of a kainga, a big bouse in which many sleep. There is, too, the wliarekura. either simply the general meetinghouso or the building in which the tohunga imparled esoteric, lore to his pupils. The whare wbakairo was the bouse adorned with carved designs— "o chief was fully a chief without one. Different adjectives are attached to distinguish houses of of play, of weaving, and so on. What of the whare wananga, the famous house? Very significantly, the word has a highly figurative, meaning, to designate this or that pursuit or art. such as the whare tanere or whare rehia, (he. pursuit of the arts of pleasure. not necessarily anv particular house but the whole cult." The picturesnuely imaginative Maori calls a bank of clouds presaging wind "he whare hau." But why multiply instances of lofty meaning. To sav that "whare" means hut simply will not do. There is reason to suspect (hat. the choice of "chateau" is sheer swank, and quite as much reason to think that " whare " would not keen a single tourist soul away. Instead, if would give guests from overseas something to remember that is our own and to be talked about attractively.