NAMING OF HOTELS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21142, 28 March 1932, Page 6

NAMING OF HOTELS.

EARLY AUCKLAND INNS. DISTINCTIVE TITLES LOST. FIRST TAVERN A BRIG. "Why is it that in Auckland stereotyped names are always used for hotels and businesses?" asked an English visitor to Auckland. " Those I have noticed can be fo;ind in any Dominion or in any part of the, United States. Nothing characteristic has been sought, and, if there has been any attempt at preserving associations with Britain in this respect, has been very slight indeed." The visitor thought the value of original name:?, especially for hotels, had not been fully appreciated in New Zealand In England, on the other hand, the greatest care was taken to preserve ancient and quaint names. The day of Blue Boar Inns and Shepherd's Crook Taverns had by no means vanished, and all the traditions of public-houses were maintained to the utmost extent. It was realised that there were attractions for tonrists in upholding peculiarly English distinctions in this way, and it was strange that New Zealand had not evolved anytiling' characteristic. Picturesque Titles Replaced. There is substance in the comment of the visitor. New Zealand public-houseg last, century mainly were known by colourful names, but they have been replaced by obvious and almost standardised titles. The names of Auckland's early hotels possessed wide interest. There were the Bunch of Grapes Hotel, the Red Cow, the Old House at Home, and the Black Bull, all of which have been virtually forgotten. Som.j of the other early hotels, such as the Greyhound in Queen Street, and the Osprey Inn in High Street, were known in all corners of the Pacific when Auckland occupied an important place in sail-ing-uhip trading and as a port of call for the ships of many navies. Unfortunately, the name of the traditional first hotel in Auckland appears to havo been lost, but the establishment itself probably ranked as one of the world's rnosj curious public-houses. It was simply an abandoned brig hauled ashore at the foot of the gully which is now Queen Street. Legend states that the originator of the notion of converting a ship into a tavern was Jack Lewis, a naval man, who died at Te Araroa 20 years ago, at the age of 96. Brig Commandeered. Lewis was a member of the crew of the Admiralty transport Buffalo, which conveyed convicts to Hobart. It, sailed across the Tasrnan Sea to Mercury Bay for the purpose of loading kauri logs, but was wrecked. The crew escaped and travelled by land to the Waitemata Harbour. Auckland then consisted of a dozen huts and was without a tavern. It was this situation which prompted Lewis and his companions to commandeer the brig. Additional bulkheads were put in the vessel, and supplies of rum obtained from trading ships. Two of the names from the days of pewter, parlours and potmen are prominent in Auckland to this day. The Harp of Erin at Green Lane and the Old Stone Jug on the Point Chevalier Road really indicate localities in modern Auckland's eyes. Apart from these names, Auckland is left with a number of Arms and Castles as hotel names to show that it was once a military settlement. The host of a Victoria Street tavern was accustomed to advertise that his establishment had " a snug parlour, next to public gallows." There was a certain airount of justification for the statement. Ore of the first murders in Auckland occurred in a rival inn, and the story goes that the patrons of the Victoria 'Street tavern exhibited a degree of simple pride and triumph at the public execution, which took place only a few yards from tha snug parlour boasted by their host. Early South Island Names. Regret may reasonably be felt that Auckland has cast oft its most picturesque hotel names. It may be called i North Island fault, for the South Island, more especially Otago and Westland, can offer numbers of early names with a strong colonial flavour. The Gridiron, the Golden Age, the Elbow, the MerrtjigS and the All Nations are still in existence, although there is a more essentially New Zealand taste about the Three-Mile, Seven-Mile. Twelve-Mile, Settlers' and Southern Cross hotels. But even in the South Island, most ot the appealing hotel names of the coldmining days liaje been lost. The Coast, where several of the mushroom rrining towns possessed hotels by the score, once could offer such fantastic titles as the Roaring Fancy, High and Handsome, Pouch of Nuggets and Dutch Harry taverns. Their quality was never equalled in the North Island, although the Thames mining population and the residents of several whaling stations made earnest challenges. But reminders of the flights of fancy of the publicans who sorved the miners can be found on crumbling signboards in deserted Westland townships to-day. There is sufficient evidence that New 2lealand formerly had distinctions in the names of its hotels. The present position, when prosaic titles are the order, offers an interesting commentary on the difference between tho tastes of New Zealand and England, which clings religiously to ancient circumstances.