MUSINGS ON SHIPS AND SAILS OF LONG AGO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22949, 29 January 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

MUSINGS ON SHIPS AND SAILS OF LONG AGO

TT i' 3 fitting indeed that on Anniversary Day the flutter of white sails should once again stir our memories with thoughts of the ships of long ago. For the sight of their sails filled the early citizens of Auckland with a joy scarcely to be understood by us in times of frequent communication by air, land and sea. In the 'fifties and 'sixties a sail on the horizon meant probable news of Home after months of anxious waiting ; meant'that Auckland's diminished stock of provisions would be replenished; in fact a sail at sea meant that the whole of Auckland would be agog 1 What a contrast lies between the dazzling white sails of our pleasure craft flitting like birds about the beautiful, shining harbour, and the battered sails of the old sailing ships—sails beneath which strong men and frail women had looked upward to the Southern Cross, their souls filled with a courage sure and strong as the strength of the winds filling the great storm-tossed sails above theml To An Untamed Land Therefore, as we watch with keen appreciation the grace of movement, and the dexterity of the management of our regatta yachts, let us remember with gratitude the old sailing ships which Brought our forefathers in safety through incredible vicissitudes to the then wild, untamed- land of New Zealand. ">$ Such names as the Duchess of Argyle, Jane Gifford, Lady Jocelyn, Duke of Portland, Raven, Joseph Fletcher, Cashmere, Josephin® Willis, Barbara Gordon, Gwalior, Cresswell, City of Auckland, Bombay, Sir George Sale and Inchinnam, should stand as honoured in the early history of Auckland as those of the American Clipper and the Centaurus to-day. What more fitting toast could be drunk on Anniversary Day than to "The Sails of Long Ago." and as wo lift our glasses let there be special honour in our hearts to the fibre sails of the historic canoes in which the Maori people braved and conquered the vast Pacific —the sails of the Arawa, the Tainni, the Matatua and the Aotea. No wonder that the felling of the giant totara of which a canoe was to bo fashioned, was made such fin occnsion'of ritual and ceremony by the Maori, for when paddling her, did not tho wills arid the bodies of moro than a hundred warriors become as one great spirit, strong enough to conquer the very fierceness of the elements. Event of the Year Since tho early days of Auckland, Anniversary Day h* lß always been celebrated by a regatta. In the good old times it was considered the one great social event of the year. No modern lady choosing her attire for the summer races could ever be in such a flutter of concentrated delight as was her pioneer grandmother when decking herself for the regatta. The approach of the regatta meant that tho auctioneers Connel and Riding did a record trade in yards of gay silks, striped' cottons, and sprigged muslins, not forgetting ribbous.and" velvet bows. While, as for the frills on tho chddren s long white pantaloons —their "getting

Old-Time Anniversary Days

By A. L. RUDDOCK

up" necessitated the buying Tip of all the starch procurable in Auckland.

Then mama was really worried about her crinoline. The last paper, nine months old and just arrived from England, said fashion decreed they must be larger than ever. Well then, the only thing for it was that dear papa really must spare a few strands of wire off the pig-stye for her to make just one larger hoop and if the pigs did escape into the bush —well, Anniversary Day only came once a year, and of course papa could have the wire back next. day. You see, to go on board the "flagship" one simply had to wear, the very latest! Hair in Curl Papers Mama was worried too about papa's whiskers. Had he enough wax? If not he might have the candle and they would all go to bed in the dark. And how it would be a good thing if they did all get to bed early, as papa really must have the horse in the cart by five in the morning if they were ever to drive the twenty miles over those appalling colonial roads in time to see anything of the regatta at all. . . . And it was no good Amelia wriggling so, little girls who wouldn't have their hair in decorous curl papers for the night couldn't possibly be taken the next day to the regatta.

It is said that Queen Victoria caused a mild sensation by eating sandwiches while driving home after the great Jubileo service in the Abbey, yet decades before she set that fashion, the elite of Auckland at© sandwiches when driving into "town" to view the regatta, sandwiches made of homemade bread which had been baked in a camp oven and filled with slices of delicious home-cured ham —ham from

"the first pig dear Algernon had ever killed himself." However, of that memorable feat we will not go into details.

The first regatta in Auckland was held on September 18, 1840, It consisted of three races and purses of five sovereigns were the stakes. The last race of the three was between two large native canoes. Picture the brilliant sunshine, the magnificent Maori warriors in full glory of their- tattoo, their muscles rippling under their shining skins with as much apparent ease as the ripples on the shining Waitemata itself, as they paddled their graceful canoes at a pace which left the white spectators speechless. Toasting the Queen We read that on Regatta Day the Queen's health was drunk at the foot of the flagstaff. On subsequent Anniversary Days the toasts were by no means forgotten and the roaring trade done by the Windsor Castle, the Royal George, the Strand, the Harp of Erin, the Old Stone Jug, etc., makes modern Christmas trade appear as dull indeed. Ship after ship had to be duly honoured in strong spirit. Aye, Englishmen throughout the centuries have always loved and honoured well a brave ship, and 110 musings on ships and sails would be in tlio least complete without some mention of tho accomplished by the little ships which made England leap to sea fame in the sixteenth century. Ships of lesser tonnage have since accomplished greater distances but to appreciate fully tho splendour of the Elizabethan seamen we must remember that their expeditions were made into unknown and uncharted seas. Perhaps the courago of the great Elizabethan seamen such as Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Gilbert, Cavendish and Barlow laj in their simple faith in God; a faith not unlike that of our early colonists in its great simplicity. Thus dawns Anniversary Day. A flight of white sails passes gently on the sea and a . flight of proud memories passed quietly in our hearts I