HAWAII SCOTS
APRIL 6TH WAS 'NATIONAL TARTAN DAY'...Tartan is commonly known as 'plaid' in America. We hope you will all join us in wearing an item of tartan material that day to remember our heritage.
The contribution of the immigrant Scots upon North America is considerable and throughout Canada and America Scots and their descendants have taken the anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath (1320) as their national date to celebrate their Scottish roots.
In Canada in 1991, the Ontario Legislature passed a resolution proclaiming April 6th as Tartan Day. On March 20th 1998, the American Senate Resolution 155 (S.Res. 155), proposed by US Senate Republican majority leader Trent Lott, was passed unanimously, declaring the same date National Tartan Day.
HOT MAUI NEWS.........
Saturday, April 12th - The Performance Reading of KA'IULANI, THE ISLAND ROSE took place at the The Steppingstone Playhouse, Kahului (second floor of the Queen Kaahumanu Center), produced and narrated by JJ Fahrni, and directed by David Johnston of the Maui Academy of Performing arts (MAPA). All members of the community were invited to attend this free event, and encouraged to give feedback at this developmental stage. With a cast of 17, the piece was well received with a standing ovation from the audience.
A new play written and researched over the past five years by JJ Fahrni and Carol Harvie-Yamaguchi. It celebrates the life of a brave young girl who overcame great sorrow to become Hawaii's 'Hope of the Nation.' The script is a period piece (years 1885-1893) surrounding the life of Princess Victoria Ka'iulani Cleghorn. The play covers a controversial period in Hawaiian history where several members of the musical Kalakaua Royal Family are depicted, as well as other well-known politicians and ladies of the day. It is not widely known that Princess Ka'iulani was a child of dual heritage, her mother being the willful and tempestuous Hawaiian Princess, Miriam Likelike, and her father, the Scottish entrepreneur, Archibald Cleghorn. This remarkable child of two races was educated in Hawai'i and the British Isles and was heir to the Hawaiian throne at the time of annexation.
At the young age of seventeen, the young princess fought courageously for her country in its hour of need. Ka'iulani was also instrumental in changing the world's prejudiced view of the Hawaiian people.
This public reading will ultimately lead to a large stage production (with music) for Hawaii, which will first be performed here in Maui. Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian actors of all ages are still needed. Anyone wanting to take part in or sponsor the stage production is encouraged to contact David Johnston, Executive and Artistic Director of MAPA at 808-244-8760, or email islandroseplay@aol.com.
Many people of Hawaiian ancestry, that do not have a Polynesian last name, may find that part of their genealogy to be of Celtic origin, especially Scottish. Over the years after European contact a lot of Scots settled in the Hawaiian Islands.
The following text was gleaned from various sources, much of it based on information contained in a fabulous book "The Story of Scots in Hawaii" published by 'The Caledonian Society of Hawaii', and available from the Maui Celtic 'Storefront' on the right.
The British ships 'Resolution' and 'Discovery' sighted the Islands in January 1778. Mostly crewed by Englishmen, there were also a few Scots, Irish, and Welshmen. The famous explorer Capt. James Cook, thought of as a Yorkshireman, was actually the son of a Scottish carpenter. With him was William Anderson, a young Scotsman - the ships surgeon and naturalist - and the artist John Webber. These men were, as far as we know, the first Europeans to step ashore on the Hawaiian Islands, on Kauai, on January 21st 1778. Cook was initially mistaken for a reincarnation of the Hawaiian god Lono. The ships returned a year later to Hawaii, again to a fine welcome, and stayed several weeks. Soon after leaving, they were caught in gale force weather and damaged, and the ships limped back into Kealakekua Bay in Hawaii to a cooler reception -- maybe this was not Lono after all. Probably due to a misunderstanding by the visitors, of the concept of the Hawaiians' (and most ancient cultures) notion of communal property, a series of events ended on February 14th, 1779 , in an out of control retreat by Cook and his sailors, and during a skirmish Capt. James Cook died.
Over
the years visiting Scots came and went, but the earliest settler may have been
Capt. Stewart, who stayed in Kawaihae, Hawai'i, and served King Kamehameha, king
of Hawai'i Island, who had conquered Maui, Moloka'i and Lana'i, and in 1810 he
united the Hawaiian Islands. Later Capt. Alexander Adams commanded King Kamehameha's
ships. Kamehameha designed the stripes on his own flag, to represent the inhabited
islands, and accepted Adams' suggestion of the Union Jack , creating the Hawaiian
Flag. In 1817 Adams' ousted a Russian fort that had been built at Waimea, Kauai.
In 1823 King Liholiho made him the Honolulu harbour pilot.
A Scotsman revered for his services to the Hawaiian Monarchy was Robert Crighton Wyllie. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1845-1865, served Kings Kamehameha 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and fought for the preservation of the Hawaiian Monarchy and Nation for many years, seeking treaties from the encroaching maritime superpowers of Britain, France and the United States, recognising Hawai'i as an independent nation. Possibly he saw that the histories of his native Scotland and the small Pacific Nation of Hawai'i had similarities - feuding clans finally united under one ruler, threatened by stronger countries wanting to add them to their colonies. Wyllie also founded Princeville on Kauai. He died in 1865 and was buried in state near the kings he served by the Royal Mausoleum on Oahu.
Several Scottish Naturalists came to Hawai'i. William Anderson landed with Cook in 1778, and over the first four decades of the 1800's others followed, including David Douglas, after whom the Douglas Fir is named, who died in mysterious circumstances on the Big Island of Hawai'i.
The early 1800's saw the start of the sugar industry on the islands, with Wyllie and the Sinclairs having plantations on Kauai in the 30's and 40's. By the 1850's plantations were all over the Islands, staffed with Scottish engineers, book-keepers and managers. Scottish machinery engineers would accompany the equipment to Hawai'i, with so many Scots on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, that it was known as "The Scots Coast".
In 1881 King David Kalakaua went to Scotland, visited Glasgow and Edinburgh, sailed up Loch Lomond , and was entertained by the pipe band of the 42nd Highlanders, The Black Watch. King Kalakaua's sister Princess Miriam Likelike was married to a Scot - Archibald Cleghorn - who arrived at age 16 and became a Honolulu businessman. Their daughter, born 1875 was Princess Ka'iulani, heir to the throne as King Kalakaua and Queen Lili'uokalani had no children. Had the Monarchy continued, the Hawaiian Queen would have been half Scottish. The famous Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson was a friend of Princess Ka'iulani , and even wrote a poem for her , when she went off to school in the U.K.
The above text was gleaned from various sources, much of it based on information contained in a fabulous book "The Story of Scots in Hawaii" published by 'The Caledonian Society of Hawaii', and available from the Maui Celtic 'Storefront' on the right.
A look in today's telephone books of the Islands will reveal a large amount of Scottish surnames, the descendants of settlers who through the years arrived in Hawaii, and found a place as beautiful as their far mountainous homeland, filled with people similar to those they left behind with a special welcoming spirit.......ALOHA.
There are Scottish organisations in the Hawaiian Islands, namely 'The Caledonian Society of Hawaii', 'The Hawaiian Scottish Association' and the 'St.Andrew Society of Hawai'i' -- all can be accessed on our links page. 'The Hawaiian Scottish Association's' yearly 'Scottish Festival' is normally held in Kapiolani Park, Waikiki on the first weekend in April.
Maui Celtic can be found in the
trade tent all weekend, nearby the Clan tent, where you can find out more
about your family history. There are also Pipe Bands, traditional
music and dancing and Highland Games. 'The Caledonian Society of Hawaii' hold
functions on Oahu throughout the year, including a Robert Burns Night Dinner.
On Maui there is a Scots community scattered across the island, that celebrates
Robert Burns Night (Jan 25th) - a celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns
(1759-1796).......Maui Celtic's own Hamish is always there playing the pipes at the first one
- an informal gathering on the oceanside lawn area of the Kihei Sirfside condos
in South Kihei (used to be at Hale Kamaole condos) - they hava pupus, music, poetry of course, Scottish Country dancing, and 'piping in the haggis'...........
The other Burn's Night is presented by MAUI CELTIC at Maui's Irish Pub, "Mulligan's
on the Blue" in Wailea, and has been a great success. The boys of the "Maui Celtic Pipes
and Drums" and the Scottish MC (this year John Crowe - past years Andrew and Prakash) are there in full dress uniform, and all the Burns Night traditional
ceremonies take place, including 'The Selkirk Grace', the piping in and the Address
'To A Haggis', many toasts with much fine Scotch whiskey, and Robert Burns' poetry.
The pipe band play, followed by the 'Celtic Tigers' playing traditional Irish and
Scottish music, and at the break more piping and of course, "Auld Lang Syne"...
ROBERT BURNS
Robert Burns is Scotland's most famous poet, and his 200 year old verse has become part of Scottish heritage celebrated all over the world on January 25th. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1759, into a poor farming family. At age 27 he published his first volume of poems, which was a huge success, and his humour and wit became legendary. He moved to Edinburgh, and received critical acclaim. He wrote about everyday things, philosophy, and about his loves, which contributed to his popularity. 2 years later, he married and moved to a farm in Dumfries, working as an exciseman while still continuing to write poetry and songs. He died at 37, in 1796.He is the most widely translated poet in the world.
MAUI CELTIC's traditional Burns Night includes:
The Selkirk Grace --
"Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it:
But we hae meat and we can eat, Sae let the Lord be thankit."
Address To A Haggis --
"Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great Chieftain o' the Puddin' race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe or thairm;
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm...
His knife see rustic-labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich !...
Ye pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware,
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her a gratefu' pray'r,
Gie her a Haggis ! "
The Loyal Toast --
"To Scotland, Ireland and Hawaii" - Slainte Mhath !
The Immortal Memory --
of Robert Burns.
Toast to the Lassies --
by the men.
The Reply --
by the ladies.
Entertainment from --
"The Maui Celtic Pipes and Drums" and "The Celtic Tigers"
Auld Lang Syne --
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We''ll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right gude willie-waught
For auld lang syne
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We''ll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne."