NEW  ZEALAND
FOLK * SONG

Mihiwaka
words Gregor Campbell, music Lindsey Shields

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Mihiwaka is a hill overlooking the mouth of Otago harbour (Maori "mihi " = greet, "waka" = canoe)
Gregor has written to us explaining how he visited this old farm site. SEE BELOW



  1. I loved a maiden in the port, and I married her in March
    Her clothes were of the cheaper sort, and never knew much starch
    She was sweet and gentle, her smile made my hearth grow.
    On the slopes of Mihiwaka where the flax and tussock grow
    Where trees were cut, where pastures made,
    where stone was laid on stone.

  2. She did not like the solitude, the silence and the mist
    She could not grow to hillside life and how we folk exist
    She arrived in April and grew colder with the snow
    On the slopes of Mihiwaka, where the flax and tussock grow
    Where clouds loiter, where snow lies long,
    where hillsides are like walls.

  3. So now no song within my walls, and seldom lamps at night
    Across my panes the ivy sprawls, my house shall have no light
    Her linen tossed among the scrub will slowly decompose
    On the slopes of Mihiwaka, where the flax and tussock grow
    Where hope was brought and where hope died
    Where love was made and lost.


Lindsay's guitar chords for Mihiwaka

These are in an open G tuning, D G D G B D. See below

Mihiwaka On Record

Pioneer Pog 'n' Scroggin Bush Band   Southern Bred 1998 video
Pioneer Pog 'n' Scroggin Bush Band   Sesqui 1998 CD
Lindsey Shields   For The Trees 1999 cassette
Lindsey Shields   For The Trees 2000 CD (I think ?)


The Ballad Writers' Toolbox
Different Voices

Lyrics can be re-arranged to give a different perspective, and a different mood.

Thus Mihiwaka could be sung as a duet...
 
HE  I loved a maiden in the port,         SHE...and he married me in March
HE  Her clothes were of the cheaper sort, SHE...for I'd never known much starch
HE  She was sweet and gentle,             SHE...my smile made his hearth glow.
HE  On the slopes of Mihiwaka,            BOTH..where the flax and tussock grow
BOTH  Where trees were cut, where pastures made, where stone was laid on stone

HE  She did not like our solitude,      SHE...or the silence and the mist
HE  She could not grow to hillside life SHE...how can these folk exist?
HE  She arrived in April                SHE...it was so cold in the snow
HE  On the slopes of Mihiwaka,          BOTH..where the flax and tussock grow
 etc.
Or as the woman's lament...

So now no song within his walls, and seldom lamps at night
Across his window ivy sprawls, his house now has no light
Amongst the scrub my linen lies, no more to him I'll go
On the slopes of Mihiwaka, etc.

Try changing the pronouns around in one of your own songs and note how the whole feeling can change when you sing it.

E-mail me and tell me which version worked best. John Archer




Gregor Campbell's poem

Gregor explains the origin of the lyrics:
There's a steepish gravel road up to the reservoir from the road between Port Chalmers and Purakanui, etc. I took it some years ago, armed with a photocopy of a two inches/mile map made in the year 1900. I had got the map so I could look for bottles - one feature of the map was that it showed and named all the farms in the area.

Reaching the reservoir I followed an overgrown vehicle track northish through pine forest and found what had been a paddock with a hedge/windbreak of overgrown macrocarpa. At the western end I found the home paddock and the stone wall foundations of the farmhouse.

It's full of orange-flowering honeysuckle and, in spring, the near vicinity is filled with daffodils. It's quite high up and at the end of the track. The nearest neighbour had been back at the reservoir and the place struck me as beautiful in summer but cloudy and isolated in winter.

Shortly after writing the poem I was picked up halfway between Cromwell and Wanaka by Lindsey. We've been friends since then and I gave her a few poems to see if she might make anything of them.

Gregor Campbell May 2001

Lindsey Shields

Lindsey, a former school teacher, is a solo performer and songwriter of some note and is also a member of Otago's prestigious Pioneer Pog 'n' Scroggin Bush Band. She is a drama graduate at Otago University, in which department she continues to have a strong association.

She has been a guest at several South Island festivals in the last few years. In 1999 she did a concert tour of the North Island. Most recently (Easter 2000) she was a guest at the Australian National Folk Festival.

Lindsey has a wide range of styles. Totally different from Mihiwaka, another of her great songs is  Civil Emergency. With a catchy tune and plenty of humour, it stands out as a vivid portrayal of school children whose school camp gets evacuated in a flood.

Lindsay's chords for Mihiwaka

The writer of this web page can only play standard chords. Lindsay has kindly sent the fingerings she uses, and these show how she gets her chord changes, mainly by moving up and down the 2nd and 4th strings.

But the art of her music is in her right hand finger-picking I think, and you expert guitarists will have to listen to her record and figure that for yourselves.

"I play Mihiwaka," writes Lindsay,"in open G tuning (D G D G B D), and I tend to use my ear considerably - i.e. I'm lazy about figuring what things are called. Some of them are unusual because of the drone effect of being in open G. I use a version of clawhammer picking."

chord 1 - notes D x F#G D D - 0 x 4 0 3 0
I loved a maiden in the
chord 2 - x G B G G D - x 0 9 0 8 0
port, and I
chord 3 - x G A G F# x - x 0 7 0 7 x
married
chord 4 - x G G G E x - x 0 5 0 5 x
her in
chord 1 - D x F#G D D
March. Her clothes were of the cheaper
chord 2 - x G B G G D
sort, and
chord 3 - x G A G F# x
never
chord 4 - x G G G E x
knew much
chord 1 - D x F#G D D
starch.
chord 5 - x A# F G D D
She was sweet and
chord 6 - x A E G C# D
gentle, her
chord 7 - x D A C# F# x
smile made my hearth
chord 8 - x C G B E x
glow.

chord 1 - D x F# G D D
On the slopes of Mihi
chord 2 - x G B G G D
waka, where the
chord 3 - x G A G F# x
flax and
chord 4 - G G G E
tussock
chord 1 - D x F# G D D
grow.
chord 5 - x A# F G D D
Where trees were
chord 6 - x A E G C# D
cut,
chord 5 - x A# F G D D
where pastures
chord 6 - x A E G C# D
made,
chord 5 - x A# F G D D
where stone was
chord 6 - x A E G C# D
laid on
chord 1 - D x F#G D D
stone.

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Posted on the web, April 9, 2001