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Our Homeland Aotearoa
The Tui in the Kowhai

Words H. G. Hall, music traditional, 1950s

"Sister Mary Koska then opened the piano and took out the sheet music
...It was the first Kiwi folk song I ever learned."

  1. When the Tui sits in the Kowhai tree
    and the sun tips the mountain tops with gold
    when the Rata blooms in the forest glade,
    and the hills glow with sunny tints untold.
    I love to roam through bush and fern
    and hear the Bellbird sing
    and feel the touch of the wind on my face
    while the joy in my heart does ring.

  2. There are some who long for coral sands
    and some for wind-swept plains
    while others roam the ocean wide
    then pine for home again.
    But give to me the care-free life
    by mountain, lake or shore
    of the lovely land of the Long White Cloud,
    Our Homeland Aotearoa.
Play this 1 K Midi melody line.

Origins

This song was printed in the 1960 Pupils Song Book for the NZ Department of Education. H. G. Hall is given there as the writer of these words. We have no other details.

Sister Mary Koska's music lesson

From: Convent Kid by Mike Subritzky

I was in about Standard II when I heard Sister Mary Koska running through a song about New Zealand with a senior class. The song had a beautiful harmony and ended with the words "Our Homeland Aotearoa".

Anyway, when it came time for my class to learn a new song we were taught another stirring British song and I rapidly lost interest to the point where I was made to remain behind after class, which usually signalled the strap. I was given the opportunity to explain myself and when I said that the song was boring and I wanted to learn the one about Aotearoa, there was a pause and then Sister Koska told me to report to the Convent after school...needless to say I thought that Father Hayes or Father Donnelly were going to deal with me.

After an entire day spent in silent terror I waited for the bell to be rung at three o'clock and then walked over to the Convent where the nuns lived. Sister Koska met me at the door and took me into the first room on the right, which was her music room.

She then opened the piano and took out the sheet music and taught me how to sing the song...It was the first Kiwi folk song I ever learned.

Thank you Sister Mary Koska.

FULL STORY

And also thanks to . . .

  • Mike Subritzky who remembered the lyrics and wrote the story.
  • Joyce Stewart, who went hunting for the lyrics, and found Mike's story.
  • My wife Lynn, who remembered the tune and sang it to me for transcribing.
  • The National Library people who provided the sheet music details.

During a search for the origns of the lyrics sent in by Mike Subritzky, this 1950s Tui /Kowhai song also came to light.

The Kowhai and the Tui

Words Edgar Brewster, music Nettie Brewster, 1950s



  1. How glorious is the Kowhai
    Our springtime's golden shower
    The brightest promise of July
    New Zealand's national flower
    Then rapidly does the Tui
    The Kowhai nectar sip
    Call, chuckle and flit with glee
    And into each flower dip
  2. How handsome is our Parson bird
    With his tufted white cravat
    Clear as a bell his notes are heard
    For his mate to answer back

  3. Each year we watch our Kowhai tree
    And as the buds appear
    Our hearts are glad that soon there'll be
    A Tui's call to hear

Play this 1 K Midi melody line.

The Brewster family has given permission for this music to be used for private, non-commercial purposes. Sheet music and old Tanza 78 rpm recordings of the Brewsers' songs are available from Barney Brewster's Old, Rare and Interesting Books, Nelson - rarebooks@iconz.co.nz

Edgar Brewster

Edgar Roy Brewster b. Eltham 1905, d. New Plymouth 1978. He began keeping bees in Taranaki in 1927. He was interested in aviation, and studying the flying action of birds led him to develop an independant theory of flight. He made and flew model aircraft which demonstrated his theory.

Then in 1940, after a very successful bee-keeping season, he sold his business and devoted himself to building a full-size demonstration aircraft. He was a firm believer in the use of honeycomb construction, taken from his philosphy that there are no right angles in nature, which he applied to making a birdlike aircraft frame which can still be seen at New Plymouth.

Due to insufficient resources, and the death of his first wife, he returned to bee-keeping, and to the manufacture of bee-keeping equipment.

He also applied his honeycomb construction principles to house-building, which he saw as a possible answer to the post-war housing shortages, and he built a beatifully crafted hexagon-based house. He and his wife nettie opened it to visitors and between 1953 and 1972 it was visited by over 250,000 people .


Published 19 March 2002, Brewster song added 9 June 2002