NZ Folk Song * Fiddlers Hill

Settlers arrived in Puhoi from Bohemia in the 1860's. They often entertained themselves, sometimes for days on end, by dancing to the fiddle playing of Michael Jesensky.

Old Michael lived on Fiddler's Hill,
He fiddled it sweet and he fiddled it shrill,
He played with a heart and he played with a will,
And he played for the people 'round Fiddler's Hill.

He fiddled for the dancers all alone,
They say he'd fiddle 'till the cows came home.
But he'd leave his plow when the days work's done
And he'd play for the dancers 'till the morning sun.

We danced Harmichel and the Umadum too.
I like a Sprat Polka, now how about you?
When the creek's in flood, you can't get through -
If the fiddler can keep going, then I can too!

We danced all night and we danced all day,
'Till even the moon and the stars sashay.
The dancers would dance and Michael would play,
And we'd happily dance our lives away.

To the south of the town stands Fiddler's Hill,
I won't go up there - yes I will!
When the moon is bright and the wind is still . . .
They say you can hear him fiddling still.

MP3 Tune

64K MP3

Bohemian Dances at Puhoi

Bill Worsfold writes -

"The Harmichel, Umadum and Sprat Polka are all Bohemian dances that are still danced in the community here in Puhoi. The song 'Fiddlers Hill' is about the early settlers in Puhoi who came here from Bohemia in the 1860's. Bohemian migration
Among them was fiddle player Michael Jesensky who was ready and willing to play any time anyone felt like dancing. And with the dearth of alternative sources of entertainment, they apparently felt like dancing quite a lot!

. . . and we danced all day

There are tales of dances going on for days, with brief lulls for farmers to go home and milk the cows before resuming the affray. There is also a story (alluded to in the song) of one dance when rain during the night caused the creek to flood and, come morning, no-one could go home. No problem: they just carried on with the dance for a few days until the water subsided.
In the early days, a solitary fiddle was the entire dance band. It's no wonder that they named the big hill where Michael lived 'Fiddlers Hill'. It's probably also no wonder that, after about thirty years in Puhoi, he returned to Bohemia, leaving no descendants in the new community!
The Bohemian music and dance has survived to the present day with the aid of a
keen dancing group run by Jenny Schollum, and of course the Puhoi Band. I have transcribed their tunes, which we have used in our gigs ever since.
I particularly like a lovely mazurka-like piece/medley called Umadum, which we play a lot. I also notated some of the dances, and have added one or two to our regular bush dance repertoire. "

Karen Krippner adds:-

"Music was, and is still is, a very important part of the Bohemian culture and the hub of their social gatherings.

The main instruments played were the dudelsack and violin, which came out with the settlers on the ships, and the button accordion, . . . picked up here in New Zealand.
Music has been passed down the generations, mostly by ear, although a manuscript book hand written by Charlie Becher had been kept.
A few dances have survived, maybe due to the fact they were fun. They are still danced now at our gatherings.
Finger Polka - children's dance
Sprat Polka
Prince of Wales - schottisch
Umadum - mazurka
There were other dances such as the Reichstachel, and the Haar Michl - (Michael the haymaker) - these have been forgotten in recent times."
Bohemian Association (NZ) -dance -music
Lyrics of other Bohemian songs sung at Puhoi

"Fiddler's hill" on record

1999 Fields of the Gum (CD) GDM002
Tony Ricketts writes:
"Fields of the Gum is a beautiful CD, that includes several old 'gum' songs, as well as many others written recently by Bill and Kath, with great playing and great recording, the latter by my old friend Kerrin. 'I Only Spoke Portuguese' is, I think, the best 'traditional' folk love song since 'Buller to the Grey.' Try and get a listen to this, even buy it without listening first; you will not be disappointed."

Fields of the Gum - Lyrics and sound samples; how to buy it.

Bill Worsfold

Bill was born and raised in Northland, New Zealand, spending his childhood on a dairy farm, and his later youth on Auckland's North Shore, and trained in theatrical work.
In 1979, he helped form an Irish band "Napper Tandy"in Auckland. Bill was lead singer and played guitar, tenor banjo and bouzouki. Kath, who is now his wife, sang and played the piano accordian.
In 1981 they moved to Sydney as full time career musicians, they learned to call barn dances, and learnt about folk music from other parts of the world, including Eastern Europe.
Back in New Zealand in 1986, they continued to work as full time folk musicians, introducing barn dances, and developing a large concert repertoire of New Zealand folk songs, tunes and bush poetry.
In the early 1990s, Bill and Kath branched out into medieval music, with Bill playing harp and lute, while Kath played recorder and bass viol. And in the mid 1990's they revived Bill's boyhood interest in conjuring and Kath's old skill in puppets and ventriloquism.
In 1998, Bill started writing historical Northland ballads, including Fiddler's Hill, (with Kath's help on some of the tunes) resulting in the Fields of the Gum CD. Another CD of New Zealand songs - mostly Bill's own songs - is due to come out sometime soon.
Visit Bill and Kath's great website

Song List - Search - Home

Placed on internet 19th Sept 2002