To Pitcairn and Beyond

Authors

Keywords:

Pitcairn Island, Galápagos Islands, Panama, New Zealand meat exports, Ruahine, Tolkien, Turville-Petre, Frank Fyfe, J.S. Ryan,

Abstract

This paper unpacks two episodes of twentieth century 'look see' travel (and tourism) traditions in the Pacific—one at Pitcairn Island and the other at the Galápagos Islands—through a travel narrative collected from the key folklorist J.S. Ryan. An episode from that narrative, the 1954 breaking of a piston on the Ruahine, is also explored, providing more contextual information for the episode than is available in previously published accounts. Finally, the way that these events, and those that followed them, contributed to the development of Ryan's folkloric mindset is examined.

Author Biographies

A. Asbjørn Jøn, University of Canterbury

A. Asbjørn Jøn is currently researching tensions between public memory and the authorized heritage discourse. He is conducting that research through the Department of Anthropology, University of Canterbury [New Zealand].

Philip Ward, University of New England

Philip Ward works in the University of New England & Regional Archives, UNE Heritage Centre [Australia].

J. S. Ryan, University of New England

J.S. Ryan is a Professor Emeritus of Folklore and Heritage at the University of New England [Australia].

References

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Anonymous, 'No. 29232', The London Gazette (16 July 1915), p. 6968.

Anonymous, '15,000 Dock Men Out in London', Sydney Morning Herald (5 October, 1954), p.3.

Carpenter, Humphrey and Christopher Tolkien (eds.), The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1981).

Ford, Herbert, Pitcairn Island as a Port of Call: A Record, 1790–2010, 2nd edn. (McFarland, 2012).

Fyfe, Frank, 'Why Collect?', Sing: Bulletin of the Wellington Folk Club (17 April, 1966), pp. 35-36.

Fyfe, Frank, 'New Zealand Folklore Society: Some Results', Heritage, vol. 1, October (1967), pp. 4-7 + 15.

Garth, John, Tolkien and the Great War (Harper-Collins, 2003).

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New Zealand Folklore Society & Harris, S. M., '12 October 1967. New Zealand Folklore Society (Per S M Harris – Honorary Secretary) to R Mitchell. Re: Thanks for Hospitality Extended to Chairman (Frank Fyfe) on Recent Brisbane Visit', in Robert Mitchell Collection—UQFL 78. University of Queensland, Fryer Library, Letter.

P&O Heritage: Ship Fact Sheet for the Ruahine (1951) (November 2009) http://www.poheritage.com/Upload/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/94420RUAHINE-1951pdf.pdf

Ryan, J.S., The Land of Ulitarra: Early Records of the Aborigines of the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales, Department of University Extension (University of New England, Grafton, 1954).

Ryan, J.S., 'German Mythology Applied — the Extension of the Literary Folk Memory', Folklore, vol. 77, no. 1 (1966), pp. 45-59. doi:10.1080/0015587X.1966.9717029

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Ryan, J.S., 'Australian Folklore Yesterday and Today: Definitions and Practices', eFolklore, vol. 8 (1988), pp. 127-134. doi:10.7592/FEJF1998.08.aflore

Ryan, John S., 'Frank Eyre (1910-1988), a significant shaper for: definitive writing of Australian history and culture, supporting the nation’s mythmakers, and most important national identity recorders from 1948 to 1976', Australian Folklore, 31 (2016).

Staff Correspondent, 'London Strike Spreads', Sydney Morning Herald (9 October, 1954), p.3.

Brain Dunnett on Mandolin – BushMusic Club Rehearsal at National Folk Festival.

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Published

2016-12-02

Issue

Vol. 31 (2016): Marking the passing of Brian Dunnett, and dealing with matters of Pitcairn Island

Section

International and Comparative Studies

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