Collection overview

The Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder Collection (C671), formerly named the Montague Cylinders, comprises 11 brown wax cylinders. These were recorded in 1914 by Paul Montague in Gondé, in today’s Houaïlou commune in the North Province of Grande Terre, New Caledonia. The cylinders have the British Library shelfmarks C671/320 to C671/330. It is not clear whether they came into the British Library in the mid-1950s as part of the Sir James Frazer collection of cylinders from the University of Cambridge or directly from the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology around the same time (Clayton 1996:87).

These recordings are not available online as participatory research was not conducted in New Caledonia.

Research by Vicky Barnecutt, British Library. With thanks to Julie Adams, British Museum, for her help.

Paul Montague

Paul Denys Montague (1890–1917) studied zoology at Cambridge where he was mentored by Alfred Cort Haddon. Haddon had led the 1898 Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Strait. Montague travelled to New Caledonia with another Cambridge botanist, Robert Compton (Naepels 2017:104), arriving in Nouméa at the end of December 1913. Montague and Compton spent a year in New Caledonia, exploring and making collections of botanical specimens and artefacts.

They spent time in Nouméa gaining various permissions from the French governor, and then departed for the Houaïlou Valley, “having been advised that this region had been less affected by French settlers” (Adams 2015:3). They employed two young Kanak men from the Loyalty Islands, Upiko and Nanine, to help them with collecting and logistics (Adams 2021:90). Montague became increasingly interested in the local Kanak people and their culture. Montague first visited the village of Gondé on 22 July 1914 (Adams 2021:103), travelling there by river in his boat. He spent more time there later that year, making the recordings on 30 November 1914.

When Montague returned home, he started to catalogue his collection of natural history specimens and artefacts, and to prepare his field notes for publication, but this was interrupted by the war. Montague joined up as a pilot and was killed in combat in Greece in October 1917 (Adams 2015:2). Adams, who wrote a book on Montague’s life and work, noted that “Montague was a very talented musician himself so he would certainly have paid attention to the recordings and to what local people had to say” (Adams, email to Barnecutt 19 May 2021).

The Recordings

The information recorded on the lids of the cylinders indicates that all of the recordings were made in Gondé. Gondé is in the Ajië [aji] language area. According to the 2009 census, there are 5,360 speakers (Eberhard et al, 2021:11).

In his field notes, Montague recorded three forms of music in Gondé: ururua, house songs; daro, dance songs; and instrumental music on the hndor bamboo flute. These three types of music, as well as a “set oration” for a chief, are all represented in the recordings. There are at least five separate pieces recorded across the eleven cylinders: the set oration, one or more ururua house songs, one or more daro dance songs, and two hndor flute solos.

The ethnomusicologist Raymond Ammann noted that the manuscript in Montague’s field notes “contain the only contemporary and comprehensive description of the Kanak flute, observed in the region of Houaïlou” (Ammann 1997:42).

The Cylinders

The information on the labelling of the cylinders comes from a visual inspection of the cylinder boxes by the True Echoes team in the British Library. The metadata for the recordings is taken from the British Library’s Sound and Moving Image (SAMI) catalogue. The notes may not be accurate ethnographic representations of the recordings; for example the sound noted as a drum for C671/320 may be from another percussion instrument.
British Library shelfmarkRecording titlePerformer nameRecording locationRecording dateContent descriptionPerformer descriptionRecording notesLanguagesGenreRecordistRecording lengthRecording tripDescription of cylinderCollection titleCylinder locationImages of cylinder containers / documentationRelated print publication: Related print publication: Related print publication: Related print publication: Related print publication: Related print publication:
C671/320Set Oration for QueOméa Yaīnŏ (speaker); unidentified (chorus); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal solo with vocal group and drums. Set oration (hereditary) for Que. Omea Vaino (aged chief). ctd. on 0321.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19175'01"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/321Set Oration for QueOméa Yaīnŏ (speaker); unidentified (chorus); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal solo with vocal group and drums. Set oration (hereditary) for Que, ctd. . Omea Yaino (aged chief).- ctd. from 0320.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'16"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/322Ururua or House SongDjeu-Nūr Bereowa (singer); Poya Rapekiya (singer); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal duet, possibly accompanied by percussion. Ururua or House-song. Bereowa, Dje-nur and Rapekiya, Poya. cf. 0323.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19173'37"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/323Ururua or House SongDjeu-Nūr Bereowa (singer); Poya Rapekiya (singer); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal duet, possibly accompanied by percussion. Ururua or House-song.- Bereowa, Dje-nur and Rapekiya, Poya.- cf. 0322, ctd. on 0324.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'04"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/324Ururua or House SongDjeu-Nūr Bereowa (singer); Poya Rapekiya (singer); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal duet, possibly accompanied by percussion. Ururua or House-song.- Bereowa, Dje-nur and Rapekiya, Poya.- ctd. from 0323.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'07"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/325Doru (Dance Song)Membuiro (singer, male); Dao (singer, male); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal duet with percussion accompaniment. Doru (dance song). Membuiro and Dao.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19175'12"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/326Doru (Dance Song)Membuiro (singer, male); Dao (singer, male); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal duet with percussion accompaniment. Doru (dance song) (words not understood, probably archaic). Membuiro and Dao.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'14"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/327Doru (Dance Song)Membuiro (singer, male); Dao (singer, male); unidentified (percussion)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Male vocal duet with percussion accompaniment. Doru: a dancing song by two men in the Qui (Pilou-pilou). Membuiro and Dao.From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'15"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/328Hndor SoloUnidentified (flute)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Unaccompanied Hndor solo (the Hndor is a flute made from a type of slender bamboo called Undovi). Ururua or House-song.- Bereowa, Dje-nur and Rapekiya, Poya.- cf. 0322, ctd. on 0324From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and heavy surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19173'40"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/329Hndor SoloUnidentified (flute)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Unaccompanied Hndor solo (the Hndor is a flute made from a type of slender bamboo called Undovi). Ururua or House-song.- Bereowa, Dje-nur and Rapekiya, Poya.- ctd. from 0323From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and heavy surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'13"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library
C671/330Hndor SoloUnidentified (flute)Gondé, Houaïlou, North Province, New Caledonia30 November 19141. Unaccompanied Hndor solo (the Hndor is a flute made from a type of slender bamboo called Undovi).From New CaledoniaReasonable quality recording but with weak signal and heavy surface noise.Field recordingsMontague, Paul Denys, 1890-19172'09"Paul Montague, 1914Light brown wax cylinder, Edison Bell
Paul Montague 1914 Gondé, New Caledonia Cylinder CollectionBritish Library

Related Information and Collections

Montague’s “Ethnological notes from the Houaïlou Valley” are held at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA). The following extract on music comes from ‘Social Organisation and customs’ pp. 12–16:1OA2/9/7 (Box 97) Part V. Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Music

There are three forms of music, the Ururua, or house-songs, the Daro, or dance-songs, and the instrumental music upon on the Hndor, or curved bamboo flute.

It is curious to find that all the songs are duets, for two men or two women; I have heard of no instance of choral or solo singing, and several of the natives stated positively that there was none. There are set words to the songs, in which the two singers often answer one another; some are quite melodious, and a remarkable feature is a very definite and quite elaborate counter-point.

The Ururua, or house-songs, are sung to some extent by anybody, but there were professional singers who travelled long distances, and were paid large sums of [indecipherable] to sing on festal occasions. The two singers sit down side by side, and sing to the accompaniment of soft tapping upon the cocaunut [sic] leaf-bases, and the sh-sh sound by the whole audience. They seem to find difficulty in singing without this.

The ururua are the most melodious; they are sung with great emotion, and singers and audience are often reduced to tears. The usually begin in a soft falsetto, and gradually work up.

The themes of these songs are excessively simple, though to translate them word for word and keep the sense and atmosphere seems to be almost impossible, and I have nobody who could do it, – even those well acquainted with the language. Some idea of one of these songs (Gramaphone [sic] Records 4-5) may be gleaned from the following. It calls to mind all the localities in the district where wood, leaves, and creepers for various purposes may be gathered. In the actual words the men are wandering about from place to place, gathering specimens for no apparent reason, until arriving at the sea shore they throw the whole bunch into the water, and the song thus ends.

It begins “We are sitting down breaking wood. I divide a creeper with my feet, and break a branch across [sic] the soles of my feet. Now we gather some leaves to wrap up shells, and another kind, which we tear into strips to mend a basket. At Aou we find a certain tree, of which we cut branches, and we now go to Me’ wa’ for the trees that grow there. We find fine wood at N’ da Bourra and we gather the growing creepers at Newaira ….etc.” The song thus continues for ten minutes or so, until they come to the beach and throw the bunch they have collected into the sea.

The Daro, or dance songs, are archaic, and the words not generally understood. I am informed by M. Leenhardt2Maurice Leenhardt (1878-1954) was a French Protestant missionary based in the Houaïlou valley from 1902 to 1926 with his wife Jeanne (Adams 2021:111; Clifford 1980:3). Montague spent time with him in 1914 (Adams 2021:115). Leenhardt was interested in the arts, culture and language of the Kanak people, and he went on to become a keen ethnographer (Clifford 1980:3). that they are in a language approximating to the Poya dialect, and that there is a great similarity in these songs from all over the island, the language being almost the same in all. This is a possible indication that a language approaching that of Poya Houaïlou was formerly very widely spread, and has since disappeared from the extremities of the island owing to immigrations of other races. The conjecture is supported by the fact that there are practically no articles found in the centre of the island that are not found in the N, but there are many things found in the N. – the bow & arrow, the stone drill, jade necklace and ‘Hwainangi’ which are quite unknown in the Houaïlou, Poya and Bounail valleys.

These songs were sung only by professional singers, of whom there were few, and they were well paid. There were both men and women who sang in the various dances. Like the ururua, they are duets, but the airs are much more rugged and less melodious and of a wilder nature. They are thought, never-the-less, to be superior to the House-songs.

The singers sit down, and the dancers form a circle about them, and follow each other round and round with the usual step, – knees and toes bent out and elbows away from the sides, snapping a finger rhythmically, and carrying over their shoulders ornamented lances or hatchets, decorated specially for the occasion.

The Hndor is a bamboo flute, usually but not always bent nearly into a semi-circle.3Ammann noted that the “flute was much more than a musical instrument, it was an outward and visible sign of prestige…it seems that the flute was reserved for an élite, for chefs and others of considerable prestige.” It is made of a species of slender bamboo called by the natives Undovi. A piece suitably curved in chosen, – not bent subsequently by the application of heat. The septa are burned or broken through with a flexible stick, and the open ends plugged with hjaouli-bark. A mouth-hole is burned though three or four inches from the thicker end. It is rather elongated, and on the inside of the curve. A smaller hole is burned though on the outer curve of the bamboo. This is the fingering hole, and is covered or uncovered with the index finger of the right hand. The nodes of the bamboo are often covered with a black waxy substance called O-ro, obtained from a Banyan.

This instrument is not, as often stated, played with the nose. It is sounded by gently blowing though the nearly closed lips, and by means of harmonics a scale of 6 notes is easily obtained. There is no definite pitch or scale for this instrument. The bamboo is simply cut “the length of a mans [sic] arm”, and as the bore varies the pitch varies accordingly. Some give a scale almost of whole tones, whereas others give less than semi-tones. Some are very much higher than others. Four of these instruments are shown on Plate …

While performing, the player hums a deep base*, usually in simple harmonies, apparently fifths and octaves, but owing to resultant overtones, and on account also of the extreme dissimilarity of the sounds, analysis is very difficult. The natives have a keen appreciation of their own harmonies. The writer, though easily mastering the flute part, was unable to put in the correct base, which judging from the grimaces of the onlookers, was to them extremely painful.

The Hndor was played in the Quie4Ammann noted that Montague explained the Quie as a ceremony. Ammann suggested that it is probably koe, an ancient Ajië term used in relation to dances and ceremonies, from Leenhardt 1935 (1997:43)., both as a solo instrument and in dances. The sound has the magical property of making the young yams grow quickly, so it was employed extensively for this purpose at the season of planting.

It is interesting to note that the name for this instrument both in the centre and north of the island is Hndor, which in the Houaïlou language means also a shell. The name is applied to the conch-shell trumpet, from which the name of the bamboo instrument is evidently derived. Though the name for ‘shell’ differs in various localities, the nearly universal name of this flute is clearly Houaïlou word.

*This practice may have given rise to the idea that the instrument is played with the nose, for it might seem as though the man were blowing with his nose while he sang with his mouth.

Artefacts, photographs and other information

Alongside his natural history specimens, Montague collected around 200 artefacts, and took more than 20 photographs in New Caledonia. The photographs, artefacts and his field notes are now in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, including an example of the hndor flute, below. Julie Adams from the British Museum curated an exhibition of these artefacts in 2014. As part of the research, Francis Wadra, an archaeologist from the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia, listened to the Montague recordings in 2013.

  • Adams, Julie. 2015. ‘Magic and Memory: Paul Denys Montague’s collection from New Caledonia.’ Journal of the History of Collections: 1–14.
  • Adams, Julie. 2021. Museum, Magic, Memory: Curating Paul Denys Montague. Leiden: Sidestone Press.
  • Ammann, Raymond. 1996. “A Revival of the Ancient Kanak Flute.” Kulele: Occasional Papers on Pacific Music and Dance 2: 47–58.
  • Ammann, Raymond. 1997. Kanak Dance and Music: Ceremonial and Intimate Performance of the Melanesians of New Caledonia, Historical and Actual. Photographs by David Becker. Editorial assistance by Helena E. Reeve-Brinon. Nouméa: Agence de Développement de la Culture Kanak.
  • Ammann, Raymond. 2007. “Reality or Fairytale? Nose Flutes in Melanesia.” In Oceanic Music Encounters—the Print Resource and the Human Resource: Essays in Honour of Mervyn McLean, ed. Richard Moyle, 1–12. Research in Anthropology and Linguistics Monograph, 7. Auckland: University of Auckland.
  • Clifford, James. 1980. The Translation of Cultures: Maurice Leenhardt’s Evangelism, New Caledonia 1902-1926. Journal of Pacific History 15:1, 2-20. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25168405
  • Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.) 2021. ‘Languages of New Caledonia’ in Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-fourth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
  • Montague, Paul Denys. n.d. Ethnological notes from the Houaïlou Valley [document] OA2/9/7 (Box 97). Cambridge: Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
  • Naepels, Michel. 2017. War and Other Means: Power and violence in Houaïlou (New Caledonia). Canberra: ANU Press.

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