812 HAWAIIAN ROMANCE OF LAIERIKAWAI (ETH. ANN. 33 
aristocratic art. The able composer, man or woman, even if of low 
rank, was sure of patronage as the hakw mele, “ sorter of songs,” for 
some chief; and his name was attached to the song he composed... A 
single poet working alone might produce the panegyric; but for the 
longer and more important songs of occasion a group got together, 
the theme was proposed and either submitted to a single composer 
or required line by line from each member of the group. In this way 
each line as it was composed was offered for criticism lest any 
ominous allusion creep in to mar the whole by bringing disaster upon 
the person celebrated, and as it was perfected it was committed to 
memory by the entire group, thus insuring it against loss. Protective 
criticism, therefore, and exact transmission were secured by group 
composition.? ‘ 
Exactness of reproduction was in fact regarded as a proof of 
divine inspiration. When the chief’s sons were trained to recite the 
genealogical chants, those who were incapable were believed to lack 
a share in the divine inheritance; they were literally “less gifted” 
than their brothers.? 
This distinction accorded to the arts of song and eloquence is due 
to their actual social value. The mede, or formal poetic chants which 
record the deeds of heroic ancestors, are of aristocratic origin and 
belong to the social assets of the family to which they pertain. 
The claim of an heir to rank depends upon his power to reproduce, 
letter perfect, his family chants and his “name song,” composed to 
celebrate his birth, and hence exact transmission is a matter of ex- 
treme importance. Facility in debate is not only a competitive art, 
with high stakes attached, but is employed in time of war to shame 
an enemy,? quickness of retort being believed, like quickness of hand, 
to be a God-given power. Chants in memory of the dead are de- 
manded of each relative at the burial ceremony. Song may be used 
to disgrace an enemy, to avenge an insult, to predict defeat at arms. 
It may also be turned to more pleasing purposes—to win back an 
estranged patron or lover;® in the art of love, indeed, song is in- 
valuable to a chief. Ability in learning and language is, therefore, 
a highly prized chiefly art, respected for its social value and employed 
to aggrandize rank. How this aristocratic patronage has affected the 
language of composition will be presently clear. 
1 Andrews, Islander, 1875, p. 35; Emerson, Unwritten Literature, pp. 27, 38. 
2In Fornander’s story of Lonoikamakahiki, the chief memorizes in a single night a 
new chant just imported from Kauai so accurately as to establish his property right to 
the song. 
8 Compare with Ellis, 1, 286, and Williams and Calvert, 1, 46, 50, the notes on the 
boxing contest in the text of Laieikawai. 
4Gill, Myths and Songs, pp. 268 et seq. 
® See Fornander’s stories of Lonoikamakahiki, Halemano, and Kuapakaa. 
