Kaua‘i folklorist Roland Gay (1895-1980) was a great grandson of Eliza Sinclair, who had purchased Ni‘ihau from Kamehameha V and the Makaweli ahupua‘a from Princess Victoria Kamamalu in the 1860s, properties now owned by her descendants. His uncles, Aubrey Robinson
Kaua‘i folklorist Roland Gay (1895-1980) was a great grandson of Eliza Sinclair, who had purchased Ni‘ihau from Kamehameha V and the Makaweli ahupua‘a from Princess Victoria Kamamalu in the 1860s, properties now owned by her descendants.
His uncles, Aubrey Robinson and Francis Gay, formed a partnership in 1889 called Gay & Robinson that produced sugarcane on Kaua‘i until 2009.
Gay was born at Waimea, Kaua‘i, educated at Punahou and the University of California agricultural college at Davis, and had resided on Lana‘i, Maui, Moloka‘i and O‘ahu before returning to Kaua‘i in 1931 with his wife, Mary.
Gay’s lifelong interest in the folklore of old Hawai‘i first found expression during the 1960s on KUAI’s Sunday evening radio program “Hawaiian Dinner Hour,” in which Gay entertained listeners with Hawaiian tales and music.
Gay, who spoke fluent Hawaiian, also translated Hawaiian songs and stories into English and uncovered little-known facts about old Hawai‘i.
He knew, for instance, of two series of hollow stones called bell stones, each stone located atop successive Kaua‘i ridges, which when struck with a harder stone produced a deep sound heard at a distance and were used long ago for communications between Kaua‘i ali‘i.
One series of 24 stones stretches eastward from Waimea to Wailua and another series of 12 stones extends northward from Waimea into Waimea Valley. The first bell stone of both series is located on the plateau above the Menehune Ditch. The second bell stone on the way to Wailua is on Nonopahu Ridge and the second stone heading up Waimea Valley is on top of Mokihana Ridge.
Roland Gay also wrote “Hawai‘i — Tales of Yesteryear,” a collection of Hawaiian legends and stories.
His house, built in 1895 by his father Charles Gay, on Gay Rd. in Waimea, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
