Yes, not so long ago, Whanganui was a Druid hotspot, trafficking their radical notions all over the district willy-nilly. Radical notions such as the fostering of love, wisdom, affinity with the natural world, and creative expression.
Perhaps no surprise, then, that it's now an art gallery. And the gallery building was their first purpose-built HQ, the local order having being founded in 1883.
Common notions of Druids evoke images of Merlin-like cloaked figures chanting on barren moon-lit tors, or squinting through henges at solstice times. But recent centuries saw the movement eschew its pagan roots somewhat, devolving more into Christian-based benevolent societies and social support systems for members. None other than Winston Churchill, after all, deemed the order socially and politically safe enough to be inducted in 1908.
The Wanganui Herald of March 26, 1896, advertised a local meeting thus:
DRUIDS' HALL. (Opposite Courthouse.)
7pm, Bible Studies. Subject, "Hell - Where is it?' Welcome. No collection.
Where is it? Many local citizens may, indeed, have already discovered a hint of it directly over the road.
Along with the manifold appurtenances of the Industrial Revolution, one of the main exports of the British Empire in its heydays was a plethora of like-minded gentlemen's societies. Whanganui, no doubt, had branches of just about every one going - and even the then modest Auckland suburb of Avondale that I partly grew up in had a local Independent Order of Oddfellows, a Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (The Buffs - Fred Flintstone's second home), not to mention the ubiquitous Masonic Lodge.
Whanganui also featured a substantial Savage Club - now the home of the Musicians' Club. The "Savage" in the original name wasn't a reflection of perceptions of non-British colonial populations, but simply a reference to a certain infamous and dissolute 18th century English poet, Richard Savage.
The club's founding fathers decided on this name to counter any pretensions of grandeur, as had been implied in an earlier suggestion to call it "The Shakespeare Club".
This brings me to an interesting point which may enliven Murray Crawford in particular. Relatively recently a breakaway group of Druids formed the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, partly to better promote their bardic traditions. Druidism was deeply rooted throughout Europe - Roman notables Julius Caesar and Cicero each wrote of it. This included both Spain and Portugal, whose seafarers plied the Pacific well before Abel Tasman's visit here.
Some speculate that the English bard Shakespeare had Druidic connections (incantations on the heath!), with some of his mysterious "missing years" spent shipping on a Spanish or Portuguese caravel scoping the south Pacific.
Sailing up the Whanganui River, the handsome cliff they encountered was named in honour of the budding bard, who proceeded to identify a choice site across the river as an ideal location for a future Druids' Hall. So it came to pass.
I note, though, that in light of recent evidence, a robust local movement is advocating to change the names of both the cliffs and the adjoining access road to Neville Cliff and Neville Rd respectively.
