Hawaiian Historical Society
This volume brings together expressions of abiding devotion to Hawai i—the land, the ruling monarchs, the independent and sovereign kingdom. Many of these expressions are direct responses to the turmoil of the late 19th century, in particular the 1887 promulgation of the Bayonet Constitution that disenfranchised so many subjects of the Hawaiian kingdom, the 1889 revolt that attempted to reverse the erosion of those civil rights, the 1893 overthrow of Queen Lili uokalani, and the counterrevolution in 1895 by loyalists trying to restore the Queen to the throne. In late 1895, Francisco Jose Testa, editor of Ka Makaainana, collected 105 mele together in one volume to be published as Buke Mele Lahui. Testa, known as “Hoke” in Hawaiian, refers to these compositions as “mele aloha aina,” patriotic songs or songs of loyalty. Outpourings of such loyalty to the kingdom and monarchy were cast poetically and published regularly in pro-royalist Hawaiian-language newspapers of the time, especially Hawaii Holomua, Ka Lei Momi, Ka Leo o ka Lahui, Ka Makaainana, and Nupepa Ka Oiaio. Although Testa's introduction states that these texts were drawn from published sources, only about half of the texts have been identified thus far in earlier publications. These sources are shown in the table appended to this reprint. The publication of Buke Mele Lahui was augmented by dozens of advertisements placed throughout the book, all of which are reprinted here. These advertisements, a fascinating topic in their own right, give insight into the small businesses of the time and their operations, while illuminating how they presented them- selves and their allegiances to the public during a politically volatile period. In that way, the advertisements open windows on unique ways that royalist efforts were supported across certain segments of Hawaiian society during the period. Texts, especially in the first half of the volume, are explicitly nationalist, giving rise to the term mele lahui, or natio
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