Dr Roger Buckton and his family moved to Pūhoi in 1990 and discovered the rich world of Bohemian music Kiwi style. His professional music career and interest in early European music helped him appreciate that in his neighbourhood there was a wealth of European music which had been undergoing a transformation since the arrival of the early settlers in 1863. He quickly went about recording this music, and two cassettes (later CDs) and a documentary film for the University of Auckland were produced from 1993 to 1996. After years of research and performances of the music, Buckton's book Bohemian Journey: A Musical Heritage in Colonial New Zealand was published in time for Pūhoi's 150th anniversary in 2013. The simultaneous publication of Judith Williams's book It Takes a Whole Village: the People of Pūhoi showed Buckton the cultural value of her collection of song and verse texts and was the catalyst for matching song texts and music to realise the rich heritage of song which was fast disappearing with the loss of the language. Buckton was an Adjunct Associate-Professor at the University of Canterbury and lectured in ethno-music, musicianship and music education. He continues to perform on the dudelsack, alongside other instruments of early music. His aim is to promote the songs and music in this collection so that these unique Kiwi-Bohemian musical gems take their place in the multicultural heritage of Aotearoa New Zealand. Judith Williams lived her early years in the village of Waiwera and started her schooling at the Pūhoi convent school. She formed friendships with local Bohemian families and these early relationships fostered her interest in the local dialect, its songs and dances. She trained as a teacher and studied German to Master's level at the University of Auckland, followed by three years teaching English at secondary level in Oldenburg, Germany. Williams was intensely proud of being a descendant of the early settlers in the area (Pittner) and her decision to learn German and to live in Germany derived from her early links with Pūhoi families. So it was unsurprising that later she returned to Pūhoi, and developed a smallholding there with sheep and chickens. At this time, Williams began a second career, in journalism. She helped establish the Pūhoi Historical Society in 1976 and contributed to many community activities. In 2014 she was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for services to the community. She continued to visit Germany and the Czech Republic and fostered strong links with Egerlander visitors to Pūhoi. At that time the old songs and dances were a regular part of local events, and traditional musical instruments were often played at the local pub. Williams's role in documenting these traditions cannot be overestimated. She was a well-known identity for many years, taking great interest in traditional cultural activities and doing all she could to ensure that they blossomed and thrived. Dr Ralf Heimrath majored in German language, literature and history at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. His distinguished scholarly career encompasses teaching and leadership positions at a Bavarian open-air museum, the National University of Mongolia and the University of Malta. His research interests include German dialectology, contact linguistics and the history of folk music. He is the author and editor of a wealth of publications, including a number of folk-song collections. As well as his scholarly expertise, his family heritage made him an asset to this project. His mother and grandparents, as well as the parents of his wife Margret, came from the same region in Egerland as the Pūhoi settlers. Brought up speaking the same dialect, they knew many of the songs and tunes, especially as his grandparents loved making this genre of music. Later Heimrath lived in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria, which adjoins the region of the Egerland and has an almost identical dialect. As one of the few scholarly experts in the dialect, he has served his culture by working with several cultural organisations: from 2007 to 2009 he was the president of the Bund der Egerlander Gmoin (Union of the Egerland Communities) and in 2015 he was awarded the Egerlander Kulturpreis Johannes-von-Tepl, the highest award given by any Egerlander association.
