Ray, Isobel,Gavin thanks for your responses, I need to drop the Z in my pronunciation, as a matter of interest it is what my Abel/Wilson family called their first home in Hunterville New Zealand, a wee slab sided wooden cottage with a tin roof and a local climate to match Aberdeenshire in winter. Also of interest where the early inhabitants of Hunterville and surrounds with most coming from Aberdeenshire, amongst my family alone there where Abel's, Taylor's, Howies and Wilson's who married into Black,Laing,lambert,England and Dillon families also maistly from Aberdeenshire. To this day there is still the Scottish Saltire flying above the old local Post Office and descendants of these people still living in the district. I might also add that it has one of the oldest continuously running Pipebands in NZ , formed in 1923 by playing members Malcolm Ross, Davie and Stanley Abel, it was originally called the Hunterville Pipe band, but in honour of the district and the mitherland is now called the Rangitiki Scots pipeband. Rangitiki pronounced Rang-gi-tie-key. Cheers Wayne Abel.

On 9 February 2010 01:55, Wayne Abel <honk-abel@westnet.com.au> wrote: > ... it is what my Abel/Wilson family called their first home in Hunterville  New Zealand, a wee slab sided wooden cottage with a tin roof and a local climate to match Aberdeenshire in winter. ______________________________________ Hi Wayne Apart from the rain, I doubt if Hunterville's climate is a patch on Aberdeenshire in winter where this year the snow has lain deep and frozen for several weeks. Our relatives in Huntly told us that the whole of Scotland was cut off for over a week [from their point of view , of course]. I doubt if Hunterville, suffers from that sort of weather. The local saying is that Aberdeenshire has three months of appalling cold and drear weather, then they have winter! Ray - a Sassenach but in thrall to the north east!