Beachcomber (Pen name)
Encyclopedia
Beachcomber was a nom de plume
used by surrealist
humorous columnists D. B. Wyndham-Lewis
and, chiefly, J. B. Morton
as authors of the Daily Express
column "By the Way" in the period 1919-1975. Other authors who used the name were Major John Bernard Arbuthnot MVO, the column's founder, and William Hartston
, the current author of its revived form.
was assistant editor of the column from August 1903 and editor from August 1904 to May 1909, during which time he was assisted by Herbert Westbrook. After the Globes closure, it was reestablished as a society news column in the Daily Express from 1917 onwards, initially written by social correspondent Major John Arbuthnot who invented the name "Beachcomber".
After Arbuthnot was promoted to deputy editor, it was taken over by Wyndham-Lewis some time in 1919 who reinvented it as an outlet for his wit and humour. It was then passed to Morton during 1924 though it is likely there was a period when they overlapped. Morton wrote the column until 1975; it was revived in January 1996 and continues today, written by William Hartston
, though the name "By the Way" has been dropped in favour of simply "Beachcomber". The column is unsigned except by "Beachcomber" and it was not publicly known that Morton or Wyndham-Lewis wrote it until the 1930s. The name is mainly associated with Morton who has been credited as an influence by Spike Milligan
amongst others. Morton introduced the recurring characters and continuing stories that were a major feature of the column during his 51-year run.
The format of the column was a random assortment of small paragraphs which were otherwise unconnected. These could be anything, such as:
Morton's other interest, France
, was occasionally represented by epic tales of his rambling walks through the French countryside. These were not intended as humour.
"By the Way" was popular with the readership, and of course, one of the reasons it lasted so long. Its style and randomness could be off-putting, however, and it is safe to say the humour could be something of an acquired taste. Oddly, one of the column's greatest opponents was the Express newspaper's owner, Lord Beaverbrook, who had to keep being assured the column was indeed funny. A prominent critic was George Orwell
but "By the Way" was one of the few features kept continuously running in the often seriously reduced Daily Express throughout World War II
, when Morton's lampooning of Hitler, including the British invention of Bracerot to make the Nazi's trousers fall down at inopportune moments, was regarded as valuable for morale.
The column appeared daily until 1965 when it was changed to weekly. It was cancelled in 1975 and revived as a daily piece in the early 1990s. It continues to the present day in much the same format, but is now entitled "Beachcomber", not "By the Way".
film Boys Will Be Boys (1935) was set at Morton's Narkover school.
In 1969, Spike Milligan based a BBC television series named The World of Beachcomber
on the columns. According to Milligan, the columns had been an influence on the comedic style of his radio series, The Goon Show
. A small selection was issued on a 1971 LP and a 2-cassette set of the series' soundtrack was made available in the late 1990s.
In 1989, BBC Radio 4
broadcast the first of three series based on Morton's work. This featured Richard Ingrams
, John Wells
, Patricia Routledge
and John Sessions
from compilations prepared by Mike Barfield. Series 1 was also made available as a 2-cassette set.
columns in the Daily Telegraph.
References to Beachcomber are strongly pervasive in Private Eye, and there is a possible, but more tenuous, line of descent from it, via the Goon Show
, to Monty Python
.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
used by surrealist
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
humorous columnists D. B. Wyndham-Lewis
D. B. Wyndham-Lewis
Dominic Bevan Wyndham-Lewis FRSL was a British writer best known for his humorous contributions to newspapers and for biographies. His family were originally from Wales, but he was born in Liverpool and brought up in Cardiff...
and, chiefly, J. B. Morton
J. B. Morton
John Cameron Andrieu Bingham Michael Morton, better known by his preferred abbreviation J. B. Morton was an English humorous writer noted for authoring a column called By the Way under the pen name Beachcomber in the Daily Express from 1924 to 1975.G. K...
as authors of the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
column "By the Way" in the period 1919-1975. Other authors who used the name were Major John Bernard Arbuthnot MVO, the column's founder, and William Hartston
William Hartston
William Roland Hartston is an English chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 with a highest Elo rating of 2515...
, the current author of its revived form.
"By the Way" in print
"By the Way" was originally a column in the Globe, consisting of unsigned humorous pieces; P. G. WodehouseP. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
was assistant editor of the column from August 1903 and editor from August 1904 to May 1909, during which time he was assisted by Herbert Westbrook. After the Globes closure, it was reestablished as a society news column in the Daily Express from 1917 onwards, initially written by social correspondent Major John Arbuthnot who invented the name "Beachcomber".
After Arbuthnot was promoted to deputy editor, it was taken over by Wyndham-Lewis some time in 1919 who reinvented it as an outlet for his wit and humour. It was then passed to Morton during 1924 though it is likely there was a period when they overlapped. Morton wrote the column until 1975; it was revived in January 1996 and continues today, written by William Hartston
William Hartston
William Roland Hartston is an English chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 with a highest Elo rating of 2515...
, though the name "By the Way" has been dropped in favour of simply "Beachcomber". The column is unsigned except by "Beachcomber" and it was not publicly known that Morton or Wyndham-Lewis wrote it until the 1930s. The name is mainly associated with Morton who has been credited as an influence by Spike Milligan
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
amongst others. Morton introduced the recurring characters and continuing stories that were a major feature of the column during his 51-year run.
The format of the column was a random assortment of small paragraphs which were otherwise unconnected. These could be anything, such as:
- court reports, often involving Twelve Red-Bearded Dwarfs before Mr Justice Cocklecarrot.
- angry exchanges of letters between characters such as Florence McGurgle and her dissatisfied boarders.
- interruptions from "Prodnose", representing the public, who would then be roundly cursed by the author and kicked out.
- installments of serials that could stop, restart from earlier, be abandoned altogether or change direction abruptly without warning.
- parodies of poetry or drama, particularly of the extremely "literary" type such as Ibsen.
- news reports from around the country.
- or just anything that the author thought funny at the time.
Morton's other interest, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, was occasionally represented by epic tales of his rambling walks through the French countryside. These were not intended as humour.
"By the Way" was popular with the readership, and of course, one of the reasons it lasted so long. Its style and randomness could be off-putting, however, and it is safe to say the humour could be something of an acquired taste. Oddly, one of the column's greatest opponents was the Express newspaper's owner, Lord Beaverbrook, who had to keep being assured the column was indeed funny. A prominent critic was George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
but "By the Way" was one of the few features kept continuously running in the often seriously reduced Daily Express throughout World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Morton's lampooning of Hitler, including the British invention of Bracerot to make the Nazi's trousers fall down at inopportune moments, was regarded as valuable for morale.
The column appeared daily until 1965 when it was changed to weekly. It was cancelled in 1975 and revived as a daily piece in the early 1990s. It continues to the present day in much the same format, but is now entitled "Beachcomber", not "By the Way".
Recurrent characters
- Mr. Justice Cocklecarrot: well-meaning but ineffectual High Court judgeHigh Court judgeA High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
, plagued by litigation involving the twelve red-bearded dwarfs. Often appears in Private Eye. - Mrs. Justice Cocklecarrot: his wife. Very silent, until she observes that "Wivens has fallen down a manhole". An enquiry from the judge as to which Wivens that would be elicits the response "E. D. Wivens". After a worrying interval she reveals that E. D. Wivens is a cat. His Lordship observes that catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s do not have initials. "This one does", says she. - Tinklebury Snapdriver and Honeygander Gooseboote: two counselBarristerA barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. The elbow of one has a mysterious tendency to become jammed in the jaws of the other. - Twelve red-bearded dwarfs, with a penchant for farcical litigation. Their names "appear to be" Scorpion de Rooftrouser, Cleveland Zackhouse, Frums Gillygottle, Edeledel Edel, Churm Rincewind, Sophus Barkayo-Tong, Amaninter Axling, Guttergorm Guttergormpton, Badly Oronparser, Listenis Youghaupt, Molonay Tubilderborst and Farjole Merrybody. They admit that these are not genuine names. (Further red-bearded dwarfs, to the number of forty-one, appear in other litigation.)
- Captain Foulenough: archetypal cad and gatecrasher who impersonates the upper classUpper classIn social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
in order to wreck their social events. Educated at Narkover, a school specializing in card-playing, horse-racing and briberyBriberyBribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
. - Mountfalcon Foulenough: his prigPrigA prig is a person who shows an inordinately zealous approach to matters of form and propriety – especially where the prig has the ability to show superior knowledge to those who do not know the protocol...
gish nephew, who brings havoc to Narkover and "makes virtue seem even more horrifying than usual". - Vita Brevis: debutante frequently plagued by, but with a certain reluctant admiration for, Captain Foulenough.
- Dr. Smart-Allick: genteel, but ludicrous and criminal, headmaster of Narkover.
- Miss Topsy Turvey: neighbouring headmistress, courted by Smart-Allick.
- Dr. Strabismus (whom God preserve) of UtrechtUtrecht (city)Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
: eccentric scientistScientistA scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
and inventor. - Lord Shortcake: absent-minded peerPeerageThe Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
obsessed by his enormous collection of goldfishGoldfishThe goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....
. - Mrs. McGurgle: seasideSeaside-Places:* Seaside, California* Seaside, Florida* Seaside, Oregon* A mostly undeveloped coastal area in Perth and Kinross called Seaside* Seaside, Queens, a section of Rockaway Beach in New York City* Seaside Heights, New Jersey...
landlady. Fearsomely BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, until she decides to reinvent her house as "Hôtel McGurgle et de l'Univers" to attract the tourists. - Ministry of Bubbleblowing: possible ancestorAncestorAn ancestor is a parent or the parent of an ancestor ....
of Monty PythonMonty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
's Ministry of Silly WalksThe Ministry of Silly Walks"The Ministry of Silly Walks" is a sketch from the Monty Python comedy troupe's television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, episode 14, which is entitled "Face the Press". The episode first aired in 1970. A shortened version of the sketch was performed for Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl...
. - Charlie Suet: disastrous civil servantBritish Civil ServiceHer Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government - the government of the United Kingdom, composed of a Cabinet of ministers chosen by the prime minister, as well as the devolved...
. - Mimsie Slopcorner: his on-off girlfriend, an ill-informed and irritating social activist.
- The Filthistan Trio: Ashura, Kazbulah and Rizamughan, three PersiansPersian peopleThe Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
from "Thurralibad", two of whom play see-saw on a plank laid across the third. They have a series of contretemps with British bureaucracyBureaucracyA bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and the artistic establishmentThe EstablishmentThe Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
, in which the trio generally represents the voice of reason. - Dingi-Poos: the Tibetan Venus. She obtains desirable commercial contracts by using her charms to hoodwink visiting British envoyEnvoyEnvoy may refer to:*an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary*a Special Envoy*a diplomat in general*Envoy , the British Vauxhall cars for Canadian market in 1960-'70*Envoy , a document reader and document file format...
s, principally Colonel Egham and Duncan Mince. - Big White Carstairs: Buchanesque Empire builderEmpire BuilderThe Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...
, with a tendency to mislay his dress trousersWhite tieWhite tie is the most formal evening dress code in Western fashion. It is worn to ceremonial occasions such as state dinners in some countries, as well as to very formal balls and evening weddings...
. - O. Thake: naive, accident-prone Old Etonian and man-about-town.
- Lady Cabstanleigh: SocietyUpper classIn social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
hostessHospitalityHospitality is the relationship between guest and host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, resorts, membership clubs, conventions, attractions, special events, and other services for travelers...
. - Stultitia: her niece, a playwrightPlaywrightA playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
. - Boubou Flaring: glamorous but vacuous actress.
- Emilia Rustiguzzi: voluminous (both in bulk and in decibels) opera singer.
- Tumbelova, Serge Trouserin, Chuckusafiva: ballet dancers.
- Colin Velvette: ballet impresario.
- "Thunderbolt" Footle: handsome, socially celebrated boxer (who can do everything except actually fight)
- The M'Babwa of M'Gonkawiwi: African chief, who occasions great administrative problems in connection with his invitation to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth IICoronation of Queen Elizabeth IIThe Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the ceremony in which the newly ascended monarch, Elizabeth II, was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, and Pakistan, as well as taking on the role of Head of the Commonwealth...
. - The Clam of Chowdah: oriental potentate
- Mrs. Wretch: formerly the glamorous circus performer Miss Whackaway, now wife to Colonel Wretch and "horrible welfare worker".
- Roland Milk: insipid poet (possible ancestor of Private Eye's "E. J. ThribbE. J. ThribbE. J. Thribb has been the fictitious poet-in-residence at the satirical magazine Private Eye since 1972; the poems are in reality written by Barry Fantoni. Thribb's poems are usually about recently deceased famous people, and titled 'in memoriam', with the first line almost invariably reading: "So...
"). - Prodnose: humourless, reasonable oaf who interrupts Beachcomber's flights of fancy. (The name is journalistic slang for a sub-editor; the broadcaster Danny BakerDanny BakerDanny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio....
has appropriated it as his TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
name.)
Other media
The Will HayWill Hay
William Thomson "Will" Hay was an English comedian, actor, film director and amateur astronomer.-Early life:He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, in north east England, to William R...
film Boys Will Be Boys (1935) was set at Morton's Narkover school.
In 1969, Spike Milligan based a BBC television series named The World of Beachcomber
The World of Beachcomber
The World of Beachcomber was a surreal television comedy show produced by the BBC inspired by the Beachcomber column in the Daily Express newspaper....
on the columns. According to Milligan, the columns had been an influence on the comedic style of his radio series, The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
. A small selection was issued on a 1971 LP and a 2-cassette set of the series' soundtrack was made available in the late 1990s.
In 1989, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcast the first of three series based on Morton's work. This featured Richard Ingrams
Richard Ingrams
Richard Ingrams is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine Private Eye, and now editor of The Oldie magazine.-Career:...
, John Wells
John Wells (satirist)
John Wells was an English actor, writer and satirist, educated at Eastbourne College and St Edmund Hall, Oxford...
, Patricia Routledge
Patricia Routledge
Katherine Patricia Routledge, CBE is an English character comedy actress and singer. She is best known for her role as character Hyacinth Bucket in the British television series Keeping Up Appearances and Hetty Wainthropp in the British television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates...
and John Sessions
John Sessions
John Gibb Marshall , better known by the stage name John Sessions, is a Scottish actor and comedian. He is known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway?; as a panellist on QI; and as a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and in Hollywood.-Early...
from compilations prepared by Mike Barfield. Series 1 was also made available as a 2-cassette set.
Influence on later writers
The work of Beachcomber is in some ways parallel to that of Myles na gCopaleen, and the influence of both writers is evident in the Peter SimpleMichael Wharton
Michael Wharton was a newspaper columnist who wrote under the pseudonym Peter Simple in the British Daily Telegraph. He began work on the "Way of the World" column with illustrator Michael ffolkes three times a week in early 1957...
columns in the Daily Telegraph.
References to Beachcomber are strongly pervasive in Private Eye, and there is a possible, but more tenuous, line of descent from it, via the Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...
, to Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
.
Original collections
- Mr Thake (1929)
- Mr Thake Again
- By the Way (1931)
- Morton's Folly
- The Adventures of Mr Thake (republished 2008)
- Mr Thake and the Ladies
- Stuff and Nonsense
- Gallimaufry
- Sideways Through Borneo
- A Diet of Thistles
- A Bonfire of Weeds
- I Do Not Think So
- Fool's Paradise
- Captain Foulenough and Company
- Here and Now
- The Misadventures of Dr Strabismus
- The Dancing Cabmen
- The Tibetan Venus
- Merry-Go-Round (1958)
Later omnibus editions
- The Best of Beachcomber (ed. Michael FraynMichael FraynMichael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
, 1963) - Beachcomber: the works of J. B. Morton (ed. Richard IngramsRichard IngramsRichard Ingrams is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine Private Eye, and now editor of The Oldie magazine.-Career:...
, 1974, Muller, London) - Cram Me With Eels, the Best of Beachcomber's Unpublished Humour (ed. Mike Barfield, 1995, Mandarin, London (ISBN 0-7493-1947-X))