.. -. -.. .. .- - ---- -.-. …. .. -. .- (or India to China)

18 Jan 2012

This time the Item of the Month is a little different: .. -. -.. .. .- - ---- -.-. …. .. -. .- (or India to China) (NMM Ref: PBH3535).

During 2010, a team of six volunteers spent 350 hours working in the Caird Library listing the contents of 316 boxes, containing 11,590 items, into a series of spread sheets. The content of the pamphlet boxes had been listed in the mid-1970s, but the handwritten, photocopied lists were often difficult to read and with no hand list available in the Reading Room, the pamphlets were often overlooked by visitors and staff.

One of the treasures uncovered as part of this project was a pamphlet, written entirely in Morse code. India to China by the Buzzards, and published by Eyre and Spottiswoode, is an account of Tom’s journey to China from India, via New Zealand and Australia. 

En route, Tom and his travelling companion Gwen must endure a terrifying encounter with a monsoon during which their ship, the MOONBEAM, flounders. Swimming ashore, Tom and Gwen take shelter in a cave after they take fright at spotting some of the indigenous people of the land. “Gwen thought them savages” (p.3) is the colourful description! Spotting a boat out at sea, Tom finds some tin and sends an SOS, putting his own Morse skills to practical use, to attract the attention of the boat. Their rescue, however, turns out to be far from that, when they discover they have delivered themselves into the hands of some Japanese pirates, who are portrayed in a particularly unflattering light by the authors

The narrative of the adventure is basic, and distinctly “un-PC” to a modern readership. It draws on a spirit of a time when travelling the southern seas was a dangerous adventure, filled with unfamiliar people. The pamphlet plays to broad cultural stereotypes, but also to wider stereotypes - the pirates are every bit the expected cliché, with drunkenness, plank walking and dialogue that could come straight from International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Sadly, a publication date cannot be attributed to this 16 page pamphlet, nor can an exact reason be given for why it is printed entirely in Morse. It is possible, however, that this is an education aid to assist in reinforcing signallers skills with the code. It has certainly helped me to brush up on my skills!  

So, do Tom and Gwen escape the pirates and safely arrive in Hong Kong? --- ..-. | -.-. --- ..- .-. ... . | - .... . -.-- | -.. --- || 

F Tait’s 1944 The Complete Morse Instructor (London: Pitman) has been a great help to me in preparing this short article. You can find out more about signalling and codes using the collections of the Library.  

--. .- .-. . - .... (.-. . .- -.. . .-. | ... . .-. ...- .. -.-. . ... | .-.. .. -... .-. .- .-. .. .- -.)

(a.k.a.) Gareth, Reader Services Librarian

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