Beachcomber (pen name)

Beachcomber was the nom de plume used by two 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. Two other authors have also used the name: Major John Bernard Arbuthnot MVO, the column's founder, and William Hartston, the current author of the column in its revived form.

"By the Way" was originally a column in The Globe, consisting of unsigned humorous pieces; P. G. Wodehouse 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 Globe's 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 sometime in 1919 by Wyndham-Lewis, 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. 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.

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