Ed 25 : So pseu me ...

 In the time before social me me me media, the written word ruled. There was plenty of it too, although attitudes to the ‘self’ were very different. Modesty was considered a virtue, especially in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, and many writers, particularly the prolific ones, often  chose to use pseudonyms rather than their real identities, in order to avoid direct public scrutiny, or appearing grandiose, or boastful.  Anonymity is a striking contrast to today’s all pervading cult of celebrity for its own sake, merited or not.

 When I write in ‘The continuous adventures of the Fluff Club’ I use pseudonyms for the participants, the Fluff Boys, to preserve their identities, in the hopes of making them more inclusive to the readers, while their fishy activities are accurately recorded. In the earlier days I didn’t even name the fisheries, but do now; on reflection I couldn’t see a downside to revealing them, it could actually help the fisheries. Free publicity isn’t a bad thing.

  There are still plenty of pseudonyms hiding true identities in use, for instance Banksy, Madonna, and Sting, but it is literature where they are most common. J K Rowling has written under the name Robert Galbraith, following the long literary heritage that also gave us Mark Twain, George Eliot, Lewis Carroll, and many more.

 Angling literature has its share too. Richard Walker sometimes wrote as “Water Rail”, while the doyen of Victorian dry fly purists, Frederik Halford, used the pen name “Detached Badger”. In my opinion, however, the master was G.E.M.Skues. He wrote so much, and so frequently, he feared readers would tire of so much from one pen, and often used different names for different subjects, for instance, if a paper was a bit statistical he would sign it “E.O.E”. In his earlier days of writing, submitting pieces or articles to the ‘Fishing Gazette’, he signed as “Val Conson” a legal profession abbreviation for ‘valuable consideration’, in hopes that the editor might find them worthy of cash consideration. In similar vein, to convey a man of restricted means, he used “A. Limity-Dincombe” or “I. Caunter-Fordham”. There is also “S.A.S.”, “Simplex Mundishes”, “Spent Naturalist”, ”W.A.G.”, “B. Hinde”, “Unspoiled Child”, “Captain Stoke”, “A. Fluker”, “A. Butt”, “Integer Vitae”, “Current Calomel”, and “Seaforth & Soforth”.  

 Seems to me Vital and Whytee will continue to share a beer, at least for the time being.