Shorthand - can you help decipher?

[cornishpasty]

Hi Yelkcub,

I have been trying to decipher these notes for you as it definitely looks like Pitman's shorthand but there are some peculiarities.  It is not an advanced form of shorthand;  rather, it is quite basic so one would think it would be relatively easy.  It's never easy trying to read another person's shorthand as we all develop our own style and shortcuts.   It's even harder because I can't make out any heavy strokes and Pitman's consists of both light and heavy strokes for certain letters, phonetically.  I'll see what I can do but make no promises.

Let's hope c-side's teacher friend can help too.

Regards,
CP (in a freezing, icy Melbourne) 

[c-side]

It's not so hot in 'sunny' Britain either, today!

It's a very long time since I used any shorthand and even longer since I learned it and, like you say, it becomes as individual as handwriting.  I also used to rely on my memory a lot!!  It might be easier if we had some knowledge of the subject matter so a little 'guesswork' could come into play.

I'm seeing my teacher friend tonight - fingers crossed.

C

[yelkcub]

Hi C -
Indeed - fingers crossed, and thanks for showing this to your teacher friend. Sadly, I have no clue whatsoever as to the contents of my ancestor's notes: I just hope it was nothing 'questionable' that he didn't want the rest of his family to read! I would blush for him
Ian

[c-side]

Oh dear, I now have one very frustrated friend.   She hardly spoke a word tonight - too busy with the shorthand but so far unsuccessfully.

Like the rest of us on this thread she says that at first glance it looks as if its going to be easy but when she tried to apply Pitman phonetics to the outlines she wasn’t getting any words.

One thing she did suggest though,  in her career she has taught three different versions of Pitman - each one more streamlined than the one before.  She thinks the shorthand has been very neatly written but some of the outlines are very cumbersome and therefore wonders whether this is an even earlier version.

Last seen heading for home with the intention of looking further into this so do not despair yet!

C

[c-side]

Meant to add - I would imagine that if your ancestor wrote this in shorthand and the rest in longhand there is a good chance he did want to keep it secret.

Never mind - if it's questionable it'll add some colour to his personality and we won't tell anyone 

C

[Greensleeves]

Whilst I am sorry that your friend did not manage to crack the code, C, I am somewhat relieved that it is not just me!  I have been a shorthand writer for over 40 years and at one time used to take verbatim shorthand.   Although now very rusty speed-wise, I still use shorthand to make notes for myself at meetings etc, so it continues to be of use to me.

So it is frustrating to see  what looks like nice, neat Pitman and find it is totally beyond me.  I have spent far too long looking at it now, thinking that if I try from another angle.... which is probably what your friend is doing now!

Regards
Greensleeves

[yelkcub]

I'm feeling very guilty now for having condemned C and her friend to a largely silent evening ... and for having perplexed Greensleeves. I'm quite a fan of cryptic crosswords, and know the frustration of failing to complete a puzzle.
You're probably right - the fact that James Page wrote this page in shorthand, while all the other pages of his notebook I have seen were written in longhand, is likely to mean that he meant the note to be secret and safe from prying eyes. Either that or he was just practising a new - or an old and rusty skill.
Still got my fingers crossed!
Ian

[Greensleeves]

Please don't apologise, Ian - we like a challenge around here, even if, on some occasions, we are beaten!  One thing I did notice from the shorthand is that the narrative contains a number of proper nouns which  immediately leads one to conjecture whether these were of people, or places....
Regards
Greensleeves

[c-side]

It's vindication, isn't it, Greensleeves, though not much use to Ian.  I haven't used it for a long time and my 120 wpm has now probably turned into one word every 120 minutes but still expected to be able to read it.

More research - I'm curious now

C