The Larch

I was recently gifted by my very generous gaming group, a couple of books. The first and second editions of MERP. I was overcome by this, very generous present, and have been flicking through these two essentially new copies of my most cherished game. It has certainly been bringing back memories to go through these volumes, and look at the art again. 

One thing that is very notable in the 2nd edition book, is the move away from the use of stock art and clip art, towards the delightful and beautiful black and white line art of Liz Danforth. With the huge number of pieces Danforth provided for the 2nd edition of MERP, there was no need for the very basic and not-quite-Middle-Earthy clip art of 1st edition. Wonderful.

Well, except for one piece. One piece of clip art made the jump from 1st ed to 2nd. And it isn't really one that has all that great a tie to Middle Earth. The Larch.

The Larch is just that. A wood cut or black line art piece, clearly modified to add what I always though of as a turtle in a hot air balloon, but I've also seen described as a hippo with a parachute. Whatever it is, this is clearly a humorous piece 

In 1st edition, this art appears on page 78, in the appendices, filling space on a page otherwise describing tables. Specifically MT-1, the Moving Maneuver Table. In 2nd edition it is on page 242, also the appendices, also MT-1. However, none of the other pages in the appendices have these small filler art boxes in 2nd edition, so this was clearly a design choice that was made. 

This must have been an inside joke, but one that has been sitting staring at me since the mid 1980s, and I want to know more about it.

The first thing that struck me, way back then as it does now, was the use of the tree, the Larch. To me this was a very clear reference to Monty Python.

It was late 1969 when the BBC aired the Monty Python’s Flying Circus episode “How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away”. This is perhaps best remembered for “No1 the Larch” and “No 3 The Larch”(1).

I was never a big Monty Python fan, but for some reason this sketch stuck in my head. So far so good. The irreverent use of the Larch as clip art, that clearly has no bearing on the game itself, nor does Middle Earth fit right in with the Monty Python sense of humour. 

There is of course the fact that a staple at all gaming tables, then, though less so now, was quoting from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So it is not a huge stretch to see the folks at I.C.E. having similar habits.

I was able to track down the original version of the image of the tree. It seems not to be a Larch at all, but indeed a Fir tree. As far as I can tell, the image is from the Illustrated Aesop's Fables, specifically the tale "The Fir and A Bramble" (2). The image seems to have been photocopied from that book. This was pre-digital versions of these books were widely available, so someone had to have had a hard copy of the book. 

But what about the parachuting turtle? That's not a Monty Python reference, so what is that? From what I can make out, this must have been an in house addition. Someone in I.C.E. added that beast, and kept the illustration in through to 2nd edition. 

Unfortunately, that's all I can find on the subject. I reached out to some people who were involved with I.C.E back in the day, but I've not had any replies. Others that may have known have sadly passed on since then, so it will have to remain a mystery.

Without further information, this post will have to do to scratch the itch that this image causes in the back of my brain. Maybe someone will read it and reach out. 

Sources.

1. Pildacre Hill
2. Bewick's Select fables of Aesop and others, with illustrations by Thomas Bewick. 1871 (first edition published in 1818). Available online at Michigan State University.