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Dick Callum
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Name:
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Dick Callum
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Gender:
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male
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Birthdate:
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height:
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Position:
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commander of Dixon's Farm sled
Able Seaman of Teasel |
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Loyalty:
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Callum family
The Ds |
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Enemies:
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Usual Residence:
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Future career:
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will amass great wealth (CC13)
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Major achievements:
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Too many parameters | |
- "Sorry. I didn't hear what you were saying." (Dick, BS22)
Dick Callum is a young astronomer, scientist, naturalist and master of the Scarab. Dick and his sister Dorothea Callum are often mentioned as a pair, the Ds.
When the D's meet the Swallows and Amazons, Nancy asks .... but what are you, in real life I mean, Dorothea promptly says Dick's an astronomer (WH3).
Dorothea says that both of them can swim and Dick got first prize at school for men under twelve. Dick says Boys, but everyone had understood (CC9).
He is A smallish boy with large black-rimmed spectacles (BS9). At various times Dick was nervously cleaning his spectacles (BS10,14). When Nancy says that they must have Scarab despite the GA, If it had not been that he could not let go of the oars he would have taken off his spectacles and wiped them with relief (PM9).
Dick attends a boarding school (near Crewe PM2) and lives in London, where his father, Professor Callum is an academic archaeologist.
Dick is socially awkward and often fails to follow others' conversation: "Sorry. I didn't hear what you were saying." (BS22). He can be preoccupied in what he is doing: when he is testing the "gold dust" he might have been alone in a world empty except for two test-tubes .... (PP33)
However he is valued at times of crisis. After the tunnel collapse, just as when they found the cragfast sheep in the winter holidays, he seemed to be thinking of everything art once and know what to do. (PP24)
Dick has manual skill as well as scientific knowledge: he is able to carve wooden cleats for the sledge built for the Ds by Mr Dixon (WH13). He is also able to build the pigeon-activated alarm at Beckfoot (PP6). He develops photographs (BS31).
In Dick's pocket book he notes birds he has seen and things he wants to remember, e.g. the Morse and Semaphore codes and his mother’s birthday.
Future[]
Dick Callum is described as prudent and will amass great wealth by a fortune-telling automatic weighing machine at Bridge Stores, Potter Heigham (CC13).
Callum Reif, an adult scientist character resembling Dick is featured in Julia Jones's Strong Winds trilogy.
Appearances[]
- Winter Holiday: Meets the Swallows and Amazons, sucessful expedition to North Pole
- Coot Club: Learns to sail
- Pigeon Post: Scientist to SADMC mineral exploration
- The Big Six: Detective and forensic scientist and photographer, helps to solve boat vandalism mystery
- The Picts and the Martyrs: Pict and scientist to SADMC mineral assaying
- 'Coots in the North': mentioned by protagonists the Death and Glories, sketched appearance in notes to this incomplete story
- Great Northern?: Ship's naturalist and photographer, Dick has his most central role in a plot
Dorothea and Dick lean out of their train window in the BBC adaptation Swallows and Amazons Forever!
Dick Callum reading by the fire in The Dog's Home
Dick assaying minerals in the Houseboat