diff --git a/extras/Hadrons/Modules/MContraction/Meson.hpp b/extras/Hadrons/Modules/MContraction/Meson.hpp
index 270875a6..a46dd445 100644
--- a/extras/Hadrons/Modules/MContraction/Meson.hpp
+++ b/extras/Hadrons/Modules/MContraction/Meson.hpp
@@ -36,22 +36,6 @@ See the full license in the file "LICENSE" in the top level distribution directo
 #include <Grid/Hadrons/Module.hpp>
 #include <Grid/Hadrons/ModuleFactory.hpp>
 
-namespace Grid {
-    // Overload >> to extract gamma pair from "<g1 g2>" string.
-    template <typename T1, typename T2>
-    inline std::istringstream &operator>>(std::istringstream &sstr,
-                                          std::pair<T1, T2> &buf)
-    {
-        unsigned int buf1;
-        unsigned int buf2;
-        char c;
-        sstr >> c >> buf1 >> buf2 >> c;
-        sstr.peek();
-        buf = std::make_pair((T1)buf1, (T2)buf2);
-        return sstr;
-    }
-}
-
 BEGIN_HADRONS_NAMESPACE
 
 /*
@@ -63,8 +47,8 @@ BEGIN_HADRONS_NAMESPACE
  - q1: input propagator 1 (string)
  - q2: input propagator 2 (string)
  - gammas: gamma products to insert at sink & source, pairs of gamma matrices 
-           (space-separated integers) in square brackets (i.e. [g_sink g_src]),
-           in a sequence (e.g. "[15 7][7 15][7 7]").
+           (space-separated strings) in angled brackets (i.e. <g_sink g_src>),
+           in a sequence (e.g. "<Gamma5 Gamma5><Gamma5 GammaT>").
 
            Special values: "all" - perform all possible contractions.
  - mom: momentum insertion, space-separated float sequence (e.g ".1 .2 1. 0."),
diff --git a/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h b/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h
index 0357915d..36e6fd77 100644
--- a/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h
+++ b/lib/serialisation/BaseIO.h
@@ -138,6 +138,54 @@ namespace Grid {
     unsigned int               dimInd_{0};
   };
   
+  // Pair IO utilities /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+  // helper function to parse input in the format "<obj1 obj2>"
+  template <typename T1, typename T2>
+  inline std::istream & operator>>(std::istream &is, std::pair<T1, T2> &buf)
+  {
+    T1 buf1;
+    T2 buf2;
+    char c;
+
+    // Search for "pair" delimiters.
+    do
+    {
+      is.get(c);
+    } while (c != '<' && !is.eof());
+    if (c == '<')
+    {
+      int start = is.tellg();
+      do
+      {
+        is.get(c);
+      } while (c != '>' && !is.eof());
+      if (c == '>')
+      {
+        int end = is.tellg();
+        int psize = end - start - 1;
+
+        // Only read data between pair limiters.
+        is.seekg(start);
+        std::string tmpstr(psize, ' ');
+        is.read(&tmpstr[0], psize);
+        std::istringstream temp(tmpstr);
+        temp >> buf1 >> buf2;
+        buf = std::make_pair(buf1, buf2);
+        is.seekg(end);
+      }
+    }
+    is.peek();
+    return is;
+  }
+  
+  // output to streams for pairs
+  template <class T1, class T2>
+  inline std::ostream & operator<<(std::ostream &os, const std::pair<T1, T2> &p)
+  {
+    os << "<" << p.first << " " << p.second << ">";
+    return os;
+  }
+
   // Abstract writer/reader classes ////////////////////////////////////////////
   // static polymorphism implemented using CRTP idiom
   class Serializable;
diff --git a/tests/IO/Test_serialisation.cc b/tests/IO/Test_serialisation.cc
index 8204b05b..acafc900 100644
--- a/tests/IO/Test_serialisation.cc
+++ b/tests/IO/Test_serialisation.cc
@@ -113,6 +113,7 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv)
   // test serializable class writing
   myclass              obj(1234); // non-trivial constructor
   std::vector<myclass> vec;
+  std::pair<myenum, myenum> pair;
   
   std::cout << "-- serialisable class writing to 'bother.xml'..." << std::endl;
   write(WR,"obj",obj);
@@ -120,6 +121,8 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv)
   vec.push_back(myclass(1234));
   vec.push_back(myclass(5678));
   vec.push_back(myclass(3838));
+  pair = std::make_pair(myenum::red, myenum::blue);
+
   write(WR, "objvec", vec);
   std::cout << "-- serialisable class writing to std::cout:" << std::endl;
   std::cout << obj << std::endl;
@@ -127,21 +130,30 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv)
   std::cout << "vec[0] == obj: " << ((vec[0] == obj) ? "true" : "false") << std::endl;
   std::cout << "vec[1] == obj: " << ((vec[1] == obj) ? "true" : "false") << std::endl;
   
+  write(WR, "objpair", pair);
+  std::cout << "-- pair writing to std::cout:" << std::endl;
+  std::cout << pair << std::endl;
+  
   // read tests
   std::cout << "\n==== IO self-consistency tests" << std::endl;
   //// XML
   ioTest<XmlWriter, XmlReader>("iotest.xml", obj, "XML    (object)           ");
   ioTest<XmlWriter, XmlReader>("iotest.xml", vec, "XML    (vector of objects)");
+  ioTest<XmlWriter, XmlReader>("iotest.xml", pair, "XML    (pair of objects)");
   //// binary
   ioTest<BinaryWriter, BinaryReader>("iotest.bin", obj, "binary (object)           ");
   ioTest<BinaryWriter, BinaryReader>("iotest.bin", vec, "binary (vector of objects)");
+  ioTest<BinaryWriter, BinaryReader>("iotest.bin", pair, "binary (pair of objects)");
   //// text
   ioTest<TextWriter, TextReader>("iotest.dat", obj, "text   (object)           ");
   ioTest<TextWriter, TextReader>("iotest.dat", vec, "text   (vector of objects)");
+  ioTest<TextWriter, TextReader>("iotest.dat", pair, "text   (pair of objects)");
   //// HDF5
+#undef HAVE_HDF5
 #ifdef HAVE_HDF5
   ioTest<Hdf5Writer, Hdf5Reader>("iotest.h5", obj, "HDF5   (object)           ");
   ioTest<Hdf5Writer, Hdf5Reader>("iotest.h5", vec, "HDF5   (vector of objects)");
+  ioTest<Hdf5Writer, Hdf5Reader>("iotest.h5", pair, "HDF5   (pair of objects)");
 #endif
   
   std::cout << "\n==== vector flattening/reconstruction" << std::endl;