Skeddan Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 This is a slightly old from BBC - 24th Dec 2007. First Minister Alex Salmond has joined calls for the return of the Lewis chessmen to Scotland. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highla...nds/7159656.stm Today: THE CAMPAIGN to bring the Lewis chessmen back to Scotland went to London yesterday as culture minister Linda Fabiani demanded their return on a visit to the British Museum. http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnew...to_scotland.php The chessmen date to abt. 1150 - at a time when Lewis was part of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. If they are going to be returned, shouldn't they be returned to IoM? IMO they properly belong to Manx cultural heritage, and so IoM is where they belong if anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojomonkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 If they go back anywhere it should be back to Lewis. Using your logic the Isle of Man should have claim to anything within the Isles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 It would be fantastic to see them here on loan, - but they belong in Lewis (not Edinbrugh!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeddan Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 If they go back anywhere it should be back to Lewis. Using your logic the Isle of Man should have claim to anything within the Isles. The logic is they are part of Manks cultural heritage, and this is the basis on which they should be returned to IoM. I don't think that 'anything within the Isles' counts as a significant part of cultural heritage in the way this does. Also the issue comes up because there are calls for this to be returned - the issue is not anything and everything (by the same logic everything Scottish in England should be returned to Scotland, vice versa etc. etc.) If it is being discussed, then picking up the ball on this seems sensible enough. The Scots don't seem to be taken by your logic, and if the Scots get their hands on it, then it'll probably go to Edinburgh - not Lewis. (Maybe IoM could share by lending it to Lewis and maybe Norway as well. I think that would be very neighbourly ) Out of interest if the Chronicles of the Kings of Mann and the Isles were discovered in Lewis in the same way, would you think they belong in London, Edinburgh, Lewis or IoM? It's not identical for sure, but it might help clarify some of the issues of where this should go and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Skeddan - they were found in Lewis, so they belong in Lewis. That is my opinion and it would be opinion even if Lewis was still a part of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. As the British museum have got their paws on most of them it is all hypothetical anyway. They are just being used as politcal pawns by the SNP, who would no doubt like to have them in Edinburgh. We, or Norway or Dublin, probably do have more of a claim to them than Edinburgh - but I think they belong in Lewis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macmannin Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I would suggest channeling your nationalistic energies into ridding the island of that sponging,ex war mongering twat,the governer and not worrying about a game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minxie Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Many of the original 93 chess pieces are currently on show at the British Museum in London. I saw the chess pieces at the British Museum earlier this month - they were fantastic (the pawns were just dome shaped, but the main pieces were beautiful) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Realistically, they they should be where most people get to see them, and that's neither the Isle of Man or Lewis. If they move anywhere, I recon the national museum in Scotland is the best place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 It's simple - The Kings should move very slowly to Lewis. The Rooks should move in a straight line directly North until they are parallel with Lewis then move in a straight line Westerwards, whilst the Queens go wherever the fuck they want. The Knights, of course, will go to Dublin first, then over here, then Edinburgh, and then on to Lewis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I understand the argument that they should be where the most people will see them - by the same argument we should send all our cultural artifacts to the Louvre. In my opinion the Lewis chess pieces are of most value closest to where they were found. They are of impotance to the people of Lewis and people interested in the history of the Norse-Gaels. In London they are curios that make up the story of cultural domination and empire - in Lewis they would have far greater meaning and would be integral to a history of the islands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I would suggest channeling your nationalistic energies into ridding the island of that sponging,ex war mongering twat,the governer and not worrying about a game. Sorry, I don't have much interest in the governor. The title seems to have been kept because it appears imperial nostalgia gives some old colonials a hard on - fair enough, it was debated and the staus quo was agreed. The institution is an iceberg floating into Southern latitudes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 It's simple - The Kings should move very slowly to Lewis. The Rooks should move in a straight line directly North until they are parallel with Lewis then move in a straight line Westerwards, whilst the Queens go wherever the fuck they want. The Knights, of course, will go to Dublin first, then over here, then Edinburgh, and then on to Lewis. But bishops will have to stay put, or move to South Uist - Lewis is staunchly Presbyterian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojomonkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 three post mentalism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnieK Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 They are of impotance to the people of Lewis and people interested in the history of the Norse-Gaels. In London they are curios that make up the story of cultural domination and empire That would be true if the British Museum was some tacky tourist trap, but one of its primary functions is academic: to store and preserve artefacts of national and international importance and act as a central repository of such artefacts for scholars to access. You can argue that the pieces should be in Lewis because of the importance they have to the people there, but for "people interested in the history of the Norse-Gaels" they're better off remaining in the British Museum. My own view is that they should stay where they are. Not only can a greater number of people enjoy them as historical artefacts where they are, but their being in prominant institutions of international importance means that the culture they embody is introduced and exposed to a far greater number of people than would otherwise be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freggyragh Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 That would be true if; A) London was the center of scholarship on the subject, rather than one of the furtherst points from it. B) London was easy and cheap to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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