A announcement is expected to be made shortly, that some of the Lewis Chessmen in the British Museum will temporarily be returned to Edinburgh. This follows numerous public demands in the past for their return.

Whilst it is great that the British Museum is finally seeing the sense of making artefacts more accessible to those who culturally identify with them, this particular exercise suggests that it is acceptable to return artefacts that were legally purchased, whilst the many that were acquired in questionable circumstances are not suitable candidates for being reunified. I’m not quite sure what we should understand from this.

From:
Scotsman

Lewis Chessmen to be reunited in Scotland for first time in 150 years
Published Date: 01 October 2009
By David Maddox
Scottish Political Correspondent

MANY of the 93 Lewis chessmen housed in London and Edinburgh will be reunited for the first time for more than 150 years for a tour of Scotland, it will be announced today.

Culture minister Mike Russell will unveil details of a deal with the British Museum to temporarily reunite the 12th-century chessmen found on a beach on the Isle of Lewis in 1831.
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The British Museum is trying to make the Lewis Chessmen the central feature of a new gallery, in the hope that this will weaken the argument for their return to Scotland.

From:
Evening Standard (London)

Your move … Scots want chess set back
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent
25.03.09

THE BRITISH Museum has put a set of elaborately carved chess figures at the heart of a new gallery despite demands that they be returned to Scotland.

The 82 Lewis Chessmen, which are between 800 and 900 years old and made from walrus and whale ivory, were seen in a Harry Potter film and inspired the children’s TV series Noggin The Nog.
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After a lot of coverage at the start of the year, it appears that efforts to secure the return of the Lewis Chessmen to Scotland are still underway, with the Scottish Culture Minister due to meet Neil MacGregor to discuss the issue.

From:
Stornoway Gazette

Chessmen could celebrate ‘Homecoming’ on Lewis
25 September 2008
By Michelle Robson

THE LEWIS Chessmen could be coming home next year as part of Scotland’s national celebrations.
2009 is the Year of the Homecoming and Scottish Ministers are hoping the British Museum will agree to return the historical items to their finding place.

Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said this week that she was due to meet the Director of the British Museum on October 6 to discuss the issue further.
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John Huntley follows up his earlier letter to the Scotsman, explaining the basis for how legal action could be taken in the Scottish courts over the Elgin Marbles.

From:
Scotsman

Purchase or plunder? A clear case for Scottish court to decide
Published Date: 06 August 2008
By JOHN K HUNTLEY

LET’S go to Fife to see the Parthenon Marbles. We might have done, had Thomas Bruce had his way. The seventh Lord Elgin “acquired” them for his new mansion at Broomhall. Grand designs for a grand man.

Instead, we can see them in London’s British Museum, which “acquired” the “Elgin” Marbles in 1816.
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John Huntley’s letter last week has prompted this response, highlighting the differences in the approach of the Scottish National Party between cases where they can gain politically (such as the Lewis Chessmen) & cases where they believe that supporting it will not help drive their nationalist agenda (sch as the Elgin Marbles). This is a clear case of politics over-riding any moral or factual reasoning that might lie behind either of the cases.

From:
The Scotsman

Marbles expose SNP
Saturday, 12th July 2008

John A K Huntley’s thought provoking Alternative Take (8 July) on the Elgin or Parthenon Marbles exposes Alex Salmond’s government for what it is in relation to Scotland’s supposed influence and power for good in the world.

It is quite clear that where there is political capital to be had from talking up all things Scottish, SNP government ministers will assume the moral high ground and pontificate relentlessly to those who might listen. However, suggest a situation where an eminent Scottish personality might be deemed to have acted beyond the pale, and the SNP doesn’t want to know. Even where the outcome (however unlikely) could have resulted in the repatriation to Athens of artefacts held in a British Institution.

Compare their reaction to Mr Huntley with the debates surrounding the Lewis Chessmen or the Stone of Destiny (neither of which were “stolen” from their original locations) and one can only marvel at the SNP’s political gymnastics.

BILL GOODALL
Baird Terrace
Edinburgh

The chances of the Lindisfarne Gospels returning to North East England may be increasing. Could the Lewis Chessmen be the next intra-national restitution case to see progress?

From:
Financial Times

Durham hopes to regain Gospels
By Chris Tighe
Published: June 28 2008 03:00 | Last updated: June 28 2008 03:00

Almost five centuries since Henry VIII’s thugs looted Durham Cathedral and stole the Lindisfarne Gospels, hopes are rising that this stunning work of art may return to its spiritual home.

A monument to the Golden Age of the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria, the 1,300-year-old manuscript created on Holy Island, off the Northumberland coast, has acquired something of the mystique of a holy relic.
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