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(Whilst the Scottish government is openly campaigning for the return of the Chessmen little has been heard from the Manx government about its avowed intention to seek the recovery of 'The Chronicles of Man and the Isles'.)
The Scottish governments Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Linda Fabiani MSP, has used the opportunity presented by a visit to the British Museum last week to press the case for the return of the Lewis Chessmen.
The 12th-century figures were found on a Lewis beach in 1830. Of the 93 chessmen, 82 are on permanent display in London, a position that the Scottish Minister last week said was "unacceptable". The remaining 11 are on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
The Scottish first minister Alex Salmond also called for their return of the Chessmen last year and it seems that the SNP government mean to step up the impetus of their campaign to have the artefacts returned. The remaining 11 are on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Following discussions between the Scottish Culture Minister and Museum officials the British Museum issued a somewhat anodyne statement reiterating:
"that the chessmen are an important symbol of European civilisation and the museum places them within the context of interconnected world cultures."
The British Museum have not however explained why they believe that symbols such as the chessmen need to be centralised for exhibition purposes in the south-east of England when their relevance and provenance is more pertinent to Scotland.
Whilst the Scottish government is openly campaigning for the return of the Chessmen little has been heard from the Manx government about its avowed intention to seek the recovery of 'The Chronicles of Man and the Isles'. The Chronicles which are the most significant and oldest historical document to the Isle of Man were for many years held on the Island but then in circumstances which are still obscure appear to have been removed from the Island and ultimately ending up in a collection in the British Library.
Whilst arguments abound over the precedent which might be created by the transfer of contested artefacts internationally it is unclear what defence the British Museum or British Library could advance for returning a small number of artefacts to jurisdictions within the British Isles which at this moment in time all come under the Crown.
The two institutions seem motivated more by selfishness and avarice than any commitment to custodianship.
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
27/01/08
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