Homecoming for the Lewis chessmen, still being used as political pawns

ALMOST as old as the enmity between Scotland and England, the 12th-century Lewis chessmen have become political pawns in the battle of wills between Holyrood and Westminster.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister, claimed them as Scotland's and demanded they be returned north of the Border. Margaret Hodge, then culture minister, told him Scotland's claim was "nonsense".

But now The Scotsman can reveal that after lengthy talks between museum chiefs in Edinburgh and London, about 25 pieces will come north on tour to Edinburgh and Stornoway.

Aware of the sensitive nature of the deal, Scottish museum officials played down the disclosure yesterday.

But the Scottish Government claimed credit for the move. It said it had "engaged in a number of talks with the British Museum and the museum has decided in principle to collaborate" on a Scottish exhibition in 2010-11.

The message from London was different. James Robinson, the British Museum's curator of medieval collections, said emphatically the tour was "business as usual" and not a result of pressure from Holyrood. "We have been discussing it for ages," he said. "It wasn't prompted by the views of the politicians."

The news came as the British Museum announced the chessmen would take pride of place in a new medieval gallery.

The row over the chessmen, discovered on a beach on Lewis, was launched in earnest more than a year ago when the First Minister demanded the "repatriation" of the British Museum's 82 pieces. The National Museum of Scotland (NMS) has another 11 pieces.

A political row broke out, as some Scottish historians backed Mr Salmond's claim, saying Stornoway should be the chessmen's home. The former culture minister Linda Fabiani was sent to London to view the chessmen and make the public case.

But museum chiefs said moving the chessmen back to Scotland was impossible, opening a Pandora's box for the return of artefacts.

A Scottish Government statement insisted yesterday that it was "unacceptable" that only 11 Lewis chessmen were in Edinburgh and promised to maintain its campaign for a "reunited set". It said discussions "were still ongoing".

It was clear the matter remains delicate. A British Museum spokeswoman said dates were unconfirmed, but the exhibition was "pretty much happening".

In Edinburgh, the NMS refused to confirm any details. A spokeswoman said only: "We're currently exploring the possibilities of a touring exhibition of the Lewis chess pieces."

The London chessmen have not been in Edinburgh since early 1996. If the tour goes as planned, they will go on to the Museum nan Eilean, in Stornoway, where they were loaned more recently, and other Scottish venues.

Only part of the collection will come north because the British Museum regards the chessmen as one of its main visitor attractions.

The tour was "the most sensible way to make them accessible to the people of Scotland and the Island of Lewis", said Mr Robinson. "It's something that we do periodically."

Labour MSP George Foulkes said: "The SNP's proposal was that the Lewis chessmen would be taken to Stornoway and everything should go back to where it came from. That would empty the Burrell Collection.

"What the SNP suggested was crazy. This is a sensible, normal plan by the British Museum."