Sunday 24 February 2008

Chessmen keepers reveal fear of 'Gallic hotheads'

STORNOWAY and Paris are normally difficult to confuse, but a spelling gaffe in a British Museum memo managed to mix the Gaels and the Gauls.

A document which suggested "Gallic hotheads" might seize the Lewis chessmen has come to light, much to the bemusement of islanders who have in turn accused museum officials of "ignorance".

The museum has claimed the reference is nothing more than a "spelling error".

But the gaffe has been seized on by locals who believe that metropolitan prejudice shows why the chessmen should be "repatriated".

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