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Isle of Lewis Chess Set:
George Mor MacKenzie was tacksman of the farm of Balnacille and of other lands in the parish of Uig. At one time he had geld cattle at a remote sheiling in the southern end of the parish, called Aird Bheag, near the entry to Loch 'Resort. MacKenzie employed a young man to herd the cattle there and on a stormy night, a ship was driven ashore at Aird Bheag. On the following morning, MacKenzie's herd saw, from a hiding place, a sailor swimming ashore with a small bag upon his back. The herd pursued the sailor, overtook him and slew him without ceremony, hoping to find riches and money on him. Burying the sailor's body in a peat moss, he went to Balnacille to inform his master of the fate of the ship, advising that they should kill the crew and possess themselves of the wealth the ship was supposed to contain. But MacKenzie reprimanded his herd for this barbarous advice and directed him by no means to do them any harm, but to conduct the survivors to his house. So the crew all safely arrived at Balnacille, excepting the sailor whom the herd had murdered. MacKenzie showed all manner of kindness to the strangers, who stayed about a month with him, and in that time saved as much from the ship as more than satisfied MacKenzie for their keep.
When the shipwrecked seamen left the country, the wicked herd, always afraid of detection, though living in a remote corner of the parish, went to where he had concealed the bag for whose sake he had murdered the sailor, to examine the contents. These turned out to be carved relics of various descriptions, and fearing the figures might be turned to proof against him, he travelled not less that ten miles on a dark night and buried the carved images in a sandbank in the Mains of Uig. This herd never prospered thereafter but went on from one degree of vice to another, until for his abuse of women, he was sentenced to be hanged on the Gallows Hill at Stornoway. When he was brought forth for execution, he told of many wicked things he had done, and among others, how he had murdered the sailor and where he had buried the images. Thereafter, in AD 1831, Malcolm MacLeod, tenant of Penny Donald in Uig, found upwards of eighty of these carved relics and those images were sold in Edinburgh by the late Captain Ryrie, for Thirty Pounds, for the above Malcolm MacLeod.
Buy The Isle of Lewis Chess Set Online
 These chess pieces are replicas of the originals which were discovered on the Isle of Lewis off the West Coast of Scotland. The originals are now housed securely in museums in London and Edinburgh. The King height is 3.75 inches (9.5 centimetres). The set is suited to a board with a square size of approximately 2 inches.
Price £ 81.32 inc. V.A.T. ($110.75 USD)
Click Here to purchase online or see Mini Isle of Lewis Chess Set below.
Buy The Mini - Isle of Lewis Chess Set Online:
Miniature replicas of the pieces found on the Isle of Lewis off the West Coast of Scotland. The originals are now housed securely in museums in London and Edinburgh.
Price £ 54.90 inc. V.A.T. ($74.77 USD)
Click Here to purchase online or see Full Size Isle of Lewis Chess Set above.
Back to :- Isle of Lewis Chess Set
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