The Lewis Chessmen

Camping near Uig, inevitably we visited the beach where the famous Lewis chess pieces were found in 1831. The treasure trove of elaborately carved walrus ivory and whales’ teeth was discovered, somewhat mysteriously, in a drystone kist in a sand dune. As the “rooks” are carved in the form of Berserkers, mythical warriors featured in Nordic Sagas, the most likely origin of the pieces is 12th Century Norwegian. The giant replica King, sculpted by Stephen Hayward, sits proudly on the edge of the dunes where the 93 pieces were hidden, possibly stolen from a merchant travelling between Norway and Ireland