{"id":1430,"date":"2014-02-25T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T00:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/?p=1430"},"modified":"2019-11-02T16:28:07","modified_gmt":"2019-11-02T16:28:07","slug":"scotlands-role-in-an-elgin-marbles-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/?p=1430","title":{"rendered":"Scotland&#8217;s role in an Elgin Marbles mystery &#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=''><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/fatgreekodyssey\" class=\"twitter-follow-button\" data-show-count=\"false\" data-button=\"blue\" data-text-color=\"#800080\" data-link-color=\"#800080\" data-lang=\"en\">Follow @fatgreekodyssey<\/a>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><a href=\"http:\/\/cmsvoteup.com\/category\/wordpress-plugins\/\" title=\"Get Twitter Follow Button WordPress Plugin\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cmsvoteup.com\/images\/power_by_2x2.gif\" border=\"0\"\/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"attachment_1431\" style=\"width: 458px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1431\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1431\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse.jpg 448w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1431\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Broomhall House in Fife, historic home of the Earls of Elgin<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>I AM standing within sight of Broomhall House in central Scotland on a bitterly cold day and marvelling at how this grey, slightly dour stately home has been at the centre of one of the most heated cultural debates of modern times.<\/p>\n<p>This is the house built by Thomas Bruce, the 7<sup>th<\/sup> Earl of Elgin, which he planned to adorn with his vast heist of Parthenon sculptures, and other antiquities that are now known as the Elgin Marbles. It amounted to some 220 tonnes and nearly half of what the Parthenon was decorated with up to the late 18<sup>th<\/sup> century, as well as other significant items from the\u00a0Acropolis and other sites around\u00a0Athens.<\/p>\n<p>Broomhall House, near the village of Charlestown, Fife, is fenced off to the public, so you can\u2019t get too close, yet even from a distance the house seems vast: a huge frontage, Grecian-style columns at the entrance, large windows, but Downton Abbey it is not!<\/p>\n<p>And so I find it hard to fathom the aristocratic folly of Lord Elgin, or the hubris in wanting to hack apart some of Greece\u2019s great cultural achievements, just to impart Grecian splendour to rural Scotland. The plan failed, as we know, yet the house has become home to some of\u00a0 Lord Elgin\u2019s antiquities at least. Though which ones exactly is still a bit of a mystery.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1432\" style=\"width: 368px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1432\" class=\" wp-image-1432\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse2.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"358\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse2.jpg 448w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse2-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/broomhallhouse2-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 358px) 100vw, 358px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1432\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Marjory in front of Broomhall House, the centre of a cultural debate<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the late 18<sup>th<\/sup> century, Lord Elgin was British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which ruled Greece at the time, where he got permission to remove some items from the Parthenon by using what is now considered to be a dodgy \u2018firman\u2019, official authorisation. In the end he took as much as he could, also by bribing workers on the Acropolis to help in the removal.<\/p>\n<p>It was all bound for Broomhall House, and much of this was financed by his wealthy Scottish heiress wife, Mary Nisbet. What he mainly took was nearly half the frieze from the Parthenon, which depicts a religious procession, as well as some carved metopes from above the columns and 17 stunning life-sized statues from the gable ends, depicting scenes from Greek mythology. He also took a huge amount\u00a0of objects, plundered from ancient Athenian burial sites and\u00a0the graves of prestigious Athenians, and other Acropolis temples.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1433\" style=\"width: 413px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonhorses.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1433\" class=\" wp-image-1433 \" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonhorses.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"403\" height=\"302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonhorses.jpg 448w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonhorses-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonhorses-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1433\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Copy of the horse of Selene on the east pediment of the Parthenon<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1434\" style=\"width: 419px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonview.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1434\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1434 \" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonview.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"409\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonview.jpg 409w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonview-300x246.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonview-365x300.jpg 365w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1434\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>The top of the Parthenon was once decorated with carved metopes, and sculptures on the gable ends<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Lord Elgin arrived back in Britain in ill health, due to syphilis. He was about to be divorced by his wealthy wife, and he was also broke. He ended up having to sell the Marbles to the British Museum for \u00a335,000, half what he wanted.<\/p>\n<p>His justification for his heist was to preserve the items for posterity because the Acropolis by the 18<sup>th<\/sup> century had become a seedy garrison, with Turkish soldiers using the antiquities for target practice. Yet the Marbles, after being shipped from Athens, had a worse fate, being stored in a damp shed in central London for years and later said to be over-cleaned and bleached by over-zealous BM staff.<\/p>\n<p>Greeks have been campaigning for years for the return of the Marbles, especially since the elite Acropolis Museum has a top floor gallery specially designed to house them in their original positions. There has also been a groundswell of international support, especially as celebrities come on board, like actor George Clooney, who made a recent plea on the subject while promoting his latest film about art theft, <em>The Monuments Men.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And the collection of overlooked antiquities in Broomhall House would be welcome in Greece as well. These were items that Lord Elgin squirreled away here after the BM rejected them as too small, damaged or insignificant and are said to include some steles (grave markers) and pieces of sculpture. Not that you will ever see them because the house is not open to the public.<\/p>\n<p>I rang the Edinburgh property management company that handles inquiries about the house, to request a comment from the current Elgin family about their collection of antiquities, and possibly as visit to the house. All the voicemail messages I left went unanswered. When I eventually tracked down a phone number for Broomhall House, I was told by a member of staff\u00a0the family wouldn&#8217;t speak about the Marbles under any circumstances.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1435\" style=\"width: 234px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/EarlElginathome.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1435\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1435\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/EarlElginathome.jpg\" alt=\"EarlElginathome\" width=\"224\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/EarlElginathome.jpg 224w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/EarlElginathome-132x300.jpg 132w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1435\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>The Earl of Elgin in his study during a rare\u00a0 magazine interview\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>A picture taken in 1998 (above) of the current Earl of Elgin (Andrew Bruce) in his study (courtesy of Freemasonry Today magazine), shows what is believed to be a carved stele and some other items mounted on the wall. Small pickings of course compared to what Elgin looted in the early 1800s, but for Greeks these are significant items.<\/p>\n<p>One local man I spoke to in the nearby village of Limekilns, who asked not to be named, has been inside the house fairly recently, in a professional capacity, and told me there are many pieces lying about.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are all around the house, scattered informally like bits of the furniture, but they are quite striking. The Earl of Elgin will give you the history of the items, though I can\u2019t claim to really know their significance. His attitude to them is very relaxed and open because he doesn\u2019t feel he has anything to hide. What he will say is that he agrees with the 7<sup>th<\/sup> Lord Elgin in that they were brought to Britain for preservation and that\u2019s what he\u2019s been brought up to think. The Elgin family are very close to the (British) Royal Family and they just have a different way of looking at things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1440\" style=\"width: 458px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Limekilns.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1440\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1440\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Limekilns.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Limekilns.jpg 448w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Limekilns-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Limekilns-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1440\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Nearby Limekilns village on the Firth of Forth<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Tom Minogue is a crusading retiree from Dunfermline, who grew up near Broomhall House and has been researching and writing about the Marbles for a decade on his blog <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tomminogue.com\/\">www.tomminogue.com<\/a> which has a great deal of interesting material and a history of the Elgin Marbles.<\/p>\n<p>He says: \u201cI believe there could be a lot more of the original pieces inside the house, especially smaller pieces because there was so much material taken from Athens, like funerary urns and items taken from the graves of some of Athens\u2019s greatest heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Certainly there are antiquities that appear to be unaccounted for. While researching this article, I came\u00a0across an old library\u00a0document dated 1810 with an inventory of Elgin\u2019s \u201cMuseum\u201d which his collection seems to have originally been called. This inventory predates the list of items presented at a Parliamentary debate in 1816 before the BM sale. Some items on the 1810 list are not in the later one, like a large sarcophagus from an Athens grave site. Also, there are some unique items on the 1816 list that are also unaccounted for,\u00a0like three ancient cedar wood musical instruments, including a lute, taken from an Athens location. When I rang the BM I was told there was no record of them, or the sacrcophagus. Where are these things now?<\/p>\n<p>Tom Minogue has felt so strongly about the Greek antiquities currently in Broomhall House that he took the unusual step of writing to the police in Fife and London in 2004 and again in 2009 requesting that they investigate the matter, but so far the police haven\u2019t acted on his letters. You can read more about this on Tom\u2019s \u00a0website.<\/p>\n<p>There are those who would say it\u2019s not fair to hold the current Earl of Elgin, who fought valiantly at the Normandy landing in 1944 and recently turned 90, responsible for the sins of his forebear. However, with increasing calls for reunification of the Parthenon art works, perhaps it\u2019s the right time for someone else in the family to engage in the argument and at least exonerate Scots from this \u2018heist\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Minogue says: \u201cScotland\u2019s reputation has become a byword for imperial looting and it is hoped that with the restoration of the Parthenon Marbles, the reputation of Scotland as a\u00a0compassionate and fair\u00a0nation\u00a0would also be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1436\" style=\"width: 458px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonfrieze.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1436\" class=\" wp-image-1436\" style=\"border: 1px solid black;\" src=\"http:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonfrieze.jpg\" alt=\"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA\" width=\"448\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonfrieze.jpg 448w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonfrieze-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/parthenonfrieze-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 448px) 100vw, 448px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1436\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>A copy of part of the frieze from the original inside &#8216;cella&#8217; of the Parthenon showing a religious procession<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Certainly it&#8217;s a sentiment the great philhellene Lord Byron expressed in the early 19th century when he carved onto the side of the Acropolis the Latin for: &#8220;What the Goths have spared, the Scots have destroyed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dr Nikolaos Chatziandreou is a\u00a0Greek research scientist and cultural resource manager who also runs the very informative website <a href=\"http:\/\/www.acropolisofathens.gr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.AcropolisofAthens.gr<\/a>. He spent several years studying at St Andrews University, Scotland,\u00a0and is one of the main campaigners for the reunification of the Sculptures. He thinks that Scotland can play a catalytic role in this regard because the Scots can relate with the issue in yet another dimension.<\/p>\n<p>He draws a poignant link between Scotland and Greece, between the historic struggle for the return of the Stone of Scone, once used for the coronation of Scottish monarchs, and the quest to reunite the pieces of the Acropolis to &#8220;restore conceptually the symbol of democracy&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Acropolis sculptures are to the Greeks what the Stone of Scone is to the Scots. It is this strong historic, symbolic, emotional link between ourselves and pieces of heritage that help us define our life experience and sense of self [\u2026] Is it a coincidence the Stone of Scone is also called the Stone of Destiny? When it comes to the sculptures of the Acropolis, whose destiny should we see in them?\u201d says Dr Chatziandreou.<\/p>\n<p>The Scottish Stone of Destiny eventually went back home. What about the Marbles? I hope the guy at Limekilns isn\u2019t right when he says the attitude of the Elgins was one of \u201cfinders, keepers\u201d. The same could easily be said for the BM and the current British Government.<\/p>\n<p><strong>* To read a more detailed account of why the Scots are uniquely placed to lead the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, click this link <a href=\"http:\/\/www.acropolisofathens.gr\/aoa\/reuniting-the-sculptures\/a-plea-for-support-from-the-scots\/\">http:\/\/www.acropolisofathens.gr\/aoa\/reuniting-the-sculptures\/a-plea-for-support-from-the-scots\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For information about the new Acropolis Museum <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theacropolismuseum.gr\">www.theacropolismuseum.gr<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Books about living in Greece<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>For more details about my travel memoirs,\u00a0<em>Things Can Only Get Feta<\/em> and <em>Homer&#8217;s Where the Heart Is<\/em> based on three years living in the Mani, southern Greece during the crisis, visit\u00a0the &#8216;books&#8217; page on\u00a0my website\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigfatgreekodyssey.com\/\">www.bigfatgreekodyssey.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Both books are available on all Amazon\u2019s international sites and also on the Book Depository <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bookdepository.com\/\"><u>www.bookdepository.com<\/u><\/a> (with free overseas postage).<\/p>\n<p>To buy either of my books please click on the Amazon links below:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/B00TER7G98\"><u>Things Can Only Get Feta<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/dp\/B00WEC7YCY\"><u>Homer\u2019s Where The Heart Is<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can also find me on Twitter @fatgreekodyssey<\/p>\n<p>And Facebook <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ThingsCanOnlyGetFeta\"><u>www.facebook.com\/ThingsCanOnlyGetFeta<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HomersWhereTheHeartIs\"><u>www.facebook.com\/HomersWhereTheHeartIs<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.copyscape.com\/web-copyright-protection\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Protected by Copyscape Plagiarism Checker - Do not copy content from this page.\" src=\"http:\/\/banners.copyscape.com\/images\/cs-re-234x16.gif\" alt=\"Protected by Copyscape Web Copyright Protection\" width=\"234\" height=\"16\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a9 Text and photographs copyright of the authors 2010 to 2019. 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