Tuesday, 21 September 2010

The Lewis Chessmen by Calum, aged 7

<b>1. They're One of a Kind</b> <p> 'There are other single pieces that have turned up around Europe,' reports Dr Caldwell, 'but the Lewis Chessmen are by far the biggest and best hoard of such things.'</p> <p> Several individual medieval ivory chess pieces can be viewed at places such as the Louvre and the National Museum in Denmark, but very few are directly comparable to the Lewis Chessmen. 'There are one or two pieces that are very close, including part of a knight that comes from Lund in Sweden, and a now lost broken queen that came from Trondheim itself. Other pieces may turn up here and there.' </p>

Calum's class have now finished their project on the Lewis Chessmen but I asked him to write me a couple of paragraphs about what he had learned about them. He was quite excited when I told him we would put it on the blog!




Calum wrote his facts in Gaelic so I shall do you all the favour of translating them into English! I've done it as literally as possible, with no editing!


The Lewis Chessmen are made out of ivory from a walrus and they were made by the Vikings. The chessmen were found on a beach in Uig on Lewis. It was Calum who found them.

There are 16 pieces in a side: 8 pawns, 2 castles, 2 knights, 2 bishops a king and a queen.

Two people are allowed to play.


I think he was quite chuffed that they were found by someone called Calum!


He also drew a wee picture:


If you want to find out slightly more than a 7 year old can tell you about the chessmen you can read about them here.

Never let it be said that my blog is not informative!


Gaelic word(s) of the day:
tàileasg (tal-eshg) - chess
Lochlannaich (loch-lan-eech) - Vikings
Remember and keep those ch's at the back of your throat!

Yes, I know Viking is perhaps not the most crucial word in the Gaelic vocabulary, but I think it is such a great word I had to have it in today!




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5 comments:

  1. Elizabeth22 September 2010 at 03:08

    Kirsteen what a grand post! Calum is precious! This was all so interesting! I could spend hours with you all! I love reading the gaelic words! There is a Pastor on the radio here and he is from Scotland. I LOVE listening to him! I wish I could hear you and your boys voices :)

    Much love friend!

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  2. Pam22 September 2010 at 05:56

    I just have to agree with what Elizabeth said. I too would love to hear your boys voices. You must tell Calum that I thought he did a wonderful job on his report. It was very interesting and informative.
    Much Love,
    Pam

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  3. Tea22 September 2010 at 13:28

    How neat! Great job Calum! Love the picture too! I'm glad you included Viking in the Gaelic words, it was really fun trying to pronounce! :)

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  4. Marie24 September 2010 at 02:48

    Oh my goodness this was so interesting! Please tell Calum what a great job he did and that he taught me and my husband something new today!!

    LOVE the picture also :)

    ~ Marie

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  5. Unknown24 September 2010 at 14:10

    Thanks everyone. Calum's little face was a picture when he read everyone's comments! He was so proud!

    ReplyDelete

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