Johnny Dixon and Professor Childermass have played more chess in the course of their adventures than we probably want to give them credit for. They each know their share of grandmasters and opening moves and might even run circles around some of their fans as far as game play goes. While the game is usually the chief concern, there hadn’t been much thought about the game pieces until the death of Peregrine Childermass, the professor’s brother.

"Perry" Childermass dabbled in sorcery, had an oddly-embellished estate in Maine, and left a legacy of $10 Million (of which Professor received only a piddly percentage). More so, he was a pacifist with a hare-brained scheme to frighten the people of the world into peace by using magic to bring about comets. To pull off such a feat he needed some magical devices of his own and hinted to their existence to his brother in his death-bed letter: “...pallid dwarves on a board that's not true?”

These pallid dwarves are actually quite true.

Off the west coast of Scotland are the Western Isles (formerly known as the Outer Hebrides) and the Isle of Lewis (pronounced Lews), a barren land of incomparable beauty. It is dotted with stone circles, cairns, and brooches from a very early past. Lewis is a fairly flat island with many spectacular sandy beaches, a rugged coastline and a landscape that is worth investigating by detouring down all the little roads you find. Most visitors come to see the Calanais (Callanish) standing stones. The Gaelic name for Lewis is Leodhas which means "marshy." It was here in April 11, 1831 at Ardroil near Uig Sands (a beautiful beach west of Callanish) that high tide exposed a cave or small, stone-built chamber which the eroding sand had exposed. There are many unconfirmed stories telling what happened next that range from a local man discovering a treasure while chasing a cow to dramatic stories involving death-bed confessions of murder and theft from a seaman who was observed jumping ship.

What is clear it that the treasure discovered was an assembly of 78 chessmen (8 kings, 8 queens, 16 bishops, 15 knights, 12 rooks, and 19 pawns), probably the finest early chess pieces in the world, carved from morse ivory, the fossil remains of walrus tusks. Believed to be carved between 1150-1170, the Lewis Chessmen - as they became known - represent a possible Norse origin and the most complete collection of ancient chessmen in existence today. At that time, the Outer Hebrides were an important part of the Viking world and there was regular sea traffic between Lewis, Iceland and, Scandinavia. The pieces were purchased by the British Museum for £84 in November of 1831; today they are pricesless. Of the 93 pieces known to exist, 11 pieces are in Edinburgh at the National Museum of Scotland, and 82 are in the British Museum.

Several pieces have wormlike channels in their surface that are may be tracks from burrowing organisms or acid-etching from contact with plant roots. In 1832 some of the pieces were reported to have evidence of red pigment, suggesting that one side of the sets may have been dyed red. A modern examination by the British Museum also discovered green flecks on 4 of the pieces. These seemed to fluoresce under X-ray, suggesting the possibility of a lead-based pigment. But these flecks appear on smooth portions where they would be most likely to wear-off, (or get rubbed-on from contact with other artifacts) and not in carved details where pigment should have been protected from wear. The Museum report was unable to confirm whether the red tint to some pieces was an artificial application, or staining due to contact with plant, or mineral deposits while they were buried. In general, the report accepted the possibilty of the early report of red pigment, but after decades of fading, handling, and contact with other museum artifacts, the truth remains subject to opinion. "Consequently," the museum's website notes, "the chessboard may have been red and white, as opposed to the modern convention of black and white."

While the Perry Childermass uses the chessmen as a device for bringing about world peace, in real-life the diminutive kings and pawns were probably used much like we use our modern pieces. Replicas have been made of them but the originals are much a much more impressive site. Housed in the museum's Department of Medieval and Later Antiquities, here, too, there is a legend about the pieces. It is said that the guards who take the watch-dogs around at night through the museum cannot get them to pass the Celtic chessmen. The dogs bristle and drag back on their haunches.

Stuff that in your derby, Dr. Murgatroyd Freel.

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The Brothers Childermass

Marcus Childermass, a professor of literature, named his sons for characters in the novels of Tobias Smollett [6]:

• Ferdinand Count Fathom Childermass: Nothing is ever mentioned about F.C.F. Childermass, who is presumed deceased from Roderick's comments. Roderick does attend one of his brother's funerals in Springfield, Massachusetts [The Mummy, the Will and the Crypt; 101], though whose service this is never is revealed. Seeing how Humphrey faked his death, it is possible this funeral may have been for Ferdinand. Or maybe not.

The Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom (1753) is Smollett's third nove lthat tells the adventures of the villainous title character as he treks across England and Europe.

• Peregrine Pickle Childermass: living in Maine, recently deceased. A pacifist, had dabbled in sorcery and come up with a "hare-brained" scheme to frighten the people of the world into peace by using magic to bring comets close to the planet. Was thought to have died a natural death but later was revealed he was poisoned by Edmund Stallybrass.

  Smollett's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751) is considered the most remarkable of his novels; it is also the longest. Peregrine is a scoundrel with a very moderate sense of shame; he is also, in his elegant and rather witty way, a bully of the most refined cruelty.

• Humphrey Clinker Childermass: Presumed dead by Roderick's comments [The Chessmen of Doom; 6] but we later learn that he became sick of society and faked his own death, a plot point not too entirely convincing [The Secret of the Underground Room; 65]. Now living in Bristol, England, he's not a wizard but has learned some spells, having dabbled in alchemy and sorcery, and worked to develop his ESP. Described as a burly, bearded man, with tall with broad, ruddy cheeks, and a grayish beard sprinkled with black hairs. His house in Bristol has an alchemy lab in the basement; drives a mud-spattered old Bentley.

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker (1771) is considered to be Smollett's best and funniest work. The author's own travels in Scotland ad Europe provided inspiration for the plot, told through letters written by the various characters. Much of the humor comes from differences in the descriptions of the same events by the different participants.

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Crazy Annie

Mrs. Anna Louisa Thripp is described a "short, odd-looking woman...her clothing looked as if it had been rescued from a ragbag - the skirt was a patchwork quilt that fell to the floor, and her blouse was wrinkled and stained with berry juice. Her face was round and doughy, and she wore very thick glasses. A heap of untidy gray hair was held in place by a dirty polka-dotted ribbon" [121-2]. This is speculation but "Ms. Anna Thripp" sounds suspiciously similar to "misanthrope," a person who hates or distrusts humankind.