Sell the silver

Sir,

I refer to the recent letter from Cicely Gill expressing dismay at the presence in Brodick Castle of the Beckford Room, and the reply from Jennifer Williams published last week, Friday July 10.

The Beckford Room contains items collected with the profits of slave-worked sugar plantations in Jamaica, owned by the occupant of the castle at the time, including a large collection of silver. Jennifer believes that we need to keep these artifacts in order to learn from the mistakes of our past.

I fully agree that we must learn from our shameful history, but I disagree that the castle is providing this opportunity for learning. There can be no way to learn about the wrongs of slavery when looking at the Beckford Silver, as there is no relevant information or interpretation present as part of the display. The atmosphere is one of ‘come and look at our beautiful and valuable silverware’.

I find the ostentatious display of wealth in the castle distasteful in any case, aside from the immoral origins of many of the artifacts displayed there. In our society, if you steal wealth or life from others, you are expected to pay penance either through fines, time in prison or community service. There is no way to give back the lives stolen by the slave labour on which the Beckford wealth was amassed, but I suggest that the silver be sold and the proceeds used to pay the NTS Rangers whose jobs are currently under threat on the island. We could choose to keep useful and valuable people on the island instead of some old silverware that nobody uses anymore and was bought with dirty money.

That way we can show that we have learned from the past, and now value people over possessions.

Yours,

Elanor McNamara,

Whiting Bay.