This CBC article brought back a flood of fond memories of my young son and I sitting on Hadrian's Wall

Why is it I was not surprised to find some nasty English bastard willing to insult me merely because I have fun with a French expression?

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.4715826/hadrian-s-wall-under-siege-by-thieves-wielding-metal-detectors-1.4716687

Hadrian's Wall under siege by thieves wielding metal detectors

A 'small criminal element' are using metal detectors at the site to find pieces of history

CBC Radio · June 21

People have been illegally digging holes at Hadrian's Wall in search of artifacts they can sell, according to an inspector with the British government. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

51 Comments

 
Keith Carter

Time for CCTV cameras I guess. Hunt them down and deal with them as the Romans would have.

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David Amos 

@Keith Carter "Hunt them down and deal with them as the Romans would have."

Methinks the same could be said of the snobby British dudes who honour body snatchers N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-full-episode-1.4722320/irish-giant-may-finally-be-buried-after-200-years-on-display-at-london-museum-1.4722330

"If there is still scientific benefit to be gleaned from those remains, that doesn't make it OK to display those remains in the memorial museum to the person who snatched the body on its way to the funeral," Muinzer said.






Daniil Zhuravel

Historical monuments are supposed to be well marked and maintained. The way sheeps are going around, no observation pathway, no historical information sheets - this is not a historical site de facto. No need to complain that somebody start pocking stones for artefacts. Authorities collect enough of tax money to do their job well with places like this, but they rather tamp pockets with cash and pensions. Even in the heart of Europe. Sad to see.

John Oaktree

@Daniil Zhuravel

From the article:
"Hadrian's Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site near the border of Scotland and England."

It is an historical site whether you agree with it or not.

David Amos

@John Oaktree Big deal That just means its ok if somebody officials steals the stuff Correct?

David Amos

@Daniil Zhuravel Methinks my Scottish forefathers are rolling in their graves laughing at this crybaby British nonsense N'esy Pas?

Mark Sallows

@David Amos - I think you mean n’est ce pas, which confirms the ignorance of your post.

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David Amos

@Mark Sallows "I think you mean n’est ce pas, which confirms the ignorance of your post"

NOPE but thanks for showing me your nasty arse with such an insult. Trust that Proud Maritimer writes it just like it sounds because of what Trudeau the Elder's ""Charter' not blessed by his home province did to New Brunswick many moons ago N'esy Pas?

David Amos

@Mark Sallows Perhaps you should Google me sometime to figure who is Ignorant and who is not N'esyPas?

Just so ya know back in 2001 or so I took my young son who will be the next Chief of the the Amos Clan across a pasture just like the one you see in the photograph I sat him on the old Roman wall and told him true stories of just how proud and fierce his ancestors were and that their blood flows through his veins. After the tour of the "Not So Merry" UK I sued Bernard Francis Law in Beantown a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Empire and now I am suing the British Queen the "Protector of the Faith of the Church of England"

David Amos

Perhaps you should Google me sometime to figure who is Ignorant and who is not N'esyPas?
Just so ya know back in 2001 or so I took my young son who will be the next Chief of the the Amos Clan across a pasture just like the one you see in the photograph I sat him on the old Roman wall and told him true stories of just how proud and fierce his ancestors were and that their blood flows through his veins. After the tour of the "Not So Merry" UK I sued Bernard Francis Law in Beantown a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Empire and now I am suing the British Queen the "Protector of the Faith of the Church of England"

David Amos

@David Amos Opps Seems that it posted twice to the chagrin of CBC for some strange reason I readily can't explain

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David Amos

@Mark Sallows Oh My My I see that CBC deleted my reply to your insult already.

Methinks if you wish to see the expression "N'esy Pas?" employed a lot today best check out this comment section before the Lion's share of my comments go "POOF" as well N'esy Pas?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/minister-under-fire-over-handling-of-rcmp-harassment-amid-1-1b-lawsuit-1.4721533

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-full-episode-1.4722320/irish-giant-may-finally-be-buried-after-200-years-on-display-at-london-museum-1.4722330

'Irish Giant' may finally be buried after 200 years on display at museum

Charles Byrne, who had the genetic condition gigantism, wanted to be buried at sea

CBC Radio · June 26

 31 Comments


  
David Amos
HMMM

"In effect, the remains of Charles Byrne are now on display publicly in the memorial museum to the very person who stole his remains. There's a perverse irony there and it's quite tragic," Muinzer said.

Methinks folks should read what I posted over here. because what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.4715826/hadrian-s-wall-under-siege-by-thieves-wielding-metal-detectors-1.4716687

@Keith Carter "Hunt them down and deal with them as the Romans would have."

Methinks the same could be said of the snobby British dudes who honour body snatchers N'esy Pas?

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-full-episode-1.4722320/irish-giant-may-finally-be-buried-after-200-years-on-display-at-london-museum-1.4722330

"If there is still scientific benefit to be gleaned from those remains, that doesn't make it OK to display those remains in the memorial museum to the person who snatched the body on its way to the funeral," Muinzer said.

Hadrian's Wall under siege by thieves wielding metal detectors

A 'small criminal element' are using metal detectors at the site to find pieces of history

CBC Radio · June 21

People have been illegally digging holes at Hadrian's Wall in search of artifacts they can sell, according to an inspector with the British government. (Toby Melville/Reuters)


A British official has discovered dozens of holes caused by metal detectors at an ancient Roman fortification in the United Kingdom.

Hadrian's Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site near the border of Scotland and England.
After a recent tip by a member of the public, Historic England inspector Mike Collins visited and discovered the holes around the 1,900-year-old Brunton Turret section.

He told As It Happens host Carol Off that there have been other instances of illegal metal detecting at the wall in the past couple of years, leading to concerns in his department about a growing trend.
Here's part of that conversation.

What are they looking for?
They're looking for metallic objects... that they can sell.

This is not hobby metal detectorists who are really interested in their past, but know that they have to make the proper environmental checks to make sure they're not on protected sites.

• AS IT HAPPENS: Vandals destroy ancient UK rock

This is a very small criminal element who are looking for metal objects that they think they can sell for their own financial gain.

The Brunton Turret section of Hadrian's Wall was built by the Roman Army's Twentieth Legion. (Historic England)

What kind of things could they find around Hadrian's Wall?
There's always a chance of Roman coinage, but also military equipment, and all of the sort of throwaway everyday objects that an army that's in garrison here for more than 300 years discards on a daily basis.

It's that kind of unglamorous stuff that allows us to piece together the story of Hadrian's Wall and increase our understanding.


They're actually digging into it — they're destroying the wall?
It's not the fabric of the wall itself, it's the archeological deposits on either side of that.

Hadrian's Wall is a complex frontier... It's [made up of] all of the archeology, all of the bits and pieces that people have thrown away during 300 years of military occupation in the northeast and northwest of England.

Historic England says the holes in the ground by Hadrian's Wall were made by nighthawks, the term for illegal metal detectorists. (Historic England)

This is a World Heritage site. Describe it and its significance.
It's a Roman frontier that the Emperor Hadrian decreed should be built sometime around AD 122. We know he visited this frontier after what looks like a border war sometime in the AD 119 or 120.
One of his later biographers actually sums it up really well. They said that he was the first to build a wall to separate the Romans from the barbarians.

So it's a frontier wall with a whole series of ditches and banks and earthworks and forts and milecastles and signal towers and camps. It's a really fascinating Roman landscape from a frontier defence point of view. It's not like any of the other frontiers of the Roman Empire. It's making a really powerful architectural statement as well.

We preserve this site, we work on it really hard precisely because people can come and appreciate it and understand it as a common human past.

The police take it very seriously.- Mike Collins

This isn't just nuisance activity [by the metal detectorists]. This is criminal activity, right?
It is. These sites are protected by UK law.

It is a criminal offence to use a metal detector or to dig on them without very specific permissions. These people clearly don't have those and are either very cavalier about not having permission or deliberately seeking to find things that they could sell regardless of what the law says.

Mike Collins inspects ancient monuments for Historic England. He visited Hadrian's Wall after getting a tip from a member of the public. (Submitted by Mike Collins)

The police take it very seriously and if we find information and we can get the individuals who are responsible for this then, yes, they will be subject to potential criminal sanctions.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Written by Katie Geleff and produced by Samantha Lui. 

'Irish Giant' may finally be buried after 200 years on display at museum

Charles Byrne, who had the genetic condition gigantism, wanted to be buried at sea

CBC Radio · June 26

The skeleton, left, of Charles Byrne, nicknamed the Irish Giant, is displayed in London's Hunterian Museum in this undated photo. (Royal College of Surgeons/Associated Press)



The "Irish Giant," who has been on display at the Hunterian Museum in London, may finally get a proper burial after more than two centuries.

The skeleton belongs to Charles Byrne, who was born in Ireland in the 18th century and had gigantism, a condition of excessive size caused by an imbalance of growth hormones.

He stood at just over seven feet, seven inches tall, or about 2.31 metres.

• AS IT HAPPENS: Medieval monks buried porpoise and archeologists don't know why

"Of course back in those days the condition wasn't medically understood as it is now,"

Thomas Muinzer, a law professor at the University of Stirling, who is part of a group advocating for the release of the remains, told As It Happens guest host Robin Bresnahan.

"He was simply a giant and there are all sorts of folkloric attributions attached to him."

Body snatcher stole corpse 

Byrne was a local celebrity and showman in London who knew that his body would be sought after by those in the medical community after his death.

Before he died in 1783 at just 22 years old, Byrne asked his friends to bury him at sea. But his plans never came to fruition.

"Before they could bury him, a dodgy undertaker in the pay of a surgeon successfully switched the corpse of Charles with dead weight," Muinzer said.

The surgeon who acquired Byrne's body was Scottish surgeon and anatomist John Hunter. After his death his entire collection became part of the Hunterian Museum of anatomical specimens.

"In effect, the remains of Charles Byrne are now on display publicly in the memorial museum to the very person who stole his remains. There's a perverse irony there and it's quite tragic," Muinzer said.

Museum may release remains 

The museum has been under pressure to release the skeletal remains, but has argued that there is a scientific and educational benefit to continuing to display them.

But it may now finally fulfil the Irishman's wishes, more than 200 years later.

In a statement, the Royal College of Surgeons spokesperson said, "The Hunterian Museum will be closed until 2021 and Charles Byrne's skeleton is not currently on display. The board of trustees of the Hunterian Collection will be discussing the matter during the period of closure of the museum."

This is something that Muinzer has long been working toward, as part of the Free Charles Byrne project.

He said that the museum has argued in the past that Byrne's skeleton has irreplaceable scientific value, and that his bones have been used for research into the genetic condition of gigantism.
Although Muinzer agrees that the skeleton has scientific value, there are now other ways for scientists to study the skeleton.

• AS IT HAPPENS: Irma unearths possibly ancient canoe

He said there is a full DNA record of Byrne's skeleton, scientists have the ability to create an exact replica and there are people with the same genetic condition who are willing to donate their remains to science.

"If there is still scientific benefit to be gleaned from those remains, that doesn't make it OK to display those remains in the memorial museum to the person who snatched the body on its way to the funeral," Muinzer said.

Written by Sarah Jackson. Produced by Alison Broverman.