ROGER SAWYER,
Sir, - In your Letters page of March 21st, with others I am falsely accused of, among other things, defaming the dead. Perhaps you will allow me the courtesy of your columns to defend myself. The others may have done so already or may, understandably, have felt that this sort of attack is not worthy of any response.
Firstly, to find that Roger Casement was a homosexual is not to defame him. Some of the forgery theorists have alleged that the Black Diaries indicate that he was a paedophile - now that would be defamation; there is no evidence in the documents to support this malicious idea.
Your correspondent goes on to say that in my book Casement: The Flawed Hero (originally entitled Casement with Hindsight) I argued "that homosexuals and treason are linked". He bases this on one sentence in which I spoke about the problems confronting a practising homosexual during the reigns of Queen Victoria, Edward VII and George V: "During the decade which saw his transition from the model imperialist to the committed subversive nationalist, he was frequently driven to transgress the law, he had to lead a meticulously maintained double life, and habits, comparable to those of a secret agent, had to be cultivated." Until the law was changed homosexuals were susceptible to blackmail and that link is also mentioned in my book.
The next volley fired by your correspondent is a quotation from an interview with me in your News Features (October 14th, 1997), where I am quoted as saying: "I do not dislike homosexuals but I detest buggery." He should have looked a little further into this. My views on buggery are derived from the anti-slavery movement's attitude to forced prostitution and, in this respect, are dominated by the experiences of prostitutes in East Africa, where buggery is the method favoured by heterosexual clients. There is a strong clue to this in the article from which your correspondent quotes, had he chosen to follow it up. The activity of quite a number of heterosexuals is contributing to the high incidence of AIDS in East Africa. So I plead guilty to detesting buggery.
My preference for textual evidence is also challenged. Anyone in doubt about that should plough through the extensive footnotes of my Roger Casement's Diaries 1910: the Black and The White. The historical record must remain paramount, even if it does not always lead to conclusions that fit in with popular hopes and expectations. I cannot understand why the forgery people get so annoyed with those who simply follow the evidence and come to the opposite conclusions to theirs. Personally I retain considerable admiration for Alfred Noyes and Roger McHugh, despite my having concluded that they were wrong about the Black Diaries.
Finally, I must stand by my belief that the Black Diaries are useful primary sources for historians for the anti-slavery movement. Their value here lies in the fact that they are first impressions, gathered whilst investigations are actually going on, and are wholly unedited. The White Diary is almost as good value as far as historians are concerned; they just have to remember that their author is slightly modifying his impressions and experiences for the benefit of future readers.
And, by the way, your correspondent may need to be reminded that no hanky panky was going on while Casement was with the Commission of Enquiry. Frequently, the forgery lobby say that he couldn't have been doing it whilst living with fellow members of the commission in such an environment. True, he couldn't and he wasn't. - Yours, etc.,
ROGER SAWYER,
Bembridge,
Isle of Wight, England.