The vernacular newspaper 'Divaina' recently carried an article on the second Archaeological Commissioner of Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) Edward Russell Ayrton.

While most of the details given in the article are correct, the description on his death is a total misinterpretation of the circumstances of the incident.

The newspaper article mentioned that he drowned on May 18, 1914 at the Tissa Tank in Thissamaharama. "The water and the trees did not bless him on that day, despite him being a lover of nature" the article said.

However, Ayrton had been on a hunting trip at the time of the death. The article was wrong to blame nature for not granting its blessing to an individual on a hunting trip.

(Media Quality Watch Sri Lanka Facebook Page)