Patron wanted for Robert Burns manuscript of Auld Lang Syne

Published on Tuesday 18 August 2009 12:04

BIDDING opened today to find a patron for the original manuscript of Auld Lang Syne, which is currently kept by a museum.

The famous Robert Burns work could fetch as much as 50,000 in a private agreement, but the buyer will not be able to take the work home.

Instead they will be "patron" of the 18th century manuscript, which will be kept in the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire.

Bidders can contact Bonhams Scotland's managing director Miranda Grant from today and from Thursday morning the National Trust for Scotland, if a patron has not been found. The patron title will last the lifetime of the buyer.

The opening of the bidding marked the start of the Bonhams' Scottish Sale in Edinburgh today.

The auction includes the sale of a stickpin in memory of John Brown, which Queen Victoria presented to her servants and cottagers on the anniversary of his death.

Ms Grant said: "This year's 10th anniversary of the Bonhams' Scottish Sale has a wonderful array of Scottish items on offer from arms and armoury to paintings from the most prolific painters of our times."

On Thursday this week a Bible owned by Burns in the later stages of his life will go on sale.

The book is preserved in a velvet-lined blue Moroccan box with "Burns Bible" lettered on it in gilt and may fetch between 1,000 and 2,000 in the auction.

Other items once owned by Queen Victoria, which will also go under the hammer on Thursday, include a woollen bag she made using purple and gold thread and a Royal Stewart silk shawl which she once wore.

A commissioned ceramic Wemyss Pig will also be auctioned tomorrow, with all proceeds from this sale given to Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The Bonhams' Scottish Sale finishes on Friday.