Robert Burns' original Auld Lang Syne manuscript goes on sale

Published on Tuesday 11 August 2009 17:00

THE original manuscript of Auld Lang Syne went on display today before an auction of historical treasures.

The famous Robert Burns work may fetch as much as 50,000 when it goes under the hammer in Bonhams' Scottish Sale later this month.

But the buyer will not be able to take it home. Instead they will be "patron" of the 18th century manuscript, which will be kept in the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire.

A Bible owned by Burns in the later stages of his life also went on show.

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

A number of items relating to Queen Victoria will also be sold.

These include a woollen bag she made using purple and gold thread, a Royal Stewart silk shawl which she once wore, and a stickpin in memory of John Brown which Queen Victoria presented to her servants and cottagers on the anniversary of his death.

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

The three-day sale starts on August 18 in Bonhams in Edinburgh.