Musings from the Merse
Monday, August 20, 2007
Burns hip flask up for sale
View Gallery BONHAMS' eighth annual Scottish Sale, to be held this year in Edinburgh on August 22-24 will feature a late 18th century hip flask, valued at £600-£800, which once belonged to the celebrated Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
The vendor of the flask recently acquired it from the Rutherford family, when The Rutherfords sold their home Hunthill House, near Jedburgh in the Borders.
Burns spent time touring the borders in the 1770s and while there, he stayed with the Rutherfords at Hunthill.
reads a short piece in the online Berwickshire
Its good to hear that Rabbi B did visit the Borders from time to time and is known, once, to have visited Coldstream which is as Borders as you can get. This may have been his only time in the Merse-Jedburgh being some distance from GOC * He was a bit of a boozer and this helps to explain his early death. In the absence of central heating in the 18th century a hip flask was an essential piece of equipment for the traveller. Even to balmy Jedburgh. According to contemporary records he was more worried about the Coldstream climate,if just for a day trip and brought two hip flasks, one for each ** ,topping up both of them in an 'Offe Lisense' 'Ye Slickie Timorous Beastie' which used to be just across the Bridge near the present Police Station
* God's Own Country
** hip
View Gallery BONHAMS' eighth annual Scottish Sale, to be held this year in Edinburgh on August 22-24 will feature a late 18th century hip flask, valued at £600-£800, which once belonged to the celebrated Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
The vendor of the flask recently acquired it from the Rutherford family, when The Rutherfords sold their home Hunthill House, near Jedburgh in the Borders.
Burns spent time touring the borders in the 1770s and while there, he stayed with the Rutherfords at Hunthill.
reads a short piece in the online Berwickshire
Its good to hear that Rabbi B did visit the Borders from time to time and is known, once, to have visited Coldstream which is as Borders as you can get. This may have been his only time in the Merse-Jedburgh being some distance from GOC * He was a bit of a boozer and this helps to explain his early death. In the absence of central heating in the 18th century a hip flask was an essential piece of equipment for the traveller. Even to balmy Jedburgh. According to contemporary records he was more worried about the Coldstream climate,if just for a day trip and brought two hip flasks, one for each ** ,topping up both of them in an 'Offe Lisense' 'Ye Slickie Timorous Beastie' which used to be just across the Bridge near the present Police Station
* God's Own Country
** hip
Labels: . Merse, Burns, Coldstream
Comments:
May I point our esteemed readers in the direction of the Lammermuir Life and a piece all about the Barde in the Borders
http://lammermuirhills.blogspot.com/2007/05/bard-in-borders.html
http://lammermuirhills.blogspot.com/2007/05/bard-in-borders.html
A Fishwick bloggee has commented :Good Morning, Sir. I was recently reading your blog, and I thought...THE BLACK BULL IN DUNS CLAIMS TO BE ONE OF RABBIE'S REGULAR HAUNTS ...........OR IS IT JUST A SALES GIMMICK? .....CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY HUTTONIAN!!!
Indeed I will > Further research needed and I suppose 'regular' is the key here. Especially as I am on the way to becoming a Dinger myself
Indeed I will > Further research needed and I suppose 'regular' is the key here. Especially as I am on the way to becoming a Dinger myself
I'm bidding for this piece, infact I've already left my bid with Bonhams. Wish us like, would be nice to keep this piece in Scotland.
Ist Lady. Best of Luck. It is indeed a great skill to blog and blurp at the same time-or should that be slog and slurp? I like your website being a descendant of that great revolutionary Rob Roy myself-on my mother's side.
Oh yes R. Havers it is nor clear from your reference if Rab Burns was a habitue of the Black Bull? Can you cast further light?
Post a Comment
