Antiques Roadshow guest stunned by value of unusual Robert Burns poem Oh dear!

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Antiques Roadshow expert Justin Croft was thrilled during a previously aired episode of Antiques Roadshow when he was tasked with evaluating an original handwritten manuscript by Robert Burns. The BBC team were filming at The Scottish Gallery of Modern Art when a guest was left gobsmacked by the value of the handwritten poem.

There are 1000 reasons for coming to Scotland and one of them is, of course, going in search of Robert Burns. 

And I’ve found him already is wonderful – a two verse poem or song completely in his own hand.”

“Is it yours?” Justin asked the Antiques Roadshow guest. 

“Yes it was my dad’s and he left it to me,” the owner replied. 

Read more: Antiques Roadshow star Eric Knowles values Express readers’ treasures

The guest revealed the poem hangs up in his home and the family “enjoy” the “unusual” piece.

“It’s certainly something unusual,” Justin replied. “He is the national poet, but an original manuscript by Robert Burns? I find that really exciting. 

“In fact, I was so excited I was just a little bit worried that what I was looking at behind the glass perhaps wasn’t an original perhaps it was some kind of copy so good it is.

“His hand is so bold, the significance just perfect. I was looking at it and thinking is this a copy?”

“But I looked at it pretty closely,” Justin remarked. “The ink sits in the paper just right, sits over the folds absolutely perfectly. Do you know anything else about it?”

“Well, I was told it was from Burns’ editor that’s all I know. My mother sent it a long time ago to be framed and I don’t know anything else.”

“So since then it’s sat on your wall and you’ve enjoyed it?” Justin asked. 

The Antiques Roadshow expert asked the owner to give him a “quick rendition” of the poem.

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“I could read it but it wouldn’t sound as good,” Justin quipped. 

The owner agreed and read out several lines of the poem before being thanked by Justin. 

Pointing to the item, the expert said: “He even gives us a lovely little sideline here.

“He says, “This is all that I ever could get of this song but it was comparatively common in Ayrshire when I was a boy.”

“Takes us right back to his boyhood and that’s tremendous,” Justin quipped. 

The expert revealed the poem would be worth between £8,000 and £10,000 if sold at auction.

Stunned, the owner exclaimed: “Oh dear! That’s a fright, is it not?”

Turning to his wife, the guest joked: “You’ll be looked after a wee bit better now!”

Antiques Roadshow continues on BBC One on Sunday at 8pm.

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