A pocket watch belonging to Robert Burns and containing a note from his wife will be sold at auction next week.
The silver-cased watch owned by Scotland’s national bard dates from 1786 and is expected to fetch about £2,500 in the Edinburgh sale.
Inserted in the case is a piece of paper with lovebird and heart motifs, and the initials of Burns’ wife Jean Armour.
The Ayrshire poet (1759 -1796) is said to have met Jean, with whom he would have nine children, on a drying green when she was hanging out her washing.
She fell pregnant with their first child in 1785 when they were not yet married and it was only after Burns enjoyed literary success some years later that Jean’s father agreed they could wed. Jean (1765-1834), who was known as the Belle of Mauchline, outlived her husband by more than 30 years.
The watch will be sold at Lyon and Turnbull on November 27.
