Robert Burns interest
'Plan of the Estate of Littleton, in Kirkoswald and the County of Air'
£454
Auction: 05 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
The Property of William Crawford, Esquire, Physician, 1815. Manuscript estate plan in pen-and-ink and watercolour on paper, backed on linen, affixed to wooden roller, with green silk trim, a few chips and tears with loss of silk trim along top edge, a few small rents along bottom edge, 98 x 67cm
Footnote
Kirkoswald, about 11 miles south of Alloway in Ayrshire, was home to Robert Burns's maternal relatives. Burns lived in the village in 1775, and Burns's work was influenced by several of the local people. Douglas Graham (1739–1811) who lived at Shanter Farm near the village is said to be the inspiration for Tam o' Shanter, and Jean Kennedy, who ran an inn named Kirkton, became Kirkton Jean. The estate plan, dated 1815, provides a valuable contemporary insight into Burns's stomping ground in the 1770s.