National Trust for Scotland

Friday 19th March 2010

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Robert Burns

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The Burns 250 Collection - £50000

The Burns 250 Collection allows you to make a donation in memory of a loved one or as a gift. Your donation will pay for the conservation and care of your chosen item. The collection items on this page are still available and each item has a photograph and description to help with your choice.

Once you have identified an item you would like to conserve, please contact our Burns 250 Team who will be happy to arrange for your donation to be processed. A member of the team will arrange for your exclusive certificate, museum recognition and, where appropriate, your museum opening invitation.

We can also accept your payment online. Simply click the donate now button on this page and follow the steps to pay by credit or debit card. A member of the Burns 250 Team will then contact you to arrange for your chosen item, exclusive certificate, museum recognition and, where appropriate, your museum opening invitation.

Burns 250 Team:
Email Burns250@nts.org.uk or tel: UK 0844 493 2113, US: 617 227 7500, Other International: +44 (0)131 278 0424.

US donors should contact the NTS USA in order to donate and be eligible for a tax deduction.

£50000 items (Currency conversion should be used as a guide only)


(click image to expand it) Boxbed This is the very bed on which Burns was born on 25 January 1759. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Jean Armour's Wedding Ring An evocative simple gold wedding ring that belonged to the poet's wife. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Inscribed Glass, Falkirk In 1787 Burns toured the Highlands of Scotland with a companion. En route, he visited Falkirk where he inscribed this pane of glass at the Cross Keys Inn with four lines beginning 'Sound be his sleep and blithe his morn', dated 25 August 1787. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Manuscript, Tam O' Shanter This is a fair copy of the epic poem Tam o' Shanter in the hand of Burns. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) The Seal Matrix As Burns became more famous he began crafting his own image. This matrix cut into glass and hung on a silver chain was designed by Burns himself, and acted as a badge of personal and family identity as well as a practical way of making a unique mark on the wax blob which sealed his many letters shut. The design makes reference to Ayrshire (holly bush and 'Better a wee bush than nae bield' - better a small bush than no shelter - motto), to his love of pastoral themes and his place in Scots literature (woodlark, the shepherd's crook and thorn, and the 'Wood notes wild' motto). To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Pistols used on the poet's excise duty These two pistols were used by Burns on his excise duties and bear his initials on the handles. His position as an excise man was an exacting one and he travelled up to 200 miles a week on horseback. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Journal of Burns's Highland Tour This fascinating notebook which chronicles, in the poet's hand, his tour of the north-east Highlands in the summer of 1787. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) The Cottage Dresser This dresser is thought to be original to the kitchen of Burns's cottage. It may have been used while the poet was growing up. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) The Writing Bureau This mahogany writing desk belonged to Robert Burns when he lived the final years on his life in Dumfries. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Second Commonplace Book Often referred to as the 'Edinburgh Journal', this notebook was first used by Burns during his stay in Edinburgh in April 1787. In it, he jotted down thoughts in prose, and experimented with verse on a variety of themes. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) First Edition of Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, The Kilmarnock Edition was printed at Ayrshire's only printing press and sold out within a few weeks. This copy is one of only 65 known to exist. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Manuscript, 'Auld Lang Syne' This fragment of 'Auld Lang Syne', in the poet's handwriting, is acclaimed as the universal song of parting. The words were written to an old tune for inclusion in 'The Scots Musical Museum'. This is one of only three copies known to exist in Scotland, in the poet's hand. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Highland Mary Bibles This two-volume bible was given to Burns's lover Highland Mary by the poet on their last meeting as a token of their fidelity. Burns and Mary planned to emigrate to Jamaica, but sadly she contracted a fever and died. Burns was inconsolable for a great time after. One volume contains a short inscription by Burns, his Masonic mark, and a lock of Mary’s hair. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Inscribed glasses, Dumfries The three panes of glass are from the windows of the Globe Inn, Dumfries. They contain 18 lines of poetry written with a diamond by the Poet. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Family Bible of Robert Burns This bible is inscribed in the poet's handwriting showing his name, his wife's name and the names and dates of birth of their 9 children. The name of the last born child Maxwell was not written by the poet as on the day he was born his father was being buried in Dumfries To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Family Bible of William Burnes This is the family bible of William Burnes, father of the poet. Inside is a page containing a register of his family including the name of his son Robert. Here for the first time we see the birth date of Burns: 25 January 1759. The Poet himself, as the eldest son, was to write on the same page in later years, the date of his father's death. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) First Edition (Kilmarnock) of PCISD prospectus This document headed 'Proposals for publishing by subscription Scotch Poems by Robert Burns' and priced at three shillings, was printed by the Publisher John Wilson of Kilmarnock in April 1786. This is thought to be the sole one to survive. The 'Kilmarnock Edition' was printed in July 1786 and proved to be a great success and a turning point in Burns's life. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Duelling Pistols These duelling pistols belonged to the Poet and were given to his physician Dr. William Maxwell (1760-1834) while Burns was on his deathbed in July 1796. The Poet's widow Jean Armour Burns named her last child Maxwell, who was born on the day of her husband's funeral, after Dr. Maxwell. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price
(click image to expand it) Books, The dramatick Writings of Will. Shakespear: Bell's Edition, London, 1788, 18vols These books are from Burns's personal collection. Shakespeare had a deep and lasting influence on the poet. In his letters, Burns quoted from over 30 plays by Shakespeare. To make a donation for the conservation of this item, please contact the Burns 250 Team (details above) Â£50,000.00 $75,730.00 $77,085.00 Price

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