Burns song 'sold' for £10,000

A RETIRED professor has become a "patron" for the original manuscript of Auld Lang Syne after paying £10,000.

However, the buyer will not be able to take home the work, written by Robert Burns in 1788. Instead, Professor David Purdie will be a patron for his lifetime of the manuscript, which will be kept in the new Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayrshire under the auspices of the National Trust for Scotland.

Prof Purdie, 62, an Ayrshireman, said: "I have had a lifelong interest in our emblematic poet and being able to help safeguard one of his most precious works is an absolute pleasure for me."

The unusual lot became available to mark the start of Bonhams' Scottish Sale in Edinburgh last month and as part of the NTS's bid to raise £1 million during 2009 towards the creation of the new Burns museum.