The Sundrum Longbow

A HISTORIC Scottish bow and arrows (valued at around £3000) which was found in an attic and dates to the 19th century is to be auctioned by Auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull on May 4. The longbow was used in a medieval style event staged in Ayrshire in 1839 in honour of Queen Victoria's coronation . The Eglinton tournament in Ayrshire was a very expensive affair (£4million in today's costs) and was watched by more than 100,000 people in the grounds of Eglinton Castle in Kilwinning. The longbow, inscribed with the word Sundrum, belonged to John Hamilton (of Sundrum Castle, Ayrshire) a close friend of the Earl of Eglinton. He used the bow in archery competitions at the tournament.
Mr Sebastian Pryke from Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull discovered the longbow while searching through the 18th century Georgian manor Pallinsburn House in Northumberland in preparation for a house sale. He said: "When we do a house sale we go through everything. The fun of it is not knowing what you might find in dusty cupboards or old packing cases. That's the excitement of it. You just don't know what is going to turn up."
Other interesting finds linked to John Hamilton's career as a naval captain. The longbow is thought to have found its way to Northumberland through Hamilton's descendent Hope, who moved to Pallinsburn House when she married Scotsman Charles Mitchell.