0:00:39 > 0:00:44The Roadshow has enjoyed some very rewarding visits north of the border
0:00:44 > 0:00:47but amazingly it's been nearly 20 years since we came to Edinburgh,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Scotland's capital city, and a very fine place indeed.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59It didn't always look so good.
0:00:59 > 0:01:05Conditions in medieval Edinburgh were so cramped and unhygienic that it was known as "Auld Reekie".
0:01:05 > 0:01:11Something had to be done, and in 1766, architect James Craig,
0:01:11 > 0:01:16just 22 years old, won a competition to create a master plan for a new town.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Work started the following year and the result
0:01:19 > 0:01:25still stands as the largest area of Georgian architecture in Europe.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30You won't find a more handsome place than Charlotte Square, designed by Robert Adam,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34integrating individual houses into one elegant facade.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44You can see how the folks at number seven Charlotte Square lived at the end of the 18th century.
0:01:47 > 0:01:52As a fan of Western movies, I was always told that the ranch-house doors were made small
0:01:52 > 0:01:54to make the actors look bigger.
0:01:54 > 0:02:00Here the doors are made extra wide so that sedan chairs could pass through.
0:02:00 > 0:02:07Some extremely bigwigs have lived in Charlotte Square over the past 200 years -
0:02:07 > 0:02:12Surgeon Joseph Lister, founder of antiseptic surgery lived at number nine...
0:02:12 > 0:02:14doctor's orders.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22Field Marshal Douglas Haig, commander of British forces in World War I, was born at number 34.
0:02:22 > 0:02:30And on the 3rd March 1847, Alexander Graham Bell was born here at number 16 South Charlotte Street.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Bell might have invented the telephone but he didn't like it.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36He said, "I never use the beast".
0:02:36 > 0:02:40And it was only a short way from here that Edinburgh's most prolific writer,
0:02:40 > 0:02:47Sir Walter Scott, chose to unmask himself as the author of the hugely successful Waverley novels
0:02:47 > 0:02:50at the Assembly Rooms in George Street.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54It also happens to be our venue for this week's Roadshow,
0:02:54 > 0:02:59so let's see what treasures the modern-day Edinburghers will reveal to us today.
0:02:59 > 0:03:05I've not actually seen in it, or taken the top off since we got married about 17 years ago, so...
0:03:05 > 0:03:08OK, chaps.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Great.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14That is just spectacular, isn't it?
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Yes, and all the little figurines and the little pussy cats
0:03:18 > 0:03:22and the dogs and everything that goes with it, it's...
0:03:22 > 0:03:26So throughout your childhood you remember it in this glass case?
0:03:26 > 0:03:31Yes, it was in my Mum and Dad's sitting room and we were never actually allowed to play with it,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35but if my friends came in, we could take the glass case off and look in the back and it was lovely.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Under supervision probably. Oh, definitely.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41And what was in the back? Can you remember anything?
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Whatt I remember, there were little lights and there's little
0:03:45 > 0:03:48bits of furniture, the pots and pans and things.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Well, all I can hope is that there hasn't been a burglary. I hope not.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Let's see what's there...
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Oh... Gosh, well it's topsy-turvy.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01It looks as though they've certainly had some, something in there.
0:04:01 > 0:04:07Some of this looks bought, some of it looks home-made, beautifully home-made.
0:04:07 > 0:04:13You said you remember it as a child, but do you think it was there for many generations beforehand?
0:04:13 > 0:04:14I think it goes back two generations. Yes.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19And it was in my grandparents' home prior to my Mum and Dad. Yes.
0:04:19 > 0:04:26I was always led to believe that it was a replica of an actual existing house.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30It's nicely fitted out with mostly home-made things.
0:04:30 > 0:04:32The only thing that looks commercially made is...
0:04:32 > 0:04:34I don't know if we can get in there.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36..is the fireplace in there.
0:04:36 > 0:04:42But it's what I like about it is that it's this marvellous sort of snapshot
0:04:42 > 0:04:49of life at a certain point, and it's that point that I'm trying to work out the actual date of it.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52There are these lovely scenes going on here. I like...
0:04:52 > 0:05:00on this side we've got a little cat jumping over the fence, a scene of devastation in the garden, rollers
0:05:00 > 0:05:07and hoes and so on left standing and then at the front here we've got lots of little people
0:05:07 > 0:05:10doing various activities.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15The one down here I like, reading "Lloyd's Weekly News"
0:05:15 > 0:05:22sitting at her table and I would have said that we're talking about late 19th century...
0:05:22 > 0:05:251880-1890.
0:05:25 > 0:05:32The one little thing that interests me here is that you've got the Union Flag stuck in there with a hat pin.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36One wonders if perhaps that might have been put up for Queen Victoria's
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Jubilee in 1897 or one of the earlier jubilees.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45Seeing it now with fresh eyes, is it as you remember it?
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Oh, definitely. Has it brought back...
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Can you see yourself sort of that high playing with it?
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Yes. What about its value?
0:05:52 > 0:05:58Oh, I don't know, but the value is really immaterial, but I love it dearly. Oh...shall I not tell you?
0:05:58 > 0:06:01No, no, no, go on.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06I think that it's the sort of thing that would appeal to two different types of buyer.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10On the one hand you'll have somebody interested in doll's houses, but the other client
0:06:10 > 0:06:14would be somebody who's interested in decorative antiques because it is...
0:06:14 > 0:06:17with the light shining on it...
0:06:17 > 0:06:22and I could easily see this in auction fetching perhaps £800.
0:06:22 > 0:06:23That's lovely.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26This is near to every Scotsman's heart, isn't it?
0:06:26 > 0:06:33The designs for the Forth Bridge and you tell me I mustn't call it the Forth Railway Bridge. Why is that?
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Mainly because it was the first...
0:06:35 > 0:06:37the first Forth crossing.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39It's rather like the Leith Police isn't it?
0:06:39 > 0:06:41I mean it's one of those sort of...
0:06:41 > 0:06:44the first Forth Bridge so this is the only Forth Bridge,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47it's not the Forth road bridge which is the second one of course.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52But here are all the designs. At the top here we've got the early designs.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Now why didn't they use these?
0:06:54 > 0:06:58These were designed by Sir Thomas Bouch. Bouch.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00So why didn't they use those designs?
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Well, they had actually started work on this.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06They started work on the foundations. Yes.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10And then the Tay Bridge collapsed.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13And... And he was sacked. Bouch was the designer?
0:07:13 > 0:07:20Yes. Yes. Yes, he was sacked, so they called for new designs to be put forward.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22And so these are the new designs down here at the bottom.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27And they look very similar, or at least this one looks very similar
0:07:27 > 0:07:30to what we have today and that's it, and it's got
0:07:30 > 0:07:33what, four piers. Four piers
0:07:33 > 0:07:35on each cantilever.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38On each cantilever, that's absolutely extraordinary, isn't it?
0:07:38 > 0:07:42That's absolutely beautiful. Why are you interested in the Forth Bridge?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Ever since I was a youth, I've always liked the bridge.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48It's a sort of... The style and design.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Yes, yes, yes, it is the most extraordinary design, isn't it?
0:07:51 > 0:07:54It's beautiful. But there are other lovely bits and pieces in here
0:07:54 > 0:08:01as well, if we just turn to this page here, this wonderful picture here
0:08:01 > 0:08:03of it going...
0:08:03 > 0:08:05not even halfway I think...
0:08:05 > 0:08:07It's sort of
0:08:07 > 0:08:10It's a massive construction, isn't it?
0:08:10 > 0:08:13Oh, yes. Look at all these lovely old cottages, bits and
0:08:13 > 0:08:18pieces down here, fishing cottages, it sort of completely dwarfs them, it's a new age really isn't it?
0:08:18 > 0:08:24And here too, this particular picture I rather like, I mean that shows
0:08:24 > 0:08:29the interior of the construction there, but look at this, this is...
0:08:29 > 0:08:31a couple of men sitting on the edge here,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I mean, there's no protection, absolutely nothing.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37Health and Safety would have something to say about it.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Did anybody die in the construction of this bridge?
0:08:39 > 0:08:42I think there was 57 men died.
0:08:42 > 0:08:4457!
0:08:44 > 0:08:49There was no steel helmets in those days and things like that.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52This is the Forth Bridge reprinted from The Engineer,
0:08:52 > 0:08:5628th February 1890. 1890 - that was when the bridge opened wasn't it?
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Yes, yes.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03And then you've got this other rather nice thing here, this is probably quite a limited edition
0:09:03 > 0:09:08from the time that the bridge was opened. Let's just pull this open.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16That shows the cantilevers completed and presumably obviously, well obviously they've got to put the
0:09:16 > 0:09:20other bits in between, but that looks quite magnificent there, doesn't it?
0:09:20 > 0:09:25Oh, yes. The photography in here I think is better than the photography in there, what do you think?
0:09:25 > 0:09:32Much better, much better. Yes, yes, yes, the reproduction here is I think extremely good
0:09:32 > 0:09:37and here's another rather exciting one there.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41So, tell me, you bought these back in the '50s. What did you pay for them?
0:09:41 > 0:09:46I paid £1 for this book and I think 16 shillings for the other one.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51Well, that is remarkable, but I think if you had put this on the market today
0:09:51 > 0:09:58certainly here in Edinburgh, you'd be paying the best part of £1,000 for this particular one.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02It's very nicely bound, it's got a leather spine
0:10:02 > 0:10:08and the most famous bridge in the world, and this one here, this reprint from
0:10:08 > 0:10:13"The Engineer" the Forth Bridge, I suppose somewhere in the region of £150...
0:10:13 > 0:10:19£200 and I believe that Eiffel of the tower fame, came to the dinner to celebrate the bridge.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24Well, it's great to see them, and very Scottish, I think very flavourful, and thank you.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32Well, I have to say as tea cosies go, I haven't seen one as good as this before.
0:10:32 > 0:10:33And it's the sort of thing...
0:10:33 > 0:10:38because I love tea, I actually do like to have my tea hot
0:10:38 > 0:10:41so it would be perfect for me. I'd love to have it.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43I might lend it to you.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Oh, that's very kind. What I love about it, as you said...
0:10:46 > 0:10:49when you were children, that you stroked the little velvet pieces.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52And they're very soft velvet. Very.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54And then it's got all these lovely little bits.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57There's birds and a cat somewhere.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00And sequins and beads.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Must have taken a very long time to make this.
0:11:02 > 0:11:09Yes, and with such love as well. In fact, she's put a date on it which is...
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I wonder why she's done it like that, like a crown, almost.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15I think, yes, it's a crown shape.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16I think it's enchanting.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20If I saw it in an auction,
0:11:20 > 0:11:25I would bid up to probably as much as £300 for it.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26Ooh, would you really?
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Yes. We're keeping it in the family.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31What do you know about the picture?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Well, it belonged to my father and he gave it me several years ago
0:11:34 > 0:11:37and we did believe it to be a Stanley Cursiter
0:11:37 > 0:11:40but we don't really know very much about it.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Ah yes, well I can tell you that it definitely is by Stanley Cursiter.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46I am helped by the evidence of the signature,
0:11:46 > 0:11:49so it's not rocket science. Yes.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52But it's his hand as well. You don't know who the sitter was, do you?
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I actually don't.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58No. But my father believed his mother was a friend of the sitter.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01Yes, yes, could have been someone known to him. Yes.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03But I mean whoever he is...
0:12:03 > 0:12:09this is done with the most incredible speed and economy it seems to me and little dabs of paint
0:12:09 > 0:12:17just to suggest the ear, and, er the little, little dabs of other paint just to suggest the lapel.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21The, um, the shading on it and the way he's built the face up with just
0:12:21 > 0:12:26blocks and dabs of paint, and to suggest a pair of spectacles...
0:12:26 > 0:12:29actually they're pince-nez. You can tell because of the strap to the side. Yes.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34Um, just to suggest those by two little flecks of white, top and bottom where the light
0:12:34 > 0:12:39catches the glass of them, and you can understand the shape of the lens perfectly just from that,
0:12:39 > 0:12:45so it's the minimum of effort and the maximum of information.
0:12:45 > 0:12:51My father acquired it when he was 17 and he died three years ago at the age of 87, so I know it's old.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53It's certainly old. You can tell
0:12:53 > 0:12:55it's Edwardian you know, no question of that.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Um, £800 to £1,200.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Oh, very good, yes. Yes? Mm.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05Josiah Spode, my hero. Do you like Josiah Spode?
0:13:05 > 0:13:07Yes, very much.
0:13:07 > 0:13:14The great man who invented bone china, and this is made of bone china, an exquisite toy candlestick.
0:13:14 > 0:13:21Tell me about it. We bought it at an antique fair about 15 years ago and it cost about £60.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23£60? Yes.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27Well, let's stick a nought on the end, shall we?
0:13:27 > 0:13:29You're joking?
0:13:29 > 0:13:31You are joking?
0:13:31 > 0:13:36My goodness gracious, that's wonderful, thank you very much.
0:13:36 > 0:13:42Well, this is an absolutely remarkable tea and coffee set made in 1864/5
0:13:42 > 0:13:46by J Muirhead & Sons of Glasgow. Of course Glasgow was a very important port
0:13:46 > 0:13:53and very many of the Glasgow families set off to the Far East
0:13:53 > 0:14:00and all parts of the world and founded huge trading companies, and what's particularly nice about this,
0:14:00 > 0:14:06apart from its absolutely wonderful quality... It's as heavy as lead...
0:14:06 > 0:14:09..are the scenes on it. Is this a family piece?
0:14:09 > 0:14:15It was bought by my father in 1948 at an auction sale.
0:14:15 > 0:14:21He gave it then to my mother for a silver wedding present
0:14:21 > 0:14:28and since then it has been in our family but I don't really know anything about its history before.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31I wondered who the monogram
0:14:31 > 0:14:34might have been but it probably was one of the big shipping families.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Each piece has
0:14:36 > 0:14:42chase scenes appropriate to the function. The teapot for example has got
0:14:42 > 0:14:48Chinese gathering tea with pagodas in the background and then on the other side,
0:14:48 > 0:14:53it's all been packed up to ship, be shipped no doubt back to Glasgow.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57The coffee pot, similarly,
0:14:57 > 0:15:02has probably Jamaican scenes of gathering the coffee beans
0:15:02 > 0:15:08and quite possibly with the famous Jamaican Blue Mountain in the background.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Oh, yes, I hadn't thought of that.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Yes. I think that's the loveliest piece.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18Yes, it is wonderful, and then this again, somewhere in the West Indies
0:15:18 > 0:15:22gathering sugar cane and I don't know whether
0:15:22 > 0:15:28it's ever occurred to you to wonder why these sugar basins are always so huge in comparison to the rest of it.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31I think it's because the sugar was no tas refined as it is now,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and they must have had very sweet teeth because the size of it
0:15:34 > 0:15:41is enormous, but of course I think it still came in those days in sugar cones and you broke bits off.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43And there we are, back in...
0:15:43 > 0:15:48in Scotland with the cows on the cream jug.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52As I said, the quality is outstanding, one of the nicest things I've seen.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55So this sits on the sideboard, does it? No, I'm afraid not.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56It's in the bank.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02Well, in that case you won't be too worried about the sort of figure I'm going to put on it.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Do you have it insured at all? No.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10Well, I would say for insurance in the...
0:16:10 > 0:16:12somewhere between £6,000 and £8,000.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Oh, my goodness. Because it is so outstanding.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Well, we're very lucky to have it, and thank you very much.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21That' splenid.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24I wondered if they were going to be menu holders, but they're just little decorative ornaments.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27They probably are, yes. I think possibly the obsession
0:16:27 > 0:16:30with the natural world in the 19th century. Mid-19th?
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Mid-19th, yeah absolutely. Great.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37And ask her not to clean them, must be done professionally and they'll come up quite right...
0:16:37 > 0:16:40I think he's terribly funny though because he's a sort of drunk kiwi,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44He's had a hell of a knock from behind and his beak is down here. A lot of those around.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Yeah, I know, drunk Kiwis!
0:16:46 > 0:16:51I think they're really good fun and they just need a face lift.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54So they've both got some damage to them. What value do you think?
0:16:54 > 0:16:56Well, what did you think about that?
0:16:56 > 0:17:01Well, I mean I can certainly see them fetching £500 to £700, but more than that?
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Less than that? No, I think £500 to £700 is bang on.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Well, here we are in the New Town of Edinburgh
0:17:08 > 0:17:13and we'd sort of rather hoped during the course of today that something
0:17:13 > 0:17:20local might come to us and I think what we have here is a piece of Scottish furniture.
0:17:20 > 0:17:24And if you think of the New Town developing from the 1760s through
0:17:24 > 0:17:28to the end of the 18th century then into the early 19th century,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32one of the things that new houses needed was a lot of new furniture
0:17:32 > 0:17:39and the Edinburgh cabinet-making industry grew and prospered very much during that period.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43So I think what we're looking at here is a piece of furniture that may have
0:17:43 > 0:17:50been created within a few miles of where we're standing, perhaps for a house that had been newly built.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52But do you know anything of the history of the table yourself?
0:17:52 > 0:17:57My mother, who is 85, remembers taking tea round this table
0:17:57 > 0:18:02at the house of her maiden aunts, but they were a west-coast family so it might have been...
0:18:02 > 0:18:06I always assumed it was a Glasgow piece, I must admit. Absolutely.
0:18:06 > 0:18:12But certainly as a table, it has features which strike me as being particularly Scottish. Yes.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16One of the things that I immediately notice is that is has a drawer in the frieze.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21Now on a tea table like this, made in England, normally
0:18:21 > 0:18:27you just have a solid frieze that goes all the way round. Oh, really?
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Whereas with this you've got a beautifully made drawer, oak-lined
0:18:31 > 0:18:36with neat dove-tailing, but that's very much a feature on Scottish furniture.
0:18:36 > 0:18:44And then it develops and goes to America as well because a lot of Scottish cabinet makers migrated.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Yes. And so if you look at furniture made on the East Coast of America,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49you'll find some of these features.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54Another thing that I noticed on this is you've got this shell at the top here. Yes.
0:18:54 > 0:18:59You get that on English furniture but somehow the way this is done, again strikes me as being characteristic of
0:18:59 > 0:19:05other documented Scottish furniture I've seen, but when we open it, I think one of the nicest features
0:19:05 > 0:19:10is this gorgeous flame mahogany veneer on the inside.
0:19:10 > 0:19:17And what makes this a tea table as opposed to a card table is that it's veneered with mahogany.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22And on a card table it would be lined with baize.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Now, it's a wonderful form, it's very characteristic of
0:19:25 > 0:19:31furniture made in the 1780s, there is a problem with it.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33I think that
0:19:33 > 0:19:42over time it's been perhaps lovingly restored, but rather aggressively restored and this very highly
0:19:42 > 0:19:46polished surface is really something which spoils the appearance of it.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52Right, I think I'm responsible for that, or at least the bath that leaked above it
0:19:52 > 0:19:54is responsible for the damage. I see, so it's been flooded with water.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57It has had a ceiling come down on top of it. Right.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Which was quite a heart-breaking moment. Yeah.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03And I was actually very happy with how brightly it came up again.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I dare say with a bit of care, one could remove this...
0:20:06 > 0:20:09it's almost like a polyurethane finish. Yes.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13And find something underneath which could then be built up with wax and if it were possible
0:20:13 > 0:20:17to at least investigate in a corner and perhaps do that, it would be very worth while.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20And the other thing, which actually doesn't belong, is this handle...
0:20:20 > 0:20:22I did wonder, I wondered.
0:20:22 > 0:20:28It's a slightly earlier Georgian handle and I suspect it just had a key in the front, I don't know...
0:20:28 > 0:20:32let's pull this out again... Yes, it's got a lock
0:20:32 > 0:20:35but no keyhole. Really? So you would have just simply had a key.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37But the handle is earlier than the table?
0:20:37 > 0:20:41It's an earlier style handle. It's just been put on.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44But the condition is certainly a problem. Right.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47But I think once it's been restored, you've got probably got a table that
0:20:47 > 0:20:49ought to be insured for £2,000.
0:20:49 > 0:20:55And it's a lovely bit of local furniture and it's quite a thrill to see it.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58So have you got any more of these vases at home?
0:20:58 > 0:21:02No, they're all just in the bottom of a cupboard.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07When you say the bottom of a cupboard, have they been relegated to the bottom?
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Yes, relegated, they were brought out, I mean through the years they were brought out if we had a
0:21:11 > 0:21:16bunch of flowers to sort of fit, say well that one fits or that one fits,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19but we never thought they were very valuable or anything.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Who owns these of you two? Joint.
0:21:22 > 0:21:23Joint ownership.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Yes, well I'm the elder.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29Oh, you are the elder are you? By how many minutes? Ten minutes. Ten minutes, oh,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31that's very important, isn't it?
0:21:31 > 0:21:34So I think I'm... The senior? Yes.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38OK, well we won't go down that route yet, OK. I mean...
0:21:38 > 0:21:44you obviously don't really care for these vases, is that right? Sentimental because our father...
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Yes, I mean from a decorative point of view.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Oh, no, they're very beautiful.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Well, yes, we simply thought that a few years ago that they might
0:21:52 > 0:21:57be iridescent glass of value. We put them in a showcase.
0:21:57 > 0:22:04We haven't, we haven't used them for flowers, but before that, we used them just as ordinary vases.
0:22:04 > 0:22:10Yeah, well when you see iridescent glass of this type, there are two names that usually spring to mind.
0:22:10 > 0:22:16The first one of course is Louis Comfort Tiffany, in America, and the other is Loetz...
0:22:16 > 0:22:18and Loetz working in Austria.
0:22:18 > 0:22:26And poor old Loetz has for years has been sort of denigrated as being, you know, poor man's Tiffany and
0:22:26 > 0:22:32the fact is, I think that Loetz was producing interesting glass before Tiffany really got going
0:22:32 > 0:22:39with his experiments in New York and Tiffany had been travelling in Europe and almost certainly had seen
0:22:39 > 0:22:45Loetz glass and I think it was Loetz influencing Tiffany, so let's try and redress the balance here.
0:22:45 > 0:22:54But the actual decoration itself is best seen on this one because the decoration is
0:22:54 > 0:22:59referred to as Papillion glass or butterfly glass, in other words
0:22:59 > 0:23:03it emulates the iridescence that you would get on an exotic butterfly.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06But they couldn't be more different in shape, could they? No.
0:23:06 > 0:23:13And I think that's probably due to the fact that the designer of this piece and this piece
0:23:13 > 0:23:20is attributed to a man called Michael Powolny and Powolny is using
0:23:20 > 0:23:26you know this, this very simple type of handle, very simple form.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30To be frank with you, the idea of putting flowers in these vases is a
0:23:30 > 0:23:33total anathema to me, I mean how can you?
0:23:33 > 0:23:34Because they're art objects you know.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37But we didn't think of them as art objects.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Were they not made for holding flowers?
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Well, I suppose they may have been that...
0:23:42 > 0:23:46you know you pays your money and you stick what you like in there...
0:23:46 > 0:23:52but for me it's a distraction because I like the shapes and I like the colours and I've been fascinated with
0:23:52 > 0:24:01iridescence since I was a small boy who came across spots of petrol in a puddle, it's always fascinated me.
0:24:01 > 0:24:11This fellow, I think if you wanted to replace him, you would probably have to go into your joint account and
0:24:11 > 0:24:16you'd probably have to withdraw somewhere in the region of around about £600 to £800 for that one.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21This one you'd probably have to take out about again
0:24:21 > 0:24:30about £600 to £800 for this fellow, but the larger of the two, I think, if you were to try and replace it,
0:24:30 > 0:24:36you wouldn't get any change out of £1,000.
0:24:36 > 0:24:41So whether you put flowers in there it's up to you. No. No.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45The words "Scotland" and "pottery"
0:24:45 > 0:24:50don't automatically spring to mind, but believe me, we're about to realise that they do belong
0:24:50 > 0:24:55together, a very strong Scottish pottery industry collected by...
0:24:55 > 0:24:58more than anyone else... this week's contender for collector of the year...
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Harry Kelly. Tell us about Scottish pottery.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Well, it...
0:25:03 > 0:25:08we can give a definite date to it starting which is 1748 and
0:25:08 > 0:25:12it's gone on until really the last big pottery closed in the 1970s.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15And you had to dig deep I believe, to start your collection.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Yes, yes, well it started, I was on an archaeological dig in
0:25:18 > 0:25:25the Highlands and bored on Sunday we dug a black house and found shards,
0:25:25 > 0:25:30and I took them to the local museum, they said probably Glasgow, probably 19th century.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35I'd never heard of a pottery industry in Scotland at all.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37And when was this? '66.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40I wasn't the only one investigating, there must have been about seven or
0:25:40 > 0:25:47eight people got interested all at the same time, and eventually formed the Scottish Pottery Society.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51It seems an interesting variety of styles and types. Yes.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53I mean what is that, for example?
0:25:53 > 0:26:00This is just for ordinary people, made in Pollokshaws, just outside Glasgow.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04It's lovely. And how do you differentiate Scottish pottery from other...?
0:26:04 > 0:26:09Well, the style is a lot homelier than most English potteries,
0:26:09 > 0:26:14things like that, fishwives here and you know, the jugs were very important
0:26:14 > 0:26:19to working-class Scots. They were their art gallery, in fact.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23You could find anything on a Scottish jug, generals,
0:26:23 > 0:26:29opera singers, you name it, you'll find a Scottish jug with that on it.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31So how many pieces do you have altogether?
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Well, I've got 500 jugs,
0:26:34 > 0:26:39um, not counting plates, punchbowls, mugs, tea sets.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42And is there a lot more still out there, do you think?
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Yes, yes, I had a phone call last...
0:26:44 > 0:26:48a couple of nights ago, someone who's got three more jugs for me that I don't have.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50Ah, so the search continues.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53That's a lovely photograph you've brought of just one display.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Oh, that's just the living room cabinet, yes.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00Your house is full of this? Our house is like a badly run museum.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Henry Sandon, who's been looking at this,
0:27:03 > 0:27:04dribbling slightly.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Henry, this is Scottish pottery...
0:27:06 > 0:27:08a revelation I suppose.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13It's a complete revelation. I'd no idea they made so many different things because 40 years ago,
0:27:13 > 0:27:19we just had no idea about Scottish pottery, of course it was Wemyss or Wally Dogs but... Yes.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20Now all this has been discovered.
0:27:20 > 0:27:26Yes. But the quality varies from, I mean, the pure ridiculous up to the sublime. Oh, yes, yes.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28That plate is gorgeous.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32This? With the botanical painting. Well, yes, I've got the whole set.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Have you really? And there's another plate here and a stand here.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38You see.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Well, that's as good as anything made in Stoke on Trent. Yes.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43At their very finest. Yes, it's extraordinary.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Well, you certainly qualify as collector of this week.
0:27:47 > 0:27:53Well, the colours on this hat are absolutely fantastic, they're so bright, it must have been hidden away
0:27:53 > 0:27:57from the light of day for a while. I also love the fact that there are initials across the front.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Yes, that's right.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Henry Wilson Hogg, my great-great uncle,
0:28:02 > 0:28:09who was a sea captain and lived in Grangemouth and he was a sea captain for 30 years in the China Seas
0:28:09 > 0:28:15and I think this is one of the things he brought home with him.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18So this is a photograph of him. Yes, that, that's a photo of him.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23And this is a really charming photograph I think. Lovely with the little dog.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25It's him is it, feeding the begging dog?
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Yes, and I presume that's on one of his ships.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30What was he carrying on board the steamer?
0:28:30 > 0:28:34Well, I think it was passengers but also goods as well.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36Yes. I think it was a river steamer.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Well, as well as being a good sort of seaman in charge of the ship,
0:28:40 > 0:28:45Ithink he had a very good eye for what he was buying when he was there.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48I absolutely adore this table cover.
0:28:48 > 0:28:54So often the table covers that we see are red, because red is a very auspicious colour in China. Yes.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57And a lot of them as well are very black which means that they can look quite sort of dowdy with these bright
0:28:57 > 0:29:01colours on them, but I think this is the prettiest shade of blue and
0:29:01 > 0:29:06I think that lifts it above many of the others that we generally see.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10How would the embroidery have been done, would it be machine, or would it have been hand?
0:29:10 > 0:29:12Most of it would have been done by hand. Yes.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18And I think whoever had a shot at this one incorporated the standard symbols of the Chinese dragon.
0:29:18 > 0:29:24Yes, yes. Along with these slightly more unusual, sort of almost acanthus style leaves in really very light
0:29:24 > 0:29:28patterned colours and with the metallic thread
0:29:28 > 0:29:32woven into it as well, it really is electric, isn't it?
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Wonderful, yes, I love it.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36It's extraordinary that he had this hat made,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39but he obviously didn't ever get round to wearing it. No!
0:29:39 > 0:29:43I think that if this were to appear at auction it would probably
0:29:43 > 0:29:47fetch something in the region of £250 to £350...the cloth.
0:29:47 > 0:29:53As far as his hat, well we normally say anything with initials on, you know, rather
0:29:53 > 0:29:58undervalues it, but in this sense, it just ties the goods that he's brought back from China
0:29:58 > 0:30:04together with him and the story of his life. The smoking hat would fetch something in the region
0:30:04 > 0:30:11of £150 to £200. But they're in such pristine condition, they're really wonderful things to see.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14I bought them in the 1970s.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16What triggered you off?
0:30:16 > 0:30:21My father, when I was a child, frequently told the story of how when
0:30:21 > 0:30:27he had volunteered for the Ayrshire Yeomanry, before the Second World War, he'd been riding on horseback
0:30:27 > 0:30:31in the Carrick Hills practising sabre drill, arm outstretched,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35aim for the enemy's throat and I thought it would be...
0:30:35 > 0:30:39The first sword that I bought was this sabre just because of him.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42And another one came up in auction
0:30:42 > 0:30:48shortly after that and I bought that and I bought some more to decorate. So that enthused you.
0:30:48 > 0:30:56Now this one, I do like because it's an infantry officer's sword, now very
0:30:56 > 0:31:01unusual because infantry officers usually have a straight sword
0:31:01 > 0:31:09but the flank companies of a regiment have the curved sword because they're either grenadier companies
0:31:09 > 0:31:13or light infantry companies, or light companies.
0:31:13 > 0:31:21And this one has a grenade in the top so of course that tells me that he was a grenadier. Fascinating.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26If he was a light company then it would be a bugle on the top,
0:31:26 > 0:31:34so that sword is known as the 1803 pattern and that went right through the Peninsular War,
0:31:34 > 0:31:42right through to Waterloo and beyond, so you can imagine scarcity-wise, there are fewer swords of that type,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46as opposed to the normal infantry officer's of the regiment.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54That sword, in that condition, should fetch something between £600 and £800.
0:31:54 > 0:32:00Very nice. Now being in Scotland, what better to have than a Scottish sword.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06Now first and foremost it's a half basket, it's not the full basket
0:32:06 > 0:32:11Scottish type of sword, half basket, and you'll see these little holes.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14There's three there and there's three there.
0:32:14 > 0:32:20This would be so that they could sew a piece of cloth inside to protect the hand further.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Now looking at it very carefully,
0:32:24 > 0:32:30I realise that the blade is a lot older than the hilt. Is it?
0:32:30 > 0:32:37And the blade is probably German, of German manufacture, because a lot of German blades were imported
0:32:37 > 0:32:44to Scotland, but the hilts are Scottish made, but this is a fine sword.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49And today in auction this sword would fetch
0:32:49 > 0:32:54something in-between about £1,500 possibly £2,000.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56So do you like these two plates?
0:32:56 > 0:33:02Yeah, I quite like them. I like them sort of because they were my grandmother's,
0:33:02 > 0:33:07so just the fact that they've been in the family and passed down. Through three generations.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Yes, that's right. How did she get them?
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Well, she was from Switzerland and she came over to England
0:33:13 > 0:33:18to work as a housekeeper in a manor house in Gloucestershire. Yes.
0:33:18 > 0:33:27And the colonel whose house it was, was quite fond of my grandmother and gave her these as a present so...
0:33:27 > 0:33:32Oh, jolly nice. But looking at it first, these are lovely Chinese ladies.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37They're called Longey-Lizas. These lovely long strung-up Chinese ladies.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40And the crest, this is the crest of the family which is a mermaid.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Oh, right. Combing her tresses.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48She's looking in a little mirror, but she can see her little face in the mirror. I never noticed that.
0:33:48 > 0:33:56Really clever and the coat of arms is this here, with three Maltese crosses
0:33:56 > 0:34:02and we've been able to find out whose family it was actually made for. Oh, right.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06The coat of arms and the crest is that of Captain Samuel Bonham.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08Right. Of Orsett House in Essex.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10Ah right.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15And he was the master of one of the trading ships with China called the "Norfolk",
0:34:15 > 0:34:24and it was in Canton, which is where these come from, between 1757 and a subsequent journey in 1761. Really?
0:34:24 > 0:34:29It took about a couple of years to go backwards and forwards from China
0:34:29 > 0:34:33to England, bringing the goods from China and taking goods back to China. Yes.
0:34:33 > 0:34:40And that was his job, the master of the ship and he must have ordered this service
0:34:40 > 0:34:45for himself, or possibly for his brother who had the same crest,
0:34:45 > 0:34:51about 1760, but I think it's lovely to have this detail afterwards.
0:34:51 > 0:34:53We come to the nitty gritty and how much they're worth.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55Have you any idea?
0:34:55 > 0:34:59No. Because they're two rather fine plates.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03They're going to be at least £1,000 each.
0:35:03 > 0:35:10My God! Possibly more. I think you should insure them for something like about £2,000 each.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Two thousand each? £2,000 each yes. Oh, my God!
0:35:13 > 0:35:15So you'll look after them won't you?
0:35:15 > 0:35:20Yes, I will, all right, I won't use them in my student house!
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Guard them with your life.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25BAGPIPES PLAY
0:35:37 > 0:35:39That's terrific.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41How long have you been playing the pipes?
0:35:41 > 0:35:44On and off, more off than on, for 50 years.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49Right. That explains a lot. Now tell me about the bagpipes that you have here today.
0:35:49 > 0:35:55Well, these are not a full set of pipes, they're what is known as the small pipes or the parlour pipes
0:35:55 > 0:35:57which is why I'm playing sitting down because they're
0:35:57 > 0:36:02designed to be played indoors. They're not the sort of great Highland bagpipe of outdoors.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04When did you buy these?
0:36:04 > 0:36:10I was over here in Edinburgh for some reason or other and happened to see a music shop
0:36:10 > 0:36:14and saw these and fell in love with them because they're the same maker
0:36:14 > 0:36:16as my big pipes, Robertson of Edinburgh.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20James Robertson, yes, and he took over an existing firm.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24Oh, I didn't realise that. That sold pipes, in 1908 based in Edinburgh.
0:36:24 > 0:36:31And I understand that there are two quite distinct kinds of bagpipes, there's one kind
0:36:31 > 0:36:35that has distinctive features from Glasgow and another kind from Edinburgh.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40What James Robertson did was sort of take features from both to make his unique bagpipes.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44You're ahead of me in that case. But they're made with African timber.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49Yeah, African black wood. African black wood, and then the mounts are nickel silver.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54Well, you can get a variety of different sorts of mount, nickel silver, silver,
0:36:54 > 0:37:01full ivory mounts, but the amount of decoration is no guarantee as to how good the pipes are going to sound.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05Well, you play them extremely well and thank you so much for coming along today, bringing them with you,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09and being daring enough to have a play too. Thank you. Thank you.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13Well, this is quite a remarkable thing, I don't think I've ever come across anything
0:37:13 > 0:37:17quite so curious I suppose you would call it, as this.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21It appears to be a lock of Beethoven's hair,
0:37:21 > 0:37:27or at least a piece of Beethoven's hair, and a ticket to his funeral. Where did it come from?
0:37:27 > 0:37:32Well, my parents, when they got married, their best man
0:37:32 > 0:37:38had a provenance into the publisher, Beethoven's publisher which must have been two generations back. Yes.
0:37:38 > 0:37:43And these things passed down to him. He wasn't a musician
0:37:43 > 0:37:47and my father was a professional musician and so they handed them to him.
0:37:47 > 0:37:52I mean it's just the tiniest piece of hair, but it seems to have impeccable provenance
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and that's absolutely lovely. I don't suppose you insure it?
0:37:55 > 0:37:57No. No.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Any collector of Beethoven would want this wonderful piece.
0:38:00 > 0:38:06I think it's absolutely tremendous and I would value it at £5,000.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10Oh, well, I'm very pleased that I didn't accept the £25 I was offered at the end of the '60s.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Good Lord!
0:38:13 > 0:38:19I feel I'm holding a fairy tale in my hand. Where did you get this fabulous cigarette case?
0:38:19 > 0:38:26It's my husband's grandmother's. She always said that she got it from a Russian prince
0:38:26 > 0:38:29when she lived in Palestine. That's all we know about it.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Gosh, what a lovely story.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33We don't know why she got it?
0:38:33 > 0:38:37No, no, she did travel around a fair bit in Palestine.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39We just don't know.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44Well if this box could speak, it would speak with a Russian accent
0:38:44 > 0:38:49and I know that because it's signed by quite an important...
0:38:49 > 0:38:57worker - Ivan Kojevnikov - who, believe it or not, was a competitor and contemporary of Faberge.
0:38:57 > 0:39:03I also know it's Russian because it has a stamp of an imperial warrant,
0:39:03 > 0:39:10which means that Kojevnikov was the court furnisher and thus supplying goods to Tsar Nicholas and Alexandra.
0:39:12 > 0:39:14It's getting exciting, isn't it? Yes.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17But the iconography is gorgeous. It's lovely.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23And I think because this piece dates to about 1900,
0:39:23 > 0:39:30that the Russian designer is looking back to the 17th century, the sort of golden age of Russian history
0:39:30 > 0:39:34and the beginning of the Romanov dynasty and taking little sort of
0:39:34 > 0:39:39fairy tales and themes from folklore and this beautiful swan with a crown,
0:39:39 > 0:39:44in the background a castle and you can see all these little onion domes
0:39:44 > 0:39:48and they glitter because this is made of enamel, silver,
0:39:48 > 0:39:54and it's been given a layer of foil at the back of the enamel to give it a lovely sort of luminous glow.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02The fairy turns into a swan, the prince can turn into a swan or a swan turns into a prince...
0:40:02 > 0:40:06there's all these different methods of looking at this. And on the back
0:40:06 > 0:40:09I notice this lovely little bird.
0:40:09 > 0:40:15Oh, yes. A long sort of feathery tail. It looks like something from a Caucasian rug, a lovely sort of...
0:40:15 > 0:40:21I hadn't noticed. Yeah, beautiful. It's covered in gorgeous things and if I press this garnet,
0:40:21 > 0:40:27little thumb press there, inside, silver gilt for the cigarettes.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Anyone smoke in the family? Not now, no.
0:40:29 > 0:40:31No, no, so it remains a beautiful ornament.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33It's very pretty.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Yes, I think if you wanted to own this...
0:40:37 > 0:40:43and you are aware there's a lot of new Russian money around chasing good Russian objects...
0:40:43 > 0:40:46you might need up to £5,000 to replace it.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Ah, thank you very much. Thank you for bringing it.
0:40:50 > 0:40:56Well, I've been fitted with varifocal glasses and it makes me think that I'm seeing double because you're
0:40:56 > 0:41:00identical twins, but you're the second pair of identical twins who've visited us on
0:41:00 > 0:41:09the Antiques Roadshow today and, and that's a very rare event indeed, and identical twins with only one brooch.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13That's right. Tell me about this lovely brooch.
0:41:16 > 0:41:23Well, it belonged to our sister, our older sister. It was given to her by her husband.
0:41:23 > 0:41:27Have you any idea when he bought it? It would be in the late '20s,
0:41:27 > 0:41:31or early '30s.
0:41:31 > 0:41:35Well, I think it was probably new at that time because all the craftsmanship points towards that.
0:41:35 > 0:41:43And she died six years ago aged 92 and that was bequeathed to us
0:41:43 > 0:41:46and as we are twins
0:41:46 > 0:41:48we share everything, we are one.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50We are one.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54We don't have very much that belongs to one rather than the other.
0:41:54 > 0:42:00No, no, well, that's completely marvellous and so in theory one might wear it one day, and one another.
0:42:00 > 0:42:06Oh, yes, yes. Yes. Oh, isn't that marvellous. There's a little family of owls. Yes. Yes.
0:42:06 > 0:42:12Made of two colours of gold with full emerald eyes, tiny emerald eyes which just glint in the light there.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14Yes, you can hardly see them.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17They are there. That's right, they are.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19We think they're all there.
0:42:19 > 0:42:24They are all there. It's in perfect condition and beautifully looked after and it's actually retailed by
0:42:24 > 0:42:31Hamilton and Inches who are the great Edinburgh jewellers and so in a way it's an Edinburgh jewel,
0:42:31 > 0:42:35a Scottish jewel and full of Scottish charm, and are you Edinburgh ladies?
0:42:35 > 0:42:37Yes, we are, born and bred. Yes.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Born and bred, my goodness how fabulous, such a desirable thing...
0:42:41 > 0:42:46maybe £600 today might get you one.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51In all probability it won't because I don't think there's one to be had, so I do thank you. Oh, wonderful.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Thank you both for bringing it.
0:42:53 > 0:42:59Utterly delightful jewel and utterly delightful ladies and made my day, thank you very much.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Thank you... Thank you for making our day.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09And right next door to the Roadshow, the ballroom,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12deserted now but it's seen quite a few functions in its day.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15The Assembly Rooms are very well patronised here, way back
0:43:15 > 0:43:21in Dickens' time he used to come for his public readings and they were hugely popular, massive crowds.
0:43:21 > 0:43:28Back in 1861, tickets were oversold to such a degree that several people very nearly suffocated.
0:43:28 > 0:43:34I've known a few Roadshows like that, but for now, from Edinburgh, until the next time, goodbye.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51Subtitles by BBC Broadcast