Item 2009/1 - Letters from Stewart Lyon

1 item, paper

Letters from Stewart Lyon, manuscript, one folio (recto & verso), dated from Ardraeth on 6 September 2009, recounting his recent visit with Robert Graham and summarising very briefly his collection, as follows: "Edward III (lots), Richard II (some), Henry IV (hardly any), Henry V (some), Henry IV (fair amount), Edward IV (loads), Richard III (a few, including a halfpenny from very worn dies if Edward IV, but with fresh pellets for the eyes)". Stewart Lyon describes Mr Graham's farm as occupying "high ground in the back of beyond, about ten miles north of Hereford" and "hard to find". He writes that the part of the house that he saw was "like a relic of a bygone era, with very basic and mostly damaged wooden furniture", adding that [his wife] Elizabeth "wouldn't go in". He describes Mr Graham himself "as an oddball", which he says is consistent with the impression from locals of whom he was asking directions, but he notes that Mr Graham is a collector of considerable interest. He finishes with a brief mention of the recently concluded Glasgow Congress, and in a postscript, he asks if there is any news on IS's [stolen] Scottish coins.

For an early BBC Scotland report on the theft of Lord Stewartby's Scottish coins in July 2007 as referred to in the letter, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/6904214.stm