SOLD FOR £52.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 229, 28 September 1938, Page 9

SOLD FOR £52.

MYSTERY CHEST.

SOON TO BE OPENED. INTEREST IK AUCTION. (Special.—By Air Mail.) ABERDEEN, September 5. The mysterious iron Dutch chest which has lain unopened in Gordon Castle, Fochabers, Morayshire, for nearly 200 years has been sold with other antiques. It was found in the River Spey inj 1746 near Cumberland's Ford, where thei Duke of Cumberland's army crossed on' the way to the Battle of Culloden.

When the chest is moved something inside rolls about, but nobody yet knows what it is. The mystery, however, may soon be solved, for Mr. J. Duchart, a Perth dealer, who purchased the chest for £52, said that it might be

opened when it reached Perth, probably next week. He refused to divulge the name of the client for whom he was acting. In expectation of a keen struggle for possession by speculative bidders on the hunt for treasure trove—and also a little fun —about 2000 people gathered in front of the Castle to watch the t chest being sold. 1 Three men carried it through the P main doorway. It is a large chest, with j painted panels and engravings, which are green with age and from immersion in the river. An immense iron handle 1 hangs from each end and large iron : clamps are suspended in front. 1 Four men were required to hoist it on a table.