Museum grabs John Brown's garb

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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.

See the article in its original context from May 1990.

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The Highland dress of John Brown, the devoted servant and alleged lover of Queen Victoria, was bought for $10,000 by the Scottish Tartans Museum at a Sotheby's auction recently. The museum's curator, Dr. Gordon Teal, journeyed personally to Sotheby's to make certain of buying Brown's scarlet plaid kilt, sash, knitted wool green and red stockings, black dress jacket with handwritten nametag and black daywear jacket with, for some reason, a mourning band in crepe on one arm. Most unusual among these garments, however, were Brown's tartan underpants (a few moth-holes at the crotch, but otherwise excellent condition, reported Sotheby's) with quaint Victoria backflap and front fly.

The vendor was not named. Brown, who received the Queen's Faithful Service medal in 1872, was made her official Highland Servant at Balmoral from 1864, saving her life when an Irishman pointed a flintlock at her carriage.

Rugged, handsome but also blunt, tactless, arrogant and, after 1875, an alcoholic, he transmitted the Queen's orders to the rest of her household and ended with enemies as passionate as was Victoria in her doting. He died of a cold in 1883.