History of Gold

The earliest gold jewellery dates from the Sumer Civilisation, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq around 3000BC. In Egypt, gold jewellery and other artefacts have been found in Pharaohs’ Tombs dating around 1500BC and later. From the time of James the 1st of Scotland, men have searched for gold, one of the world's most precious metals. Its scarcity means that if you find it, you have found something of beauty and of great value too.

| Gold Coinage | Sir Beavis Bulmar | The Legend of the Golden Fleece |

	The Scottish Crown
	At various times prospectors were drawn to the Wanlockhead locality in search of gold. The first documented evidence of the recovery of gold in the area is from the reign of King James IV of Scotland in the early 16th century. During the reign of King James V, gold from the Crawfurd Muir was incorporated in the new crowns for the King and Queen.

From the time of James the 1st of Scotland, grants were given to search the Wanlock Water for gold. In 1603 George Bowes, whose accounts refer to gold workings in Whyte’s Meadow, Wanlockhead, obtained £300 to finance an expedition. His men lived in tents and suffered from the ‘evil weather’ and scurvy. In 1604 his men came into conflict with those of Beavis Bulmer, a mining engineer of great ability who made a fortune but died in poverty in 1613, by which time Bowes also having discovered a ....”small vayne of golde which had much gold upon it …” had sworn his men to secrecy and stealthily carried off his spoils to England.

A link with these early mining days is maintained by the name ‘Goldscaur Row’ on which the Trust’s office now stands. Today you can still find gold in the area and the gold for the gold ring that adorns the Scottish Parliamentary Mace was donated by gold panners who come to Wanlockhead.

Gold Coinage

Much of the gold coinage of King James V (1513 - 1542) and Mary Queen of Scots (1542 - 1567) was minted in Edinburgh from gold from this area.

	Sir Beavis Bulmar's Fortune in Gold
	In 1578 Sir Beavis Bulmar came in search of gold with letters of authority from Queen Elizabeth 1 of England and King James VI of Scotland. Tradition has it that he made a fortune of £100,000 from his prospecting.

The Legend of the Golden Fleece

The two most efficient and popular items of equipment used in 'gold rushes' of the 19th century to recover gold from the rivers and burns were sluice boxes and rockers. Sluice boxes, rockers and pans have been in use for thousands of years. In the Caucus mountains today the Svan gold hunters use wooden pans and similar methods to recover gold.

One of the common methods handed down from their ancestors, is to place a sheepskin, fleece upwards, in the river or burn to catch the flakes of gold as they wash down. Strabo the Greek geographer recorded this method in the 5th century and this may well be the origin of the legend of The Golden Fleece.