Antiques Roadshow guest stunned by value of 'rare' item - but admits she won't keep it

An Antiques Roadshow admitted she might not keep a "rare" selection of items, despite its hefty five-figure price tag. In Edinburgh, expert Gordon Foster met a couple who presented him with a Highland chieftain's full dress regalia. Detailing how they came to possess the items, the guest explained: "My great-grandfather purchased all those items when the MacDonell clan were running out of money. To keep it in the clan and in the name, he decided to purchase them."

The guest said her grandfather bought the items during the 1920s. Delving into the history of the regalia, Gordon said: "It's the MacDonell and that's the clan chief MacDonnell of Glengarry and their family seat was Invergarry Castle, bang in the middle of Highland Scotland between Inverness and Fort William in the Great Glen. He was quite a character, to say the least. By all reports he had a very lavish lifestyle and he had a kind of romanticised idea of a Highland clan chief. He had his own bagpiper, he had his own Gaelic poet who wrote verses for him."

Gordon revealed that MacDonnell was also good friends with Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish novelist who reportedly based his character Fergus from Waverly on his MacDonnell.

The expert continued: "It's difficult to date the pieces exactly but knowing that he died in about 1822, that's about when this will have been made."

The impressive collection included a sporran and belt which featured black and white horse hair. There was also a powder horn and belt as well as a dirk with a small knife and fork.

Gordon explained that the smaller knife, known as the sgian dubh, was worn in the stocking. The final item in the collection was a plaid brooch, worn on the shoulder to hold the tartan in place.

He added: "All the pieces have the clan crest, which is the raven."

Asked what they do with the pieces, the male guest said he once wore the sporran to a Scottish Austin Seven Club dinner, admitting people were fascinated by how he had it.

Gordon declared: "It's a magnificent, magnificent group of things. I absolutely love it and I think in my time I've only ever seen one of two complete sets. So it's a rare thing."

The silver expert slapped a generous £15,000 to £20,000 price tag on the collection, leaving the guests stunned. Despite the huge price tag, the guest admitted she might not keep it.

"But I'm actually considering giving it to the MacDonald museum in Skye," she confessed, leading Gordon to brand it a "fantastic idea".