Anti-slavery poet's letters found in charity shop book

A charity shop is trying to trace a donor who handed in books containing two letters from 19th Century American poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

The discovery was made by volunteers at the Gatehouse of Fleet YMCA, in Dumfries and Galloway, after a woman left the books with them.

Inside their pages were letters that appears to have come from the prominent abolitionist campaigner.

The library at Whittier College in California - named after the poet - has confirmed that they appear to be authentic letters in his handwriting.

Volunteer Fiona Cameron found the envelopes along with the Arthur Ransom book 'The Soldier and Death' and recognised the poet's name.

"One of the book's bindings was really tatty and I flicked through it and out fell two envelopes," she said.

"They were written in quite nice, old fashioned copperplate handwriting. The first one said, 'a letter written by Whittier in 1881'.

"When I opened it, it was a letter written to his niece and the other was to her husband."

They now hope to trace the woman who left them and work out how they ended up in Dumfries and Galloway.

"The mystery is how did these letters from New England get here, because neither of them lived in Scotland," said Fiona.

"We would love to trace the lady who brought them in to see if she has any idea and can shed light on it."

Whittier was born in Massachusetts in 1807 and was influenced by Robert Burns for his treatment of everyday rural life.

He became a prominent campaigner and influential writer of the abolitionist movement.

Fiona initially contacted National Museums Scotland about her discovery, who in turn suggested she contact Whittier College.

They replied saying they believed them to be authentic and would love to hear the "whole story" behind them.

Anyone who has information about the letters or the mystery donor can contact BBC Scotland News in Dumfries at [email protected].