James Lockhart - The Lee Penny

The Lee Penny

Count Lockhart has an interesting connection with Scottish literature and folklore. He owned the 'Lee Penny', a Lockhart family heirloom and the most famous of the Scottish touch pieces. Sir Walter Scott described the Lee Penny in the preface to The Talisman (published 1825), his novel of King Richard the Lion Heart’s crusade to the Holy Land. This novel incorporates a fictional magical amulet, or 'Talisman', based upon the history and folklore of the Lee Penny.

The Lee Penny is owned by the present heir of the Lockharts, and is currently housed in a gold and enamel snuffbox presented to Count Lockhart by the Empress Maria Theresa.

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