A HAND written manuscript of one of Robert Burns' most famous songs has been saved for the nation.

The copy of Ye Banks and Braes will be housed in Glasgow's Mitchel Library. It has been in private ownership and was auctioned in London for £35,000.

Mystery surrounded the identity of the buyer, rumoured to have been an American businessman. The manuscript, written by the Ayrshire Bard himself is likely to have been used by Burns while he was an excise man.