When UK homeowner Eilidh Stimpson employed plumber, Peter Allan, to move a radiator she little expected to be hurtled into all the excitement of a thrilling historical encounter. When Allan cut a hole in floorboards, he found an empty whisky bottle containing an 135-year-old message.
Stimpson had to smash the bottle to get the note, which was dated 6 October 1887, and had lain undisturbed since.
"James Ritchie and John Grieve laid this floor, but they did not drink the whisky. October 6th, 1887. Who ever finds this bottle may think our dust is blowing along the road," the message read.
"We've just been amazingly lucky, and I'm glad everyone thinks it's as interesting as we do. It feels quite nice to have a positive news story amid all this doom and gloom that's around at the moment. Now I'm thinking we need to preserve the note and replace it with a message of our own for future generations to discover," British media quoted Stimpson as saying.