An ancient cannon from a ship made infamous after a disaffected crew overthrew their cruel captain has been sold for more than £20,000.

The true story of the revolt on board the HMS Bounty was immortalised in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando.

Now, the ancient cannon has been sold after being discovered on a Scottish estate.

The valuable gun was salvaged from the vessel by the rebellious sailors in the wake of the revolt 229 years ago.

The weapon went under the hammer after spending the last century in Scotland, originally on an island in the Clyde and latterly in the grounds of a country house in southwest Scotland.

After casting their commander, Captain Bligh, adrift the crew set on fire and sunk the Bounty just off Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean.

The huge 600kg cannon remained on the isle for more than a 100 years, until the president, JR McCoy, whose great-grandfather was one of the mutineers, gifted it to a British sea captain in 1898.

When it was brought back to the UK, the cannon was passed into the safe-keeping of Evelyn Parker - a partner in a Liverpool shipping firm.

She purchased Little Cumbrae Island, off the coast of Ayrshire, in 1913, and the cannon is believed to have remained there until 1960.

Scottish businessman Peter Kaye bought Little Cumbrae in 1960 and the cannon was included in the sale.

Peter, who died last year, kept the gun in the sprawling front garden at his country house in Kirkcudbright, in Dumfries and Galloway.

The cannon was sold by auctioneer Thomson Riddick, who said its discovery meant the whereabouts of all four of the Bounty's cannons were now known.

Of the remaining three, two are on display on Pitcairn Island and one is in a museum on remote Norfolk Island, 900 miles east of Australia.

The cannon comes with a letter of provenance written by McCoy in 1898, confirming its authenticity.

It achieved a hammer price of £17,000, with extra fees taking the overall sum paid by the successful bidder to £20,500.

The auctioneer described the gun as a "fascinating piece of naval history".