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DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ABBEYS 
 
 OF 
 
 MELROSE AND OLD MELROSE 
 
 WITH THEIR TRADITIONS. 
 
 By JOHN BOWEB, Melrose. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION, IMPROVED* 
 
 EDINBURGH, 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 
 
 BY PEACOCK AND FAIRGRIEVE, CROSS. 
 
 1827. 
 
SEh 22.1980 
 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LIBRARY 
 CHESTNUT HILL, MA 02167 
 
TO 
 
 SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. 
 
 ABBOTSFORD. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I know no one, next to his Grace the Duke of 
 Buccleugh and Queensberry, the Noble Patron of the 
 parish, to whom I could dedicate my Description of 
 the Abbeys of Melrose and Old Melrose with greater 
 propriety than yourself, from whom 1 have ventured 
 to solicit, and have been so fortunate as to obtain the 
 favour, which I wanted both courage and opportunity 
 to ask of his Grace. For, though the venerable ruin 
 at Melrose has been long known and admired, yet 
 you, who may be said to have lent its beauties a 
 tongue, have certainly principally contributed to its 
 
iv 
 
 being now more generally known, and rendered it 
 an object of much greater interest, not only in its 
 more immediate vicinity, but also to strangers. But 
 the apology which may be necessary to the public 
 for the defects of a production like this, will, I hope, 
 be found in its proceeding from the pen of a man 
 who attempts no more than a plain description of 
 some of the beauties which he is, from his situation, 
 daily called on to point out, and who ventures even 
 on this only, after being many times pressed to it, 
 and having long waited in expectation of seeing it 
 undertaken by some one more able to do it justice. 
 That your very interesting pen may be long employ- 
 ed to rouse the noblest feelings of the soul to the 
 highest ends — to lead men by every art through the 
 flowery mazes of fancy to views of their supremest 
 good, and ever succeed in leaving them better than 
 k found them, is (as one who, from daily contemplat- 
 ing some of the finest productions of art mouldering 
 kite dust, and consigning the most admirable frame 
 m nature to its last abode, must be often led to 
 
V 
 
 serious reflection on those things which will survive 
 the wreck of time,) the earnest prayer of, 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most devoted 
 
 and obliged humble Servant, 
 
 JOHN BOWER. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introduction 
 
 History of Old Melrose, with an Account of Saint 
 
 Cuthbert, including the Traditions 5 
 
 History of the Foundation of the Abbey of Melrose, 
 and giving an Account of its Destruction by Bor- 
 der Wars and the Reformation, that hath brought 
 
 it to a state of Ruins 17 
 
 Description of its Ruins from the West 29 
 
 Virgin and Child 32 
 
 Stair-case Pinnacle 33 
 
 Description of the South Window and Entrance . . 36 
 
 Of the Grand East Window 40 
 
 From the North Side, including the Cloister ... 44 
 
 Description of the Inside from the West of the Nave 51 
 
 Of the Aisles and Monuments ......... 55 
 
 South Trancept. Of the Architect 63 
 
 Stone Coffins 67 
 
 Traditional History 68 
 
 The Grand Altar 71 
 
 King Alexander II. or Waldevus's Tomb, and the 
 
 Douglasses 74 
 
 North Trancepts Description 80 
 
 Abbots of Melrose 85 
 
 Monks of Melrose 91 
 
 Revenues of the Abbey 92 
 
 Ministers since the Reformation 103 
 
 The Town of Melrose and its Environs 105 
 
 Chain Bridge of Melrose 108 
 
 Abbotsford, the Residence of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 112 
 A Description of the Country from the Top of Eildon 
 
 Hill .119 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ABBIES 
 
 OF 
 
 MELROSE AND OLD MELROSE, 
 
 WITH THEIR TRADITIONS. 
 
 Old Melrose, or Malerose, which is a mile and a 
 half from Melrose Abbey to the east, was originally 
 called Mull -ross, signifying a bare promontory ; Ross, Irvine's 
 
 History 
 
 in the ancient language, signifying a peninsula, and P . 161. 
 Mull, bare. Its name of Malerose is derived (ac- 
 cording to a vulgar tradition), from a young Princess 
 who came from one of the Islands of the Archipelago, 
 where a custom prevailed, that whenever a young 
 woman lost her virtue, she should suffer death. This 
 young Princess having incurred the penalty, could 
 no longer remain in her native country with safety. 
 
To consult what should be done, she therefore called 
 together her priests, who gave their unanimous 
 opinion, that it was necessary for her to quit her 
 country, sail through the Mediterranean to the At- 
 lantic Ocean, and then bend her course northwards, 
 for an island called Hibernia. The priests, as a 
 mark of their attachment, likewise offered to accom- 
 pany her wherever she went, for the good of her 
 soul, and to direct her in her endeavours to atone 
 for her past error. They accordingly set sail, and at 
 length landed at Dunbar, a place in East Lothian. 
 She soon left that town, and came to the pleasant 
 banks of the Tweed, which she crossed at a place called 
 the Monks'-ford, and fixed her abode on the beau- 
 tiful spot of ground immediately adjoining, where she 
 resolved to remain, and erect an Abbey in which to pass 
 her days in solitude, and in the worship of God ; the 
 place thenceforward being called Malerose, (a rose 
 sullied or tarnished by a male,) in allusion, says the 
 tradition, to her misfortune. — This place, almost 
 surrounded by the Tweed, is famous for its ancient 
 Monastery, as it was one of the first seats in the 
 kingdom, of the Culdees, whose garb was black, and 
 whose religious profession admitted of nothing but 
 what is contained in the Scriptures. Bede observes 
 
7 
 
 of them, that they were diligent observers of the 
 works of piety and charity, which they learned from 
 the apostolic writings, in living according to the 
 purity and simplicity of which, they long maintained 
 themselves against the canons and ordinances of the 
 Church of Rome, often so much pressed upon them 
 by its disciples and votaries. 
 
 There are no certain accounts by whom this Mo- 
 nastery was founded, but it is likely that it was by A. Milne's 
 Columbus, or Aidan, (who are said to have built 
 several other Monasteries), about the end of the sixth 
 
 Melrose 
 Parish. 
 
 century. Bede gives an account of its situation on Bede chap. 
 
 21. 
 
 the pleasant banks of the river Tweed, and likewise 
 speaks of its Abbots. The first of these was Eata, 
 succeeded by Boisil, who, Dempster says, died in the 
 year 643 ; Boisil was succeeded by St Cuthbert, who 
 shortly after quitted the Monastery, and went to 
 Lindisfarne, now called Holy Island. 
 
 Various wondrous stories are handed down about 
 this St Cuthbert. He was three years Bishop in St 
 Peter's Church, Holy Island, where he died on the 
 20th March, 687, and was buried by the altar, in a 
 stone coffin, purposely made for him. Eleven years 
 
8 
 
 was taken out of the ground on the 20th 
 Abbey * of March, the same day he died, and his body was 
 found entire, with no corruption about it ; he seemed 
 to be asleep with his mass-clothes on, as if he had 
 newly come from the mass. St Cuthbert is said to 
 have been descended from the blood royal of the 
 Kings of Ireland, being the son of one Muiardach, 
 and Sabina, a King's daughter. He was educated 
 in the Abbey of Old Malerose, first under Eata, and 
 then under Boisil ;. after Boisil's death he was made 
 Abbot of the Monastery, which he governed with 
 great care; he was an anchorite thirteen years, a 
 monk thirty-seven years, and Abbot fourteen. 
 
 Abbot Edred, about the year 880, carried away 
 the body from Holy Island, and fled with it south- 
 wards, removing from town to town, for the space of 
 seven years, on account of the persecution of the 
 Danes in Northumberland and other places in Eng- 
 land. Many of the inhabitants of Holy Island, on 
 learning that the body of the holy man was taken 
 from them, left their possessions and goods, and went 
 after it. When the Bishop, Abbot, and others who 
 accompanied them, were weary of wandering, exposed 
 to such dangers, they came to the resolution of 
 
carrying the body to Ireland for its greater security ; 
 and having embarked in a ship for that purpose, 
 three waves were miraculously turned into blood, 
 and the ship was driven ashore by a tempest, and 
 cast upon its side, when a volume, containing the 
 Evangelists, written in letters of gold, and having its 
 boards set with precious stones, fell from the ship 
 into the sea, which caused the holy saint to come in 
 a vision to one of the monks, commanding him to 
 search the shore for the book. He searched and 
 found it ; and to his amazement it appeared more 
 beautiful than ever, seeming to be polished by some 
 heavenly hand, which increased the joy of those 
 accompanying the body. Shortly after, on their 
 beginning to carry it, and its feeling very heavy to 
 them, there appeared to their view a bridle on a tree, 
 and a red horse running towards them, which offered 
 its service to carry the body of the holy St Cuthbert, 
 which they accordingly put on its back, and carried 
 it to Crake Minster, and abode there four months. 
 From thence they went to Chester, anno 887, where 
 the body remained 110 years, during the rest of the 
 Danish war. At the end thereof, Aldwinus, the 
 Bishop, carried it to Rippon, to lay it by the body 
 of St Wilfrid, but it remained there only a few 
 
 Bede a 
 History. 
 
10 
 
 months. As the Danish war had ceased, they wished 
 to convey it back to Chester, but coming with it with 
 this view to a place called Wardenlaw, on the east 
 side of Durham, they could move it no farther, for 
 it seemed fastened to the ground, which caused the 
 monks to pray for three days with great fervency, 
 to know from God what to do with it. Their prayers 
 were heard : it was revealed to Eadmer, a monk, 
 that the body should be taken to Durham to remain 
 there as a place of rest. They accordingly conveyed 
 it thither with great joy, and deposited it in the 
 Abbey? in the year 997, where it still remains. 
 
 The venerable Bede relates another story in proof 
 of St Cuthbert's holy life. He lived on the borders 
 • of the Picts, where a great multitude of people 
 attended him in his devotions, and none ever returned 
 from his instructions but with great comfort and 
 consolation. This caused him to be resorted to by 
 old and young, they taking great pleasure both in 
 hearing and seeing him. During this time, it chanced 
 that the daughter of the King of that part of the 
 country became pregnant by some young man in her 
 lather's house. On the King perceiving it, and in- 
 terrogating her strictly on the subject, she gave the 
 
11 
 
 following answer : — 44 That solitary young man who 
 dwelleth hard by is he who overcame me, and by 
 whose beauty I was led astray." This still more 
 incensed the King, who went immediately with his 
 deflowered daughter, attended by sundry knights, to 
 the place where the servant of God was, whom he 
 accosted in this manner : — " What ! art thou he, 
 who, under the colour of religion, profanest the 
 sanctuary of God ? art thou he, who, under the pro- 
 fession of a solitary life, exerciseth all the filthiness 
 of the world? behold my daughter, whom by thy 
 deceit thou hast corrupted ; confess, therefore, before 
 these witnesses, thy fault, and in what manner thou 
 seducedst her." The Princess then, taking advantage 
 of the blind rage of her father, impudently stepped 
 forth and confirmed her assertion. On this the 
 young man, greatly amazed, and knowing the accu- 
 sation utterly false, looked up to God and prayed.— 
 " My Lord, my God, who knowest, and art the 
 searcher of all secrets, lay open this work of iniquity, 
 and by some example prove this accusation false." 
 As soon as he had, with tears and lamentations, 
 uttered these words, wonderful to be told, the earth 
 on which the Princess stood, making a hissing noise, 
 suddenly opened and swallowed her up in the view 
 
12 
 
 of all present. The King, struck with terror at what 
 had happened, and in the utmost distress on account 
 of his daughter, immediately, with all his company, 
 implored pardon of God, and besought the holy St 
 oVourham Cuthbert to intercede by his prayers with God for 
 the restoration of the Princess ; which petition the 
 holy father granted, upon condition that from thence- 
 forward no woman should resort to him, which re- 
 striction was extended to all the Picts' churches 
 dedicated to that holy man. 
 
 Ridpath'g Ethelwold succeeded St Cuthbert at Old Melrose, 
 
 Border 
 
 Hist. p. 27. and likewise at the Fame Island. He was a monk 
 and priest of Rippon, who died and was buried in 
 St Peter's Church in Holy Island, among the Bishops 
 of that see. 
 
 Old Melrose was famed for learned and religious 
 men, filled with zeal for propagating the Christian 
 religion, particularly among their neighbours the 
 Pagan Saxons. Nennius, a British historian, who 
 lived in the year 853, speaks of the noble and great 
 Monastery of Old Melrose, cap. 63. which was 
 Dalrymple's rume( l Dv tne Pagan Danes, who burned the 
 C °i>! e 57° nS churches and houses wherever they came : but it 
 
13 
 
 is probable that this monastery was repaired, and 
 continued till the other was founded by King David. 
 It is supposed that this convent was defended by a 
 stone wall, stretching from that part of the river on 
 the north side, to that on the south, where the neck 
 of land between them was narrowest, the foundation 
 of such a wall having been seen about the year 1730, 
 by the Rev. Mr Milne, author of the Description 
 of Melrose Parish ; the ground there has since for 
 a considerable time been enclosed and under tillage, 
 so that there now appears no traces of this wall 
 but in the former accounts of it. At the entrance 
 to the convent, about the middle of the neck of land, 
 and of this supposed wall, there was a house, built 
 likely for the porters of the convent, yet called the 
 Redhouse ; the place where the chapel stood is still ^j^* 
 called the Chapel-know. Certain places to which 
 the monks resorted still retain their names, — as the 
 Haly Wheel, or Holy Wheel, which was a place 
 where they bathed themselves ; and the ford across 
 the Tweed here is still called the Monk's Ford. 
 It is not likely that there were many stone build- 
 ings about Old Melrose at that time, for Bede 
 informs us, that their churches were then all built 
 of oak, and thatched with reeds. The situation of 
 
u 
 
 this place is very pleasant, it being almost surround- 
 ed by the Tweed, and the Peninsula appearing to 
 any person placed near the centre of it, altogether 
 as an island. The beauty of this spot is greatly 
 added to by the surrounding scenery, particularly 
 that in the immediate vicinity; the rugged rocky 
 banks of the opposite side of the river, covered with 
 ancient oak, but at intervals appearing in their 
 naked rudeness, with the river murmuring around, 
 sometimes rising to the view, sometimes losing itself, 
 and varying its appearance with every change of the 
 spectator's position. 
 
 Old Melrose is now in the possession of Colonel 
 Elliot Lockhart, who has a neat house there. 
 About a mile to the west, near the Tweed, stands 
 Newstead, a place formerly noted for masons ; but 
 Milne's more remarkable for another Abbey on the east 
 
 History. 
 
 side of it, called the Red Abbey-stead. Whether 
 it got this name from the colour of the stones with 
 which it was built, or because it was a house be- 
 longing to the Templars, who wore a red cross as 
 their distinguishing badge, I cannot determine ; but 
 it is certain, that when the ground there is dug, the 
 
15 
 
 foundations of houses are discovered, and a consider- 
 able quantity of lead, seals, and coins, have been 
 found. The author has a brass coin in his posses- 
 sion, found in the year 1812, which appears to be 
 Roman, having a Roman head on one side, and an 
 upright person holding the horn of plenty on the 
 other; but the inscription is obliterated. I saw a 
 gold coin, which was found in 1821, with a perfect 
 head on one side, and an inscription on the other, 
 Augustus Nero. 
 
 I must now bend my course towards the present 
 Melrose Abbey, and follow the foot-path that leads 
 from Newstead to the ruin, where there was formerly 
 a great wood of oaks, called the Prior Wood, which 
 began at a place called to this day Oakdean, and 
 reached to the Abbey. There are now no remains 
 of this wood, the whole being turned into arable 
 land ; but still the scenery is fine, particularly about 
 the distance of five or six hundred yards from the 
 Abbey, where, from the rising ground over which 
 the footpath passes, the Eildon Hills appear on one 
 side, and the Gattonside ridge on the other, with the 
 Tweed gliding through the fertile vale in a serpen- 
 
\6 
 
 tine manner, and the proud ruin towering out from 
 amongst the trees : 
 
 Whose mangled spires aloud to heaven complain 
 Of base injustice from the hands of men, 
 Whose shattered fragments only tend to shew 
 The dreadful havoc of the insulting foe. 
 
 J. Copland. 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRESENT ABBEY OF MELROSE. 
 
 Melrose Abbey, situated in the shire of Roxburgh, 
 and parish of Melrose, is surrounded with moun- 
 tains, as Jerusalem of old, and appears to be in the 
 centre of a vale, with the hills rising in every direc- 
 tion around it. It is 35 miles distant from Edin- 
 burgh, 15 from Kelso, 12 from Jedburgh, 20 from 
 Hawick, and 7 from Selkirk. 
 
 David I. who was the founder of the Abbey, on 
 civilizing and adorning that part of his dominions, 
 (where he seems usually to have resided,) founded 
 the Monastery of Melrose in the 1136 year of our 
 Lord, according to these old monkish rhymes — 
 
 Anno milleno centeno ter quoque deno y 
 Et sexto Christi Melros fundata fuisti, 
 
 Ford, b. 5. c. 43. 
 
18 
 
 Chron. of He chose a situation about a mile and a half farther 
 
 Melrose. 
 
 up the River Tweed than that of the ancient one, 
 which had been in a great measure deserted and 
 desolate for a long period of time. He built this 
 new fabric with great magnificence, enriched it with 
 many possessions, and planted it with the monks of 
 the Cistertian Order, whom he brought from 
 Rievalle,* an Abbey of those monks in Yorkshire, 
 (who came originally from Burgundy, in France,) 
 that had been founded only four years before Mel- 
 rose. This order was at that time of about forty 
 
 Ridpaths J 
 
 mstorv )' ears standing in France, and was raised to high 
 p. 79. 
 
 reputation by the great talents and zeal of Bernard, 
 Abbot of Clairvaux, who was David's contemporary, 
 and is said to have founded 160 houses of the 
 Cistertian monks. The habit of the Cistertian 
 monks was white ; they honoured the blessed Virgin 
 as their peculiar patroness, and soon overcame the 
 order of the Benedictines, who for a long period of 
 time were much respected. 
 
 The church of the convent of Melrose was dedica- 
 
 * The Abbey of Rievalle stood near Helmsley. almost 
 north of York, of which the ruins still remain. 
 
19 
 
 ted to St Mary on the 28th of July 1146. It was Chron. of 
 
 Melrose. 
 
 the Abbey chiefly resorted to by David, who was 
 
 J Father In- 
 
 fonder of the church of Melrose than any other he ^'^ App ' 
 erected, taking it under his particular protection, 
 and enlarging it with many possessions and privi- 
 leges. He is called a sore saint to the crown, 
 because he contributed so much money for erecting 
 these splendid fabrics, and was too lavish to church- 
 men in his religious endowments : but we are to 
 consider, that these were the only means by which 
 he could civilize his kingdom ; and his laws, which 
 
 Guthrie's 
 
 do him immortal honour, are said to have been com- Geo - Gra - 
 piled under his inspection by learned men, whom he 
 assembled from all parts of Europe, in his magni- 
 ficent Abbey of Melrose. 
 
 This monastery was a mother church to all the 
 order of Cistertians in Scotland, such as Glenluce 
 in Galloway, (the monks of that monastery being 
 from Melrose, and keeping up a close correspond- 
 ence with the abbot and monks there:) Newbottle, a. Milne's 
 
 History. 
 
 in Mid-Lothian ; Kinloss, in Moray-shire ; Cupar, in 
 Angus-shire ; and Balmerinoch, in Fifeshire ; with 
 many others. 
 
20 
 
 I must now give an account by whom it was laid 
 in ruins, and the time its destruction took place. 
 In the reign of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, 
 orders were given to carry off all the cattle and pro- 
 visions out of that part of the country, through 
 which the English marched, under the banner of 
 King Edward II. in the year 1322. While King 
 Robert and his army lay at Culross, on the other 
 side of the Frith of Forth, the English advanced as 
 far as Edinburgh, but finding no supply of provisions 
 from a country deserted and laid waste, they were 
 obliged, after fifteen days, to return to England with 
 disgrace, and in their retreat wreaked their ven- 
 
 Ford. Rid- geance on religious houses, spoiling those of Holy- 
 path's Bor- 
 der History, rood-House and Melrose,* and burning Dryburgh. 
 
 p. 271. 
 
 At Melrose they killed the prior, William de 
 Peebles, and many of his monks, carried off the 
 silver pix, and profanely cast forth the sacred host 
 on the great altar. 
 
 * Tradition says, that the great bell that hung in the 
 centre of the steeple of Melrose was carried off by the 
 English army, but the Scottish army pursuing hard after 
 them, they cast the bell into the river Tweed, at a place 
 called Maxwheel, at Kelso, where it is still said to 
 remain. 
 
31 
 
 In order to repair Melrose Abbey, King Robert 
 Bruce made a grant to the Abbot of Melrose, of 
 £2000 Sterling, for re-building the Church of St 
 Mary, to be paid out of all districts in its shire, from 
 forfeits, land having no heirs, marriages, fines from 
 offenders, and perquisites belonging to the crown : 
 This order was dated Scoone, March 29, 1326. This Symson's 
 
 History of 
 
 was a large sum in those days, but we may still the Stew- 
 arts, p. 151. 
 
 observe their ability either for building or repairing 
 the monastery, as there were several forfeited estates 
 in the neighbourhood, such as the lands of Nisbet, 
 which belonged to Sir John Soulis ; the baronies of 
 Longnewton, Maxton, Caverton, and the lands of 
 Eckford, which belonged to Sir Richard Mowbray, 
 all of which had been given for the renewal of the 
 Abbey. 
 
 In the year 1384, the English, under King 
 Richard II. made an inroad into Scotland, during 
 the Reign of King Robert Stewart, but found the 
 
 & ' Ridpath's 
 
 country completely deserted, the inhabitants having Hkto* 
 fled, and carried all their provisions and valuables to 
 places of security. The number of the invading 
 army being very great, and the fleet which accom- 
 panied it entirely exhausted of its stores, the English 
 
 p. 335. 
 
22 
 
 army soon found itself obliged to retreat, as famine 
 began to thin their ranks, and were much harassed 
 by the Scots, who cut off a great number of the 
 flying enemy. The English committed great de- 
 vastations during this incursion, and, besides other 
 places, they burnt the city of Edinburgh, and also 
 the Abbey of Melrose. In short, they plundered, 
 burned, and destroyed every place through which 
 they marched on their return to England. 
 
 The English King, as an indemnification to the 
 abbot and convent of Melrose, for the injury they 
 had sustained during the retreat of his army, gave 
 them a grant, four years after, of two shillings 
 on each sack of wool of the growth of Scotland, 
 to the number of one thousand sacks, that they 
 should export from the town of Berwick-upon- 
 Tweed, (which was then in the possession of the 
 
 Rym. vol. English,) this grant is dated Westminster, October 
 ii.'p. 646. 
 
 15, 1389, about a month after the King had taken 
 the administration of the kingdom into his own 
 hands. 
 
 Some repairs were made upon the convent and 
 •:hhoy church, by King James IV. the royal arms 
 
as 
 
 of Scotland being engraved at the west end of 
 the ruin, bearing date 1505. At this period the 
 building was in good repair, and still possessed 
 by the abbot and monks, as appears by a charter 
 of the abbot of Melrose, A. D. 1535, wherein Archive9 of 
 King James V. is constituted bailiff or steward Edmburgl1, 
 of the abbey, vested in him all the powers which 
 pertained to that office, and required to be answer- 
 able to the abbot for his exercise of the same. 
 After the death of King James V. in the year 
 1542, his eldest son was elected abbot of Melrose 
 and Kelso; he was the last abbot in Melrose, and 
 died A.D. 1559. 
 
 This monastery was demolished after the death Milne's 
 
 History, 
 
 of King James V. during the Regency of the Earl 
 of Arran, in the year 1545, while Queen Mary 
 was an infant. Sir Ralph Ivers, and Sir Bryan /' 
 Laton, under King Henry VIII. of England, 
 having obtained a charter of the Merse and Teviot- 
 dale, to be holden of the King of England, came 
 and took full possession of the counties thereof. 
 Douglas, the seventh Earl of Angus, whose great 
 possessions in that quarter were seized by the 
 \J English, along with the tombs of several of the 
 
21 
 
 illustrious men of his name and family, who were 
 buried in the abbey church of Melrose, vowed 
 revenge against them, and said that lie would write 
 the instrument with sharp pens and red ink upon 
 their own skins ; which threat he accordingly put 
 in execution. The English army, then lying at 
 Jedburgh, stole a march to Melrose in the night, 
 but their approach being discovered, the Scottish 
 army retired to the Eildon Hills, where they were 
 in safety, and could observe the motions of their 
 enemies. The English, finding the Scots out of 
 their reach, collected what booty they could find 
 in Melrose and its Abbey, retired in the morning 
 Border* 1 * towards Jedburgh. The Scots, under the command 
 P^ 552. 5 ' of Douglas and Norman Lesly, the Earl of Rothes, 
 and Walter Scott of Buccleugh, with some of his 
 dependents, hung upon their rear, and at last re- 
 solved to give them battle at Ancrum Muir, or 
 Lilliard's Edge, about seven miles to the south of 
 Melrose. When the Scots, began the attack, the 
 English soon fell into confusion, and their leaders, 
 Ivers and Laton, with many persons of note, and 
 eight hundred of their followers, were killed, besides 
 a thousand prisoners, eighty of whom were persons 
 of rank. The Scots lost few of their number on 
 
25 
 
 this occasion, but are said to have treated their 
 enemies with great barbarity. This place was 
 called Lilliard's Edge, in consequence of a Scottish 
 maid, of the name of Lilliard, having there fought 
 with great bravery, to whose memory a monument 
 was erected in the field of battle, with this in- 
 scription : 
 
 Fair maiden Lilliard lies under this stane, 
 
 Little was her stature, but great her fame ; 
 
 On the English lads she laid many thumps, 
 
 And when her legs were off she fought upon her stumps. 
 
 Mr Milne, author of the Description of Melrose 
 Parish, has seen this monument, which is now all 
 broken in pieces ; but the place where the battle 
 was fought not being within my bounds, I shall 
 give no farther account of it. 
 
 The Monastery of Melrose* was destroyed in 
 the year 1545, by the Earl of Hertford. He like- 
 
 * It is reported by tradition, that the bells of either 
 Melrose or Dryburgh, rung for joy when the English 
 army marched on without disturbing their monasteries ; 
 but when they heard this, they went back and revenged 
 the insult. 
 
2(j 
 
 wise destroyed seven convents and religious bouses, 
 (including Kelso and Dryburgh,) sixteen castles, 
 towers, and other piles, five market-towns, two 
 hundred and forty-three villages, thirteen mills, 
 and three spitals and hospitals. The Scots border- 
 ers committed similar ravages in England, murder- 
 ing and destroying wherever they went. We have 
 reason to rejoice that the union took place betwixt 
 the two nations, as wc now live in tranquillity, and 
 in the peaceful possession of our property. 
 
 This convent was sadly defaced during the re- 
 formation.* Oliver Cromwell is said to have bom- 
 
 * In Dr M'Crie's notes to his Life of John Knox, it is 
 mentioned, that James Earl of Murray, Regent of Scot- 
 land, was the person to whom was committed the execution 
 of the Act for demolishing of churches, especially in the 
 north of Scotland. One order in particular is issued by 
 him, and written with his own hand, for purging the Ca- 
 thedral Church of Dunkeld. Melrose suffered at the 
 same time. The following is a copy of that order : 
 
 I " To our Traist friendis, the Lairds of Arntilbj and Kinvaid. 
 
 f Traist friendis, after maist harty commendaeion, wc pray yow 
 ' faill not to pass incontinent to the kyrk of Dunkeld, and tak doun 
 " the haill images thereof, and bring furth to the kyrk-zard, and burn 
 " them oppinly. And siclyk cast down the altaris, and purge the. 
 " I vi k of all kynd of monument"; of idolatrye, And this ze faiH not 
 
27 
 
 barded it from the Gattonside Hills ; and the state of 
 the ruin evidently shews that it has suffered most 
 from the north, there being the appearance of cannon 
 shot in different parts of it. It appears that many of 
 the houses within the convent have been ruined by 
 
 " to do, as ze will do us singular empleseur ; and so committis you to 
 " the protection of God. From Edinburgh, the xii. of August, 1560. 
 " Faili not, but ze tak guid heyd (Signed 
 " that neither the dasks, windocks, " Ar. Ergyll. 
 
 " nor durris, be ony ways hurt 
 
 " or broken eyther " James Stewart. 
 
 " glassin wark or iron wark, 
 
 " Ruthven." 
 
 After these times were circulated singular ballads 
 amongst the reformers, viz. 
 
 His cardinallis his cause to mourne, 
 His bishops are borne a backe ; 
 His abbots gat an uncuth tunic, 
 When shavellinges went to sacke. 
 With burges wifes they led their lives, 
 And fare better than wee. 
 
 Hay trix, trim goe trix, under the greene wod tree. 
 
 His Carmilites and Jacobinis, 
 His Dominikes had great adoe, 
 His Cordeilier and Augustines, 
 Sanct Francis's order to ; 
 The sillie friers, mony yeiris 
 Withjbabbling bleirit our ee. 
 
 Hay trix, trim goe trix, under the greene wod tree. 
 
28 
 
 fire, from the lead and burnt oak that have been 
 frequently found in several places. After the Reforma- 
 tion, James Douglas, eommendator, took down a great 
 part of the ruin to build a house, which is still 
 standing, and his name and lady's are on one of the 
 windows, A. D. 1590. This is supposed to be the 
 abbot's house which had suffered at the Reformation, 
 also the under story of this house appears to be the 
 original ; it is vaulted in the old way, and the walls 
 are of a great thickness. There was also a great 
 part of the ruin taken to make a new roof for the 
 established church in the year 1618 ; much of it was 
 likewise demolished for building a tolbooth, and for 
 Milne's repairing the mills and sluices. The statues were 
 
 Melrose 
 
 Parish, only demolished in the year 1649, but by whose 
 authority is not known. 
 
 A heap of ruins but remain of thee, 
 
 Tis all thou art — and all the world shall be. 
 
 Had not yourself begun the weiris, 
 Your stipillis had been stanand yit ; 
 It was the flattering of your friers, 
 That ever gart Sanct Francis flit : 
 
 In wickednesse, 
 It gart us grow malicious, 
 
 Contrair to your messe. 
 Dah/elVs Poeme of the \6tk Century, 
 
29 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, Bart, when representing, by his 
 poetical pencil, the beauty and grandeur of the ruins 
 of Melrose Abbey, says : 
 
 If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 
 
 Go visit it by the pale moon-light ; 
 
 For the gay beams of lightsome day 
 
 Gild, but to flout, the ruins grey. 
 
 When the broken arches are black in night, 
 
 And each shafted oriel glimmers white ; 
 
 When the cold lights uncertain shower 
 
 Streams on the ruin'd central tower ; 
 
 When buttress and buttress, alternately, 
 
 Seem framed of ebon and ivory ; 
 
 When silver edges the imagery, 
 
 And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die ; 
 
 When distant Tweed is heard to rave, 
 
 And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave ; 
 
 Then go — but go alone the while — 
 
 Then view St David's ruined pile ; 
 
 And, home returning, soothly swear, 
 
 Was never scene so sad and fair ! 
 
 Laij of the Last Minstrel. 
 
 On a pane of glass in the Inn at Melrose. 
 
 Here view the ruins of a barbarous age, 
 Frantic with zeal, and mad with party rage ; 
 Not all thy beauties, Melrose, could prevent 
 The impious deed, which all must now lament. 
 
 Now I will proceed and point out what is worthy 
 of notice on the outside of the ruin, which is built in 
 the form of St John's cross : It is one of the most 
 
30 
 
 1/ magnificent pieces of Gothic architecture in the 
 kingdom, and the admiration of every beholder, for 
 the lightness and embellishment of its pillars, the 
 variety of its sculpture, the beauty of its stones, and 
 the symmetry of its parts. Its length is two hundred 
 and fifty-eight feet; its breadth one hundred and 
 thirty-seven feet and a half; its circumference nine 
 hundred and forty-three feet ; the height of the 
 steeple, or grand tower from its foundation, eighty- 
 four feet ; but part of it being gone, we cannot de- 
 termine the original height of it. 
 
 On the end of the long knave of the cross there 
 appears, upon one of the buttresses, the royal arms 
 of Scotland, set up in the reign of King James IV. ; 
 the lion rampant within a double tressure supported 
 by two unicorns ; above one of the unicorn's horns is 
 an 1 and the other a ©, that is, Jacobus Quartus, with 
 a Scottish crown beautifully cut for the crest; between 
 the legs of the unicorns is a cherub holding a shield, 
 and at the points of its wings is the mallet and rose, 
 the arms of Melrose. But what is signified by the 
 cherub having connection with the mallet and rose, I 
 leave to the imagination of others to determine : the 
 arms are glnno Bom. 1505. 
 
Above these arms is a pedestal for an image, with 
 three letters upon it, U f). S. that is, Jesus hominum 
 Salvator, or Jesus the Saviour of men. There is 
 another pedestal cast from the arms, upon a buttress, 
 having a bare shield, supported by a Scots thistle ; 
 upon the other buttress is a pedestal, supported by the 
 thistle, having the mallet and rose upon the shield, for 
 Melrose, of which the derivation may be this : — the 
 mell is intended to represent the instrument by which 
 this beautiful fabric was erected ; and by the rose, 
 which signifies sweet, it may well be termed sweet and 
 pleasant to the eye, for the lightness and elegance 
 with which it is finished. The pedestal of the next 
 buttress is the Hunter's arms, (there being abbots 
 here of that name,) with two crosiers in saltier, and 
 two hunting horns stringed, with a rose in chief and 
 a mallet in base, and the letters t. {)♦ on the right and 
 left of the shield. It is supported by two cherubs, 
 or mermaids, whose faces are almost entire, con- 
 sidering the smallness of their size. The bare shields 
 were intended to be in readiness to fill up the coat 
 of arms of any abbot or person of note who died. 
 
 There are eight windows remaining of this long 
 nave of the cross, and the day-light of them is 
 
32 
 
 sixteen feet eight inches by ten, except one at the 
 east end, whose breadth is six feet eight inches. 
 They are beautifully formed into the Gothic point, 
 and their moulding very sharp, considering that 
 they have for centuries stood the stormy blast. 
 They are adorned with three bars or mullions, 
 (whose breadth is seven inches) forming a circle 
 in the top, in the circle two SS are represented. 
 Others are formed into hearts, and some interwoven 
 with semi-circles ; they are decorated on each side 
 with monks' and nuns' heads, the latter with various 
 head dresses. Above these windows are three 
 beautiful buttress pinnacles, decorated with four 
 carved points, and a point springing from the midst 
 of the four, which is admirably cut. There are 
 flying buttresses from these pinnacles to pinnacles 
 with niches, amazingly well wrought, especially the 
 one on the west, which is the finest in the building, 
 and is adorned with the image of the Virgin and 
 her child, but the head of it is gone.* On each 
 
 * There is a traditional story, that a person of the 
 name of Thomson, who lived in Gattonside, and who 
 was employed to demolish the images in the year 1649, 
 while striking at the babe in the Virgin Mary's arms, 
 was struck by a piece of that stone on his arm, which be 
 
33 
 
 side of her are four small niches, which were pro- 
 bably intended for cherubs, or guards for her pro- 
 tection ; the canopy above the image of the Virgin 
 is exquisitely carved, representing a temple in 
 miniature. 
 
 In the pinnacle east from the Virgin is a niche 
 with the statute of St Andrew, who appears to be 
 holding his own cross ; his canopy, but especially 
 his pedestal, is curiously wrought, having a face 
 with flowers coming out on each side of its chin. 
 Back from these pinnacles are small windows, and 
 above them a variety of flowers, in the midst of 
 which is a spout in the form of a sow playing on 
 the bagpipes. In the angle of the south nave of the 
 cross is the staircase pinnacle, which is the finest in 
 the whole building ; it is adorned with a number of 
 
 never had the right use of afterwards. And by scoff 
 upon his name he was called Stumpy ', which his posterity 
 still retain. A gentleman told me, that it was represent- 
 ed at Rome, that the person who broke the head of the 
 babe in Melrose Abbey, was dragged at horses' heels for 
 the sacrilegious deed, which actually took place ; for in 
 those days sledges were used, and their happening a 
 great fall of snow at the time of his death, he was laid 
 on one of these, and literally dragged at horses' heels, to 
 be interred in Melrose church-yard. 
 
m 
 
 fine niches, whose canopies are like crowns, finished 
 in the highest manner, there being a number of heads 
 about it, and at the upper cornice are beautiful 
 flowers, and heads with leaves in their mouths ; one 
 of these is the head of a fox with two doves in his 
 mouth ; there are also several grotesque looking 
 figures for spouts, with open mouths to conduct 
 the water from the pinnacle. This pinnacle is exe- 
 cuted with embattlements fleur-de-lis, and carved 
 knobs or crockets, which chain up and finish with a 
 beautiful tie nigh the extreme point. A buttress 
 next the staircase has a pedestal in the form of an 
 old monk playing on a guitar, who seems to be much 
 distressed by the burden of an image that has been 
 on his back. Upon the buttress, south from the 
 staircase, is a niche very much admired, having two 
 figures, the cripple upon the back of the blind ; the 
 cripple appears to be in great agony by his attitude, 
 and the blind seems to be pressed down by the 
 weight of the cripple ; there is on the blind's band 
 (which is around his breast,) blUte. &Et\ the anointetl 
 of God. There are also a great number of curious 
 figures on these buttresses, some more like dragons 
 than any thing else ; others like men, and appear to 
 spring out of the building ; the canopies of the dif- 
 
35 
 
 ferent figures are curiously cut like temples, finishing 
 at each point with a head or flower. 
 
 I must now proceed to the south grand window, 
 or entrance, which is the south point of the south 
 nave of the cross, 
 
 But first of all, attentively observe 
 
 This bold remaining front, which strikes the eye 
 
 Like a triumphal arch, and prompts the sky ; 
 
 In Gothic taste, how awful and solemn ! 
 
 Tho' sadly mangled by the hands of men. 
 
 Torn by each surly blast that sweeps the sky, 
 
 The mouldering stones from broken arches fly ! 
 
 To boisterous storms exposed, the lofty tower, 
 
 Battered, reluctant yields before their power ; 
 
 Black with the rust of years, and with each wind 
 
 Upon its basis tottering, all disjoined ! 
 
 The crazy head, tremendous above all, 
 
 Threatening destruction by an instant fall, 
 
 Horrific bends, and shakes its hoar remains, 
 
 The enfeebled column scarce the load sustains, 
 
 Till overthrown at length the ponderous weight 
 
 Headlong down dashed from the stupendous height, 
 
 Precipitate, falls prostrate to the ground, 
 
 While echo mimics as the stones rebound ; 
 
 And low down now the shattered fragments lie, 
 
 Late lofty turrets mounted in the sky ! 
 
 The pilgrim hears with horror and affright 
 
 The thundering noise, and sees the woful plight ; 
 
 Lamenting sees its fate, and heaves a sigh, 
 
 Whilst the big tear stands glistering in his eye. 
 
 An emblem that of all sublunar joy, 
 
 Which man's inconstant passions still destroy. 
 
36 
 
 To-day exalted to his utmost scope, 
 And on the highest pinnacle of hope ; 
 To-morrow grovelling in the dust, as there, 
 And on the lowest level of despair. 
 By surly or fantastic passions tost, 
 The soul's immortal faculties are lost. 
 
 J. Copland. 
 
 The day-light of the south window is twenty-four 
 by sixteen feet, and the extreme height of the front, 
 from the top to the foundation, is sixty-one feet ; 
 its breadth from buttress to buttress is twenty-seven 
 feet, but its centre tower is gone ; the window has 
 four mullions, (whose breadth is eight inches,) 
 which run up and finish with hearts on a large 
 circle ; it has also four circles within this circle and 
 semicircle, all connected and finished with ricli 
 mouldings and Gothic points or cusps. There are 
 nine niches above this window, with two and two 
 on every buttress, which makes thirteen in number. 
 They were intended for the statues of the twelve 
 Apostles and our Saviour, who was placed in the 
 centre. The tabernacle work are well relieved, but 
 more especially the Gothic knobbed chain above the 
 window, which rises from two busts richly dressed, 
 and runs up with great ease and delicacy, finishing 
 at the top with a grotesque looking head, immediate- 
 
37 
 
 ]y above the centre of our Saviour's canopy. On 
 the head of the door below this window, is a lion 
 rampant, within a double tressure, supported by 
 two creatures in a very awkward position ; above 
 this is the pedestal of St John the Baptist, with a 
 figure upon it looking up to Christ, with this 
 inscription upon his band, CCC£ : fittUS : bet : or, 
 Behold the Son of God. Below John are the 
 statues of his disciples, which are sadly defaced by 
 violent hands. 
 
 On the west buttress of this window is a niche for 
 the statue of one of the Apostles, with a pedestal, 
 having an expressive monk with a cowl upon his 
 head, and holding a band with each hand about his 
 breast ; on the band is written £U : bttttt : }t% : Seq : 
 CESSatnt : tUttftra, i. e. cum venit Jesus, sequitur, 
 cessabit, umbra : when Jesus came, darkness did 
 cease. On the east buttress of this window is tlte 
 figure of another monk with a long beard, whose 
 countenance is very venerable, having a band about 
 his breast, on which is written paSSUS : t : J) : ipse : 
 boltttt : i. e. passus est quia ipse voluit : he suffered, 
 because he was willing. There are strange looking 
 
 creatures upon these buttresses, something like 
 
 c 
 
38 
 
 griffins, ready to fly from the building. On the east 
 of the angle of these buttresses is a figure peeping 
 out from among the ivy, with a very melancholy 
 look, holding his throat with both hands, and having 
 something like a mell in his arm, and a knife under- 
 neath his left hand : Below him is a figure holding 
 a ladle, as if in order to catch the blood. Below 
 this figure is a neat window with one bar, springing 
 up and finishing with angles like a diamond, and on 
 each side of it are musicians playing upon musical 
 instruments something like a portable organ and 
 harp, with much gayety and pleasure in their coun- 
 tenances. East from this window, which turns the 
 corner of the south nave of the cross, are very strong 
 buttresses, one having a pedestal for the support of 
 a statue, a monk with a cowl on his head, his right 
 hand on his ear, and his left hand holding his 
 rosary? and by the expressive countenance appeal's 
 to be saying, " I value my beads more than my 
 ear." But I think he is rather in the act of listening 
 to a confession. There is another figure east from 
 this, having a cowl and long beard, rising up with a 
 burden ; liis eyes appear starting out of his head in 
 consequence of the great weight upon his back. 
 There are two windows to the north of this south 
 
39 
 
 nave, the height of which is seventeen feet eight 
 inches, by four feet five inches ; one of them has a 
 bar, the breadth of which is five inches, running up 
 and finishing with small bars and cross bars, all 
 Gothic pointed. The other window bar is gone, but 
 it has a cherub on each side of it ; the one playing 
 upon a guitar, and the other upon a violin, which 
 latter is mostly decayed. Back from these windows 
 are two small ones, which are finished with two 
 upright and cross bars. On the angle of the nave 
 is another window, similar to the barred one ; and 
 on one of its sides a beautiful nun's head with her 
 veil drawn up. There are more buttresses, beauti- 
 fully decorated with niches, and canopies like open 
 crowns ; a projecting figure represents a piper play- 
 ing on the bagpipe, and another playing on the 
 clarion, the head of which, and part of the instrument, 
 are gone. There is another window in the principal 
 angle of the east nave of the cross, which is similar 
 to the last. 
 
 There is a very fine window on the south of the 
 east nave, whose day-light is thirty-one feet five 
 inches, by eight feet nine inches ; it is adorned with 
 three mullions, (the breath of which is seven inches,) 
 
40 
 
 which spring up and terminate with mullions and 
 cross mullions, and finish amongst the beautiful 
 moulding with castles and Gothic points, which 
 appear very light to the spectator. 
 
 I must now proceed to the grand east window,* 
 (which is the top nave of the cross,) the admiration 
 
 * The eastern window of Melrose Abbey is called by 
 tradition the 'Prentice's Window, it being built by an 
 apprentice. The story runs thus : — The builder found 
 great difficulty in proceeding with the plan of this 
 window, without going to Rome for information, (which 
 he accordingly did,) but the apprentice perfectly under- 
 stood it, and in his master's absence finished the window, 
 and engraved this scroll on the wall : — 
 
 I John Drummond, 
 
 The best mason of masonry, 
 
 Except the man that learned me. 
 
 When the master returned, he was struck with astonish- 
 ment at finding the window finished, and on observing 
 the first part of the inscription — " The best mason of 
 masonry," flew at the apprentice, who was then upon 
 the building, and ended his days by a tremendous fall. 
 When more composed, he looked again at the scroll, and 
 on finding that — " Except the man that learned me," 
 followed the first line, he was struck with remorse for 
 his precipitate crime, and immediately finished his days 
 in the same manner as he had made his fellow workman 
 do a little before. 
 
41 
 
 of every beholder, from the lightness and sharpness 
 of its work, the proportion of its parts, the richness 
 of its moulding and tracery. This window is sup- 
 ported by strong double buttresses, terminating with 
 Gothic pinnacles, beautified with niches for statues, 
 having pedestals and tabernacle work curiously re- 
 lieved. On one pedestal is a man cross-legged, 
 rising up with his burden, whose countenance de- 
 notes great oppression ; on others are creatures and 
 flowers. Above these niches, on the sloping 
 buttresses, are a variety of strange looking creatures 
 with open mouths, which are now reduced to mere 
 skeletons. The day-light of this window is thirty- 
 six feet by sixteen ; the extreme height, from top to 
 bottom, is fifty-seven feet, and the breadth, from 
 buttress to buttress, twenty-eight feet. This window 
 consists of four erect slender shafts or mullions 
 (whose breath is eight inches,) finished at the top 
 with cross mullions, forming diamonds, all Gothic 
 pointed. On each side of this window there are 
 five niches for statues, some having the remains of 
 statues within them ; and in the centre above the 
 window are the statues of King David and his 
 Queen Maud, both in a sitting posture ; the King 
 has the remains of a globe in his hand. The upper 
 
42 
 
 moulding of this window is a very fine Gothic 
 crocketed chain, which sweeps up with much ease, 
 and terminates at the top with an open crown, im- 
 mediately above the centre of the King and 
 Queen. 
 
 The whole of the building is double belted nigh 
 the base, which is finely executed, the belts pro- 
 jecting out and shewing a beautiful and strong 
 foundation in the Gothic stile ; the buttresses are 
 likewise belted above, where a number of curious 
 figures project a little out. The top of the building 
 appears to have been ornamented with a belt of 
 roses, with ballisters of stone above them, which 
 went round the whole ; the rose belting that went 
 round the steeple, and the remains of the stone 
 railing, are yet to be seen. 
 
 A more distant view should also be taken of the 
 building from the south-east corner of the church- 
 yard, which has the command of the whole ruin ; 
 after that turn your back to the building, stoop down 
 and look at it through your legs, when the effect is 
 astonishingly grand, the defects of the ruin being 
 but little perceived, as the whole assumes such a 
 
43 
 
 beautiful appearance as may be more easily con- 
 ceived than expressed. This effect is perhaps 
 produced partly from looking at the ruin, as it 
 were, through a frame, and seeing nothing but itself 
 — partly from the object being viewed by the eye 
 invertedly. 
 
 Our attention may now be directed to consi- 
 der the solemnity of the building by moon-light. 
 
 Here let me take my solitary way ; 
 
 In this lone church-yard now I love to stray, 
 
 Glad to indulge a serious thought awhile, 
 
 Beside this awful venerable pile ; 
 
 So as I wander through the solemn shade ; 
 
 No bold intruder my recess invade ; 
 
 Whilst all around this ancient hallowed place, 
 
 With conscious step and reverend awe I trace 
 
 The extensive vestiges, and grand remains 
 
 Of ruined walls and mutilated fanes. 
 
 Now universal silence, awful, deep ! 
 
 Night's calm vicegerent reigns — handmaid of sleep : 
 
 Reigns uncontroled : save that from yon high tower 
 
 The lone companion of the midnight hour, 
 
 The solemn owl, her harsh ill-omened note, 
 
 Discordant, issuing from her artless throat, 
 
 With doleful accents strikes the listening ear, 
 
 Ill-boding, hideous to the mind of fear ! 
 
 Where baleful melancholy spreads her wings, 
 
 In frantic tone her mournful dirge she sings. 
 
 The gloomy recluse shuns each gloom of light, 
 
 And wrapt midst deepest horrors of the night, 
 
44 
 
 In solitary sadness all alone, - 
 
 To kindly Cinthia makes her woful moan : 
 
 Who now assumes her gently pleasing- sway, 
 
 Supplying well the loss of absent day ! 
 
 Who now from orient climes, in borrowed light. 
 
 Rides and dispels the dismal shades of night ; 
 
 In silent state by fleet winged coursers driven, 
 
 And leads the grand unnumbered host of heaven ! 
 
 And now, emerging from the hideous gloom, 
 By the effulgent radiance of the moon, 
 To view the rocky ruins rise, sublime ! 
 And shew the miserable waste of time — 
 Time, said I ? no — a more destructive foe 
 To sacred edifices, would you know, 
 'Tis that mad sect where parity is found, 
 That levels all — even churches to the ground ! 
 For when these rude reformers acted here, 
 Zeal led the van, destruction in the rear ; 
 To deformation all their acts did tend ; 
 Where they began they also made an end ; 
 At once corruptions with good forms debate, 
 And wrongs by wrongs most wrongously defeat. 
 How trite soe'er this remark appears, 
 Or harshly sounds in prejudiced ears ; 
 If moderate zeal betwixt the two extremes 
 Can judge, good sense their barbarous acts disclaims ; 
 All sacred forms who superstitious call ; 
 How right soe'er, no form they liked at all. 
 
 J. Copland. 
 
 I must now turn to the north of the building, 
 and describe what is to be seen there. I begin witli 
 the ti»ll slender window at tjie north side <>f the east 
 
15 
 
 nave of the cross, whose day-light is thirty-one feet 
 by eight feet nine inches. It has been adorned with 
 three erect bars, whose breadth is seven inches, but 
 there are only two remaining, and the centre one 
 finishes at the top with a beautiful heart ; above this 
 window there is another broad window, ornamented 
 with five bars and small cross bars, all pointed in the 
 Gothic style. The angle of the cross here is much 
 destroyed, and likewise the buttresses are greatly 
 shattered ; but on the north nave on the east side are 
 two windows entire, having each of them an upright 
 bar ; above them are two small windows with two 
 bars each, and cross bars, having a head on each side 
 of them ; one with the mouth awry, and the other 
 with the tongue put out from its mouth ; these small 
 windows have a fine effect by being at a small dis- 
 tance, and shewing the clustered small pillars on the 
 other side through their bars. In the end of the 
 north nave are the remains of the treasury, which 
 joins to the church with a saxon door, that leads into 
 the church with a stair, the remains of which are 
 still to be seen. Upon the threshold of this door are 
 engraved a cross and sword, and a shield bearing a 
 sword bend ways, and a mullet in chief of the sinis- 
 ter. This threshold appears to be more ancient than 
 
46 
 
 this part of the building, it being built upon the top 
 of the cross and the end of the sword : it is a grave 
 stone, and I suspect may be exactly above the bones 
 of some noble warrior. Adjoining to this house are 
 the remains of a beautiful turnpike-stair, which was 
 destroyed about the year 1738 ; the first step of this 
 stair had been contrived to lift up ; for below it there 
 is a small vault, which was probably built for con- 
 cealing the valuable things of the convent, in case of 
 an invasion by the English, with which they were 
 often threatened ; above is a beautiful circular win- 
 dow, which is called the north star ; it is finely 
 moulded, and has a circle in the centre, from which 
 six semicircles proceed, all pointed in the Gothic 
 cusp, which strikes the eye of the beholder as being 
 the exact imitation of a star, and below this window 
 is seen the raglin, in which to place the roof, that 
 extended round the great cloister. 
 
 I now proceed to the remains of the cloister, which 
 was in the west side of the north nave of the church; 
 it is a piece of the finest architecture of the whole 
 building, for the delicacy of its sculpture, and the 
 relief of its work, which is executed in the most 
 accurate manner. 
 
47 
 
 Spreading herbs, and flow'rets bright, 
 Glistened with the dew of night ; 
 Nor herb, nor flow'ret, glistened there, 
 But was carved in the cloister arches as fair. 
 
 Sir W. Scott, Bart. 
 
 There are just seven niches, or stalls, in this nave, 
 for the dignitaries of the church, which are all seated 
 with stone ; these stalls are neatly ornamented with 
 beautiful running flowers and deep mouldings, which 
 have a fine effect : above them are a range of square 
 flowers that run from the one end to the other, viz. 
 acorns, ferns, trefoils, quatrefoils, fir-seed, house- 
 leeks, plantain-leaf, scollop-shells, and others too 
 tedious to enumerate. In the angle here is a bason 
 for the holy water for them to cross themselves before 
 they entered the church from the cloister. Above 
 this work are holes to support the roof which rested 
 upon a colonnade of pillars that went round the whole 
 open cloister ; and above these are four very plain 
 small Gothic windows. 
 
 I have now passed the angle to the long nave of 
 the cross, continuing on to the west with the remains 
 of the cloister. In the first place, the door which 
 enters the church from the cloister is commonly 
 
48 
 
 called tlie valley-door, which is in the saxon form, 
 deeply moulded and mixed with Gothic ; its foliage 
 is so very fine, and so exquisitely finished, that a 
 straw can be put through and through the minutest 
 parts of the carving. From this door to the west is a 
 principal stall for some superior dignitary, the rest of 
 the stalls (sixteen,) being of an inferior order, but 
 still they are handsome, though more plain ; at the 
 farther end is another superior stall, which is thought 
 to have been the centre of the cloister, the building 
 appearing to have run as far west as would make up 
 the uniformity of this side; when turning to the 
 north it forms a complete quadrangular cloister. 
 
 The pillared arches were over their head, 
 
 And beneath their feet were the bones of the dead. 
 
 Sir W. Scott, Bart, 
 
 Above all this work are three beautiful windows 
 with one bar, finishing at the top with a diamond ; 
 and above these are three foundations of pinnacles, 
 having flying buttresses from them to a wall, orna- 
 mented w.ith six small Gothic windows. 
 
 There are on the external part of the building fifty 
 
49 
 
 windows, large and small, four doors, fifty-four 
 niches, above thirty-seven buttresses, and thirteen 
 flying buttresses. 
 
 There were also on this north side a number of 
 very fine buildings within the convent, for the resi- 
 dence of the abbot, monks, and others connected 
 with the monastery, with gardens and other conve- 
 niences, all enclosed within a high wall about a mile 
 in circuit. Besides this high church there has been 
 a large chapel to the north-east of the building, and 
 another house adjoining to it. The foundation of 
 the pillars of the former were seen about the year 
 1730. On the north side of this house there had 
 been an oratory or private chapel, the foundation of 
 which was discovered about the same year, and a 
 large cistern of stone, with a leaden pipe to convey 
 the water to it. 
 
 To the north of this there is a dam which runs 
 from the Tweed this way, having bridges over it, 
 (the foundations of some of which are yet to be seen, 
 and two of them are entire.) Many of the houses 
 were built on the north side of the dam. At a place 
 called the bake-house yard, near our modern mill, 
 
50 
 
 was a building of excellent architecture, having se- 
 veral stories of ovens, one above another, as high as 
 the steeple in the church, and built with fine hewn 
 stone ; this was taken down somewhat more than an 
 hundred years ago, by some tasteless, greedy, or su- 
 perstitious fools. In digging this bake-house yard, 
 about the year 1724, there was found a large kettle 
 for brewing, which was sold for five pounds sterling. 
 From this bake-house there was a passage below 
 ground to the monastery, so high and large, that two 
 or three persons could walk abreast in it. In digging 
 any place within the convent, particularly near the 
 church, the foundations of houses are discovered, as 
 not only the monks had their houses here, but 
 several gentlemen, who had retired from the world, 
 built for themselves convenient lodgings. The re- 
 mains of one of these is only to be seen, which is called 
 Chisholm's Tower. Several Roman medals, or coins, 
 have been found about this place, some of gold, 
 others of silver and brass, viz. of Vespasian, Trajan, 
 Adrian, Antoninus, Pius, M. Aurelius, and Constan- 
 tine ; likewise several of the old English coins in 
 silver, particularly of the Edwards, of which the 
 author has two, that were found about the gardens 
 adjoining to the building, having on the one side a 
 
51 
 
 head of Edward King of England, and on the re- 
 verse London Civitas ; the author has one of our 
 own coins, found nigh the building, having on one 
 side Alexander's head looking to the cross, with the 
 inscription of Alexander around ; on the other Sco- 
 torum Rex, and four mullets, with a cross betwixt 
 the four, in the centre of the coin. Also was found 
 an abbot's ring, in one of the gardens 1810, having 
 a rude inscription upon it ; on the one side is t. 1). S. 
 and on the other iftftarg. I am in possession of 
 another coin, that was found two years ago, with an 
 inscription around it, in black letters, 
 
 f^al Jfflarg, Sbtar of ^taben, Jtftotfier of ffiofc. 
 
 Having given a full description of what remains 
 in the outer part of the building, I now proceed to 
 the interior, and shall begin at the west, in the same 
 manner as I did with the outer part of the building, 
 advancing regularly through it. 
 
 Now, through this way-worn Gothic porch I lead, 
 
 Where loosened stones hang threatening over head ; 
 
 And here, with a reverential awe, 
 
 Was the beholder struck, who entering saw 
 
 The body of the church extended wide, 
 
 With rows of lofty columns on each side ; 
 
By triple range of spacious lights illumed, 
 
 Superbly arched extended all around. 
 
 The crusted walls, with living sculpture graced, 
 
 And statues all in beauteous order placed ; 
 
 Those walls which sainted imagery decored ; 
 
 Idols by superstitious monks adored ; 
 
 The tinged pavement, with each silent tomb, 
 
 The lofty roof, the still more lofty dome ; 
 
 And, when the view no farther could extend, 
 
 The holy altar at the farther end. 
 
 The grand prospective, how well formed to raise 
 
 The soul to heaven upon the wings of praise ! 
 
 Great in idea ! words can not extol 
 
 The strength, the august grandeur of the whole, 
 
 Alas ! how is the glorious scene reversed ; 
 Behold it now, in ruins all immersed ; 
 A most lamented spectacle of wo ; 
 Nor even those ruins left ; but long ago, 
 Sooil as destruction shook her iron rod, 
 And aimed the level at the house of God ; 
 Abstracted thence by sacrilegious hands 
 To every common use ; and hardly stands 
 From violation free this sumptuous gate ; - 
 These few remains of what was truly great. 
 
 J. Copland. 
 
 This west end of the cross stretched still further 
 westward, as appears from the foundation of pillars 
 found here ; and the grand entrance was upon the 
 west end, from whence the principal arch extended 
 to the east, supported by massy columns, and the 
 vestige of it still remains above the eastern window. 
 
m 
 
 Betwixt eight of these pillars, nigh the dome, there 
 has been a wall eight feet high, which went from 
 pillar to pillar, the inside of which might have been 
 employed as a vault to bury the dead ; it is supposed 
 that the gallery above the wall contained the organs. 
 
 Both on the north and south of this great alley of 
 the church, is a clear passage from the one end to 
 the other, called the small aisles of the body of the 
 church. There are just eight aisles, or private 
 chapels, remaining in the south, which have been 
 separated from each other by a partition wall ; every 
 one of them has a font-stone curiously carved, having 
 little niches for crucifixes, or for holding tapers to 
 burn for the souls of the departed. There were 
 likewise altars* adjoining to the font, dedicated to 
 
 * Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, who wrote betwixt 
 the 15th and 16th century, gives a very concise descrip- 
 tion of Altars and Saints. 
 
 Behold in every church and queere, 
 
 Through Christendome in burgh and land, 
 
 Images made with mens' hand. 
 
 To whom are given diverse names, 
 
 Some Peter and Paul, some John and James ; 
 
 Sainct Peter carved with his keyes, 
 
 Sainct Michael with his wings and weyes : 
 
 D 
 
54 
 
 different saints ; several gentlemen having mortified 
 an annuity called altarage money, for a monk to say 
 
 Sainct Catherine with her sword and wheele, 
 
 An hynde set up hard by Sainct Geele. 
 
 It were over long for to descrive, 
 
 Sainct Francis with his wounds five. 
 
 Sainct Trodwell eke, there may be seene, 
 
 Who in a pin hath both her eene, 
 
 Sainct Paul well painted with a sword, 
 
 As he would fight at the first word. 
 
 Sainct Appollon on altar stands, 
 
 With all her teeth into her hands. 
 
 Sainct Roch, well seased, men may see, 
 
 A byle new broken on her thie : 
 
 Sainct Eloy, he doth stately stand, 
 
 A new horse-shoe into his hand. 
 
 Sainct Ninian, of a rotten stocke ; 
 
 Sainct Dutho, bored out of a blocke ; 
 
 Sainct Andrew, with crosse in hand ; 
 
 Sainct George upon a horse ridand ; 
 
 Sainct Anton e set up with a sow ; 
 
 Sainct Bryde well carved with a cow, 
 
 With costly colours fine and faire, 
 
 A thousand more I might declare : 
 
 As Sainct Cosme and Dominian ; 
 
 The Souter, or Sainct Chrispinian ; 
 
 All these on altars stately stands, 
 
 Priests crying for their offerands : 
 
 To whom we commons on our knees 
 
 Do worship all these imageries. 
 
 In church, or queere, or in the closter, 
 
 Praying to them onr Pater noster, 
 
 In Pilgrimage from town to town 
 
 With offering and adoration. 
 
55 
 
 mass for their souls, and the souls of their ancestors 
 and successors. 
 
 In the first aisle from the west is the burial-ground 
 
 To them ay babbling on our beeds, 
 That they may help us in our needs. 
 Some to Sainct Roch with diligence. 
 To save them from the pestilence : 
 For their teeth to Sainct Apoline, 
 To Sainct Trodwell to mend their eene. 
 Some make offerings to Sainct Eloy, 
 That he their horse might well convoy. 
 They run, when they have jewels tint, 
 To Sainct Syeth ere ever they stint. 
 And to Sainct Germane to get remead, 
 For maledies into their head, 
 They bring mad men on feet and horse, 
 And binds them to S. Mongoe's crosse. 
 To Sainct Barbara they cry full fast, 
 To save them from the thunder blast. 
 Some wives Sainct Margaret doth exhort, 
 Into their birth them to support : 
 To Sainct Antone to save the sow, 
 To Sainct Bryde for calf and cow, 
 To Sainct Sabastian they run and ride, 
 That from the shot he save their side. 
 And some in hope to get their heale, 
 Runs to the old roode of Karreal. 
 Howbeit these people rude, 
 Think their intentions to be good. 
 
56 
 
 of the Bouston s of Gattonside, a very ancient fami- 
 ly.* 
 
 In the second aisle is the burial-ground of people 
 in the name of Rae. 
 
 And in the third from the west, (by clearing off 
 rubbish in the year 1815,) was discovered a tomb- 
 stone with an engraved figure upon it, in full length ; 
 his hands up in the form of prayer, a gown upon 
 him, a belt around his waist, and the appearance of 
 sandals upon his feet, with an inscription in black 
 letters around the stone. 
 
 * There was one of the name of Baston, an English , 
 poet, a Carmelite friar, and prior of Scarborough, who 
 was found among the prisoners at Bannockburn. Edward, 
 in full confidence of his success, had brought him to sing to 
 the praise of his triumph. Being presented to King 
 Robert, he was promised his liberty upon condition of 
 composing a poem, to be sung in honour of the Scottish 
 victory. This he did in a monkish kind of rhyme. From 
 local tradition it appears that lie had derived from some 
 of our early Kings the vicarage of Melrose or Gattonside ; 
 one of the vicars named Bouston was actually married to 
 the natural daughter of abbot Durie of Melrose. From 
 Baston is thought that the name is corrupted and now 
 called Bouston. 
 
57 
 
 tt : t. cutobe. ano : &m : m. b c . xxx. bt. % 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 - UU : UOjan : : : : 3^035 : «q : sijiqe 
 
 Or this : — Here lies an Honourable man, George 
 Halliburton :::::::::::::: first of October, A. D. 
 1536. 
 
 In the fourth aisle from the west is the burial 
 ground of Alexander Pringle, Esq. of Whitebank, 
 the male representative of the ancient family of 
 Pringle of Galashiels. It appears from the tomb- 
 stones that they have been connected with several 
 honourable families, viz. with the Lundins of that 
 ilk, with the Humes of Wedderburn, and one of 
 them with Sophia Shoner, a Dane, maid of honour 
 to Queen Anne of Denmark. 
 
 One of the grave-stones contains the following 
 inscription : — 
 
 Jjetr :::::: gotf. ntemorie. tram* mar 
 
 t :::::: : tr£t. fogfe, to. jttmrt prtngtl v ' 
 di. fo : : : : : : ob$. mtS. ttttt. ftfe. Hmfa. 
 marffc. : : : : tr. fcabfo. Some, oi tootfrtt: 
 bbrne. fcnjjri&t. qbija tttttggft : jje 
 24> at, febrbare, ano. 1580 
 
58 
 
 Or this : — Here lies in good memory Dame Mar- 
 rion, first ; wife to James Pringle of Whitebank, 
 and after his decease, March — , to the Hon. David 
 Hume, of Wedderburn, Knight, who deceased the 
 24th of February, 1580_ »v liTf. 
 
 Another tomb-stone contains as under : — 
 
 Ob ::::::: oi fcJgtJwnfcS : : IjO. tttta 
 >2 :::::::::: be. man. i : VVl «t ^ 
 
 o 
 
 ij -luqiu -qo<jj 'i&tf -am HjS$ 
 : : : :«ftuqx -mmioq '3\qxx : : u 
 
 Or this : — Here lies one honourable woman, 
 Christian Lundie, spouse to James Pringle of White- 
 bank, who deceased the 19th of July, 1602. 
 
 Lament or sigh, and still thou mourn, 
 For to the Christian we maun turn. 
 
 Upon the partition wall are the arms of the 
 Pringles: a heart with wings for the crest, the motto 
 Sursum, a saltire with five scollops. And inscrip- 
 tions below, 
 
59 
 
 HERE REST THE PRINGLES OF WHITEBANK AND YAIR, 
 BY FAITH IN CHRIST, HOPE, PRAISE GOD. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 ANN-ffi PRINGL/E. 
 
 SVJE CONIUGIS 
 ALEXANDER. 
 PRINGLiEUS. A. 
 WHYTBANKE. 
 HOC. POSUIT. 
 
 IN. MEMORIAM. IN. MEMORIAM. 
 SOPHLE. SHONERiE. JACOBUS. PRINGLiEUS. 
 SUjE. CONIUGIS. A. WHYTBANKE. 
 
 HOC. POSUIT. 
 ALEXANDER. 
 PRINGLiEUS. 
 FILIUS. ET. 
 
 JACOBIS. PRING. 
 LjEUS. a. WHYT. 
 BANKE. HOC. 
 POSUIT. 
 
 OBIIT. 27. SEPTEM. OBIIT. 15. NOVEM. H^ERES. 
 
 BRIS. ANNO. DOM. BRIS. ANNO. DOM. OBIIT. MAIL 14. 
 
 1680. 1626. ANNO. DOM. 
 
 vetat. 51. jETAt. 22. 1667. 
 
 ^TAT. 17. 
 
 s * Ur* -f 
 
 FUGIT : HORA. DISCE. MORI. 
 
 In the fifth aisle from the west is the burial- 
 ground of the Pringles of Galashiels, where the 
 portrait of one of them is to be seen with his grave- 
 clothes on, and a few remaining letters upon his 
 stone, which run thus : — 
 
 : : fe. $fae. ionoxttUt & - 
 
 mtStt : : : : ttgle. tflttf 
 
 : : : : ffyitl*. 28. o& fcjjrbff : : : 
 
 ham 
 
 1585: 
 
 Or this: — Here lies one honourable Alexander 
 Pringle, died at Galashiels, 28th February, 1585. 
 The Baron of Smallholm. 
 
60 
 
 Upon the wall, nigh the font-stone, is also the 
 following inscription, in a frame of stone : — 
 
 HIC. JACIT. DOM IN VIS. 
 JACOBVS. PRINGALLV, 
 VS. A. GALLOSHEILS. 
 
 eqves ::::::::: iit. 
 
 VIGESIMODIE. AV. 
 GVSTI. AN. DOM. 
 1635. AETATIS SV.E. 
 60. 
 
 On the sixth aisle from the west is a modern mo- 
 nument, erected for Mr David Fletcher, who had 
 been minister to Melrose congregation for some years; 
 and by the influence of his brother, Sir John Fletcher, 
 the King's advocate, was advanced to the degree of 
 Bishop of Argyle, after the restoration of King 
 Charles II. This monument was erected by his son, 
 Mr William Fletcher, an eminent lawyer. The armo- 
 rial bearing on the shield is a flory or moline, with 
 asclop shells in every angle of the flory, and the 
 letters M D F. are connected together at the side of 
 the shield; on the other side is the date, 1665; and 
 below is the following inscription : — 
 
6] 
 
 5ANCT0RVM : TVMVLVM : SI : FAS : VIO 
 LAKE : QVERELS 
 UVNC : QVICVNQVE : VIDENT : FLE 
 TIBVS : ORA : LAVENT 
 NAMQVE : EST : ABREPTVS : PR^ESVL 
 PIVS : ATQVE : FIDELIS 
 
 pastor : cvi : vigilans : de : ore 
 ge : CVRA : FVIT 
 
 m vnere : sic : fvnctvs : genere : prje 
 clarvs : vtroqve 
 eccleslie : et : popvlo : commoda 
 magna : tvlit 
 et : nvnc : cvm : christo : frvitvr : 
 mercede : laborvm 
 in : terris eivs : fama. colenda manet, 
 mementomori. 
 
 In the eight aisle from the west, which is called the 
 Silverless Aisle,* is a very fine font, representing 
 the building of its work in miniature, having pinna- 
 cles, windows, shafts, capitals, and bases, all repre- 
 
 * Tradition says, that the square holes through every 
 partition wall were intended for the people who had to 
 undergo penance for their sins, beginning at the further 
 end of the building, and creeping through hole to hole 
 alternately (giving money to every monk that they passed 
 to pray for their sins,) till they came to this aisle, which 
 is called the Silverless Aisle, by reason of their purses 
 being expended. But the Author rather thinks that 
 these holes were presses to contain the ceremonial relics 
 and jewels, used by the monks while performing their de- 
 votions at their private and public altars. 
 
62 
 
 sented in a small scale, forming a font. Above, on 
 the partition-wall, is the following inscription, in 
 old characters . — 
 
 ntntatu : Statute : 
 fyomt : pault : tuttyb : 
 te : $ : petre : fcettg*m. 
 
 And upon the ground is an ancient grave-stone, 
 with an inscription upon the top, and on the side of 
 it four horse shoes : — 
 
 + orate pro 
 anfina i rat rt £ 
 petre. aerartt. 
 
 Or, — Pray for the soul of brother Peter, the trea- 
 surer. 
 
 How beautiful it is to see such a variety of fine 
 pillars as here presented to the view of the beholder ! 
 but more especially the two grand pillars which 
 support that quarter of the steeple, whose chapiters 
 are carved in exact imitation of sea-cale; and 
 likewise the multiplicity of ribs or springs in the 
 building, which ascend from the variegated capitals 
 to form an arch, supported with key-stones or knobs, 
 
63 
 
 which are adorned with scriptural figures, flowers, 
 and vegetables, like cabbages, embossed in the 
 finest style. The whole has a very fine effect, and 
 resembles a piece of masterly basket-work, framed 
 by the interweaving of the arches, and the lightness 
 and elegance by which it is wrought. I shall now 
 consider the south trancept, which a popular poet 
 has finely described in the following lines : — 
 
 By a steel-clenched postern door, 
 
 The entrance now the chancel tall ; 
 
 The darkened roof rose high aloof 
 
 On pillars, lofty, and light and small ; 
 
 The key-stones that locked each ribbed aisle, 
 
 Was a fleur-de-lys, or a quatre-feuille ; 
 
 The corbells were carved grotesque and grim ; 
 
 And the pillars, with clustered shafts so trim, 
 
 With base and with capital flourished around, 
 
 Seemed bundles of lances which garlands had bound. 
 
 Sir W. Scott, Bart. 
 
 Upon the west side of this trancept there is a 
 door, having a shattered inscription above it, with 
 a shield in the centre, which has two compasses 
 in saltire, and three fleur-de-lys, one in dexter, 
 one in sinister, and one in base. The inscription 
 is this : — 
 
64 
 
 il : gags 
 cbpn : aboutr 
 
 t!0 : l)Ul : btltlr 
 
 .k&alfcc. to : ye iKntie.q 
 
 »:morbo : 
 
 Tins is commonly taken to be — 
 
 Sa gayes the compass even about, 
 Sa trouth and laute do but doubt, 
 Behald to the hend, quath John Mon o, 
 
 I am uncertain what this writing signifies, but 
 by another inscription it appears that John Morvo 
 was the architect or keeper of this building, which 
 I shall speak of presently. Laute signifies praise ; 
 which may be intended for the curious stair-case 
 that leads from this door. And " Behald to the 
 hende, quath Johne Murvo," may be to behold his 
 handy works : or, as the compass goes even about, 
 truth and praise will stand with doubt, if beheld 
 to the end. On the south side of this door is the 
 following inscription : — 
 
65 
 
 •Jofm : morote : sum j tgm : callgt : 
 
 to : : : S : : : : & : fcotn : m : paniSSe 
 
 cnlatnlg : anti : Ja& I in : fopmg : 
 al : mason : foevfc : of : santan 
 brags : : : fefrfe : of : gins 
 gfo : melros : an& : paslag : of 
 nntmng&anll : : : tf of : salfoan : 
 
 t pvag : tO : gOtt : : : tf : : : $ : &atl) 
 
 The inscriptions run thus : 
 
 John : Morow : sum : tyme callet 
 was : i : and : born : in : Parysse : 
 certainly : and : had : in keping : 
 al : mason : werk : of Santan 
 drays : ye : hye : kirk : of : Glas 
 gw : Melrose : and : Paslay : of 
 Nyddysdayll : and : of Galway : 
 I : pray : to : God : and : Mary : bath 
 and : sweet : St : John : keep : this : haly : kirk : 
 frae : skaith : 
 
 I presume that Morow, or Morvo, is the name of 
 the same person, only differently spelt. 
 
66 
 
 This is a most beautiful winding stair-case, which 
 ascends up and finishes at the top with seventy-four 
 steps, whose depth is nine inches. From this stair 
 all the galleries extend around the south of the 
 building, which have been embellished in front with 
 stone balausters, the vestiges of which remain nigh 
 the eastern window. 
 
 I suppose that these galleries have been intended 
 for the singing boys who were employed to sing 
 during the time of devotion at different altars: or 
 for the domestics to stand with torches to illumin- 
 ate the church during the time of their grand 
 processions. The roof above is very fine, the groins 
 springing from the figure of a man oppressed with 
 his load ; and on the other side from the remains of 
 an eagle. The key-stones are flowers, and a head 
 muffled up with flowers ; another has three hunting 
 horns, a crosier, and an A. and an H. for Andrew 
 Hunter, Abbot, Melrose. In the small aisle of this 
 trancept is a font-stone, and the appearance of a 
 building for altars ; also the appearance of an image 
 upon a pedestal. 
 
 In the small aisle on the south of the chancel are 
 
67 
 
 two stone-coffins : the one on the south was dis- 
 covered September 12, 1812, by digging about that 
 place; the other was discovered October 26, 1812. 
 The former is built on every side with hewn-work, 
 and a niche to contain the head of the person, which 
 is four inches out from the form of the coffin ; there 
 are flag-stones above the built coffin, and engraved, 
 the form of St John's cross upon them. The length 
 of the skeleton is six feet, the shank-bones of which 
 are almost entire. It is supposed to be the remains 
 of Michael Scott, the famed wizard, who was laid 
 at the side of the font, where there was an altar, to 
 say mass for his soul. There is a head erected upon 
 stones nigh his feet, which has a very rude wizard- 
 looking appearance. 
 
 The latter is neatly done, being completely hewn 
 from the solid stone in a concave manner, with a 
 half circle to contain the head of the person ; in the 
 midst of it is a hole, which I think may have been 
 intended to take away all putrefaction or dampness 
 from the body, the skeleton of which still remains. 
 It has a cover upon it, with a shattered inscription 
 of — Orate : : : anima Ivoors de Corbriccg — which is, 
 
68 
 
 Pray for the soul of * Ivors of Corbridge. I am of 
 opinion, from the inscriptions that have been seen, 
 that the whole of the area of the church is filled with 
 the bones of the dead. It is thus admirably ex- 
 pressed by the poet : — 
 
 I do love these ancient ruins : 
 
 We never tread upon them, but we set 
 
 Our foot upon some reverend history ; 
 
 And, questionless, here in these open courts, 
 
 Which now lie naked to the injuries 
 
 Of stormy weather, some men lie interred, 
 
 Who loved the church so well, and gave so largely to't, 
 
 They thought it should have canopied their bones 
 
 Till doomsday. But all things have an end. 
 
 Churches and cities, that have diseases like to men : 
 
 Must have like death that we have. 
 
 Antiqui- 
 ties of 
 
 Abbey. To satisfy the curiosity of the reader, I shall here 
 insert an account of the ceremony of interring monks 
 in ancient days. When a monk became sick, he 
 was conveyed from his chamber to the infirmary, in 
 order to have fire and other things convenient for 
 him ; and when his attendants thought that he could 
 
 * It is the opinion of many, and I do believe that this is 
 actually the Sir Ralph Ivers, the English commander, 
 who fell at the battle of Ancrum Muir, A. D. 1545. 
 
 ¥ f 
 
69 
 
 not live long, they sent for the prior's chaplain, who re- 
 mained with him till he gave up the ghost ; then the 
 barber was sent for, whose office it was to take off 
 his clothes, put on his feet-socks and boots, and 
 wind him in bis cowl and habit, when he was im- 
 mediately carried to the dead man's chamber, there 
 to remain till night; and the door of the chamber 
 where he died was locked by the prior's chaplain, 
 who carried the key to the prior till night. At night 
 he was removed into a chapel, there to remain till 
 eight in the morning ; two monks were then appoint- 
 ed to be mourners, and to sit all night on their knees 
 at the corpse's feet ; children were appointed to sit in 
 stalls on every side of him, to read David's Psalms 
 till eight in the morning, when the corpse was 
 carried to the chapter-house, where the prior and 
 the whole convent met it, and said their dirge, none 
 being permitted to enter the chapter-house during 
 the prayers for his soul. Their devotion being 
 ended, he was carried by the monks to the centry- 
 garth, where he was buried, with a chalice of wax 
 upon his breast, and his blue bead held over his 
 grave, during the funeral, by four monks, which bead 
 was given to the barber for his attention to the 
 
70 
 
 deceased, and for digging his grave. At the time of 
 the burial only one peal of bells was rung. 
 
 The priors were buried in the same order within 
 the church, and not in the centry-garth, in their 
 mitres and vestments, and with a silver chalice on 
 their breast. 
 
 Heiyot Abbots had great power in their monasteries, they 
 
 and Mar- 
 tine hist, having laws within themselves to execute justice ; 
 
 monks who committed great crimes were confined to 
 
 a strong prison, called the lying house, appropriated 
 
 for offenders ; and monks, after they had been beat 
 
 even to a plentiful effusion of blood, have, by the 
 
 abbot's orders, been again confined to the dungeon. 
 
 The abbot's public dress was the Dalmatic, or 
 seamless coat of Christ, the mitre, crosier, gloves, 
 ring, and sandals ; and at their decease their seals were 
 broken in pieces on one of the steps before the great 
 altar. They lay in the centre of the choir in state, 
 arrayed in their pontificals, until the third day, when 
 they were buried with their crosier in their hand, 
 and their mitre, gloves, ring, sandals, and a silver 
 chalice on their breast. 
 
71 
 
 I must now make a few remarks upon the chancel : 
 in the first place, by being in the centre of the build- 
 ing, exactly where the dome stood, there you per- 
 ceive the variety and sublimity of the illuminated 
 windows, but more especially those in the south and 
 east, whose arches seem to ascend from conductors, 
 and whose shafts are of the most delicate hue. It is 
 thus beautifully described by the poet in a moon- 
 light scene : — 
 
 The moon on the east oriel shone 
 
 Through slender shafts, of shapely stone, 
 
 By foliaged tracery combined : — 
 
 Thou wouldst have thought some fairy's hand 
 
 *Twixt poplars straight the osier wand, 
 
 In many a freakish knot, had twined ; 
 
 Then framed a spell, when the work was done, 
 
 And changed the willow-wreaths to stone. 
 
 Sir W. Scott, Bart. 
 
 The grand altar stood about the chancel or head 
 of the cross, where there is a font-stone for the holy 
 water, and likewise presses to contain their wafers 
 and wine for the ceremonial performance of certain Ridpath's 
 
 Border 
 
 rites. There is likewise here a black marble stone, History, 
 
 p. 80. 
 
 (petrified with shells,) in the form of a coffin, which 
 is said to be upon the tomb of Waldevus, the second 
 
72 
 
 abbot of Melrose, son of David's Queen, by her 
 former husband, Simon St Liz, whose reputation for 
 sanctity was so high, that he was canonized after his 
 death. Waldevus was a monk in the monastery of 
 Rievalle, and elected abbot of Melrose in 1148; he 
 died ten years after, on the 3d August, 1158. King 
 Malcolm held him in the highest reverence, and was 
 guided by his instructions. He was elected in the 
 last year of his life to the bishoprick of St Andrews, 
 in the room of Bishop Robert, but could not be 
 prevailed upon to abandon his convent, prognosticat- 
 ing he had not long to live. On May 22, 1170, 
 twelve years after his death, his grave was opened 
 Meir. Chr. J n presence of Ingelram, Bishop of Glasgow, and 
 
 Ford. c. 
 
 25, four abbots, called thither on purpose, when it is said 
 
 his body was found entire, and his garments un- 
 decayed. After the celebration of mass, the bishop 
 and abbots, with all the monks of the convent, put 
 a new stone of polished marble over his holy dust, 
 all being filled with joy, and testifying, by their 
 joint acclamation, that truly this was a man of 
 God. 
 
 The monk Joceline, of Furnes, wrote the life of 
 this celebrated abbot : one of the stories related of 
 
73 
 
 him is his increasing the corn in the granaries be- 
 longing to the monastery in the neighbouring villages 
 of Eildon and Gattonside, out of which were fed four 
 thousand poor people for three months, without any 
 diminution of the first quantity ; which remained till 
 the crop was off the ground, and then began to waste. 
 The following lines were written by Fordun to the 
 memory of this saint : — - 
 
 Metros mellita sic est fellea vita 
 Ture vocatur ita, patre potiore potita. 
 
 In 1206 died William, the ninth abbot of Melrose, 
 
 which was forty-eight years after the death of 
 
 Waldevus ; and William being considered another 
 
 Waldevus in sanctity, it was resolved that their Ford. 1. 3, 
 
 c. 66. 
 
 bodies should lie together in the dust. As the 
 workmen were preparing William's grave, brother 
 Robert, who was a mason, by the advice of some of 
 I his brethren, not without reluctance and much re- # 
 ligious horror, raised the cover of Waldevus's tomb 
 a little, when, lo ! his nose was struck with a frag- 
 rance as if the Saint's tomb had been filled with 
 spices. This circumstance happening in the twilight, 
 a candle was brought, and all who were present 
 
74 
 
 looked into the tomb, and saw the sacred body entire, 
 with its vestments as fresh and beautiful as if they 
 had been just put on ; there were six monks and six 
 lay brothers who had the happiness of thus gratify- 
 ing their pious, though presumptuous curiosity. 
 In 1240, Waldevus's tomb was again opened, when 
 his body was found to be mouldered into dust ; those 
 that were present carried off some of the small bones, 
 leaving the rest to repose in peace. One of the 
 company was William, son to the Earl of Dunbar, 
 who begged and obtained one of the Saint's teeth, 
 by which it is reported that many wonderful cures 
 were performed. 
 
 Some suppose that this marble stone lies upon 
 King Alexander II. ; but it is more probable to be 
 upon Waldevus. History says that King Alexander 
 II. was buried at the high altar of Melrose abbey, 
 with this inscription on his tomb : — 
 
 Ecclesiae clypens, pax plebis, dux miserorum, 
 Rex* rectus, rigidus, sapiens, consultus, honestus ; 
 Rex pius, rex fortis, rex optimus, rex opulentus. 
 Nominis istius ipse secundus erat. 
 Annister denis et quintis rex fuit ipse, 
 Insula quad Carneri dicitur hunc rapuit. 
 Spiritus alta petit cselestibus associatus, 
 Sed Melrossensis osa sepulta tenet. 
 
 Milne's 
 history of 
 Melrose 
 parish. 
 
75 
 
 No such tomb nor inscription is now to be seen, 
 though, perhaps, it may have been upon the wall, 
 but now effaced. 
 
 There were also monuments erected here, in re- 
 membrance of some of the family of Douglas * that 
 
 * A heart makes part of Douglas' arms. Origin of 
 this circumstance : — Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, 
 ordered that his heart should be carried by Sir James 
 Douglas to the Holy Land, to be buried at Jerusalem. 
 The fate of Douglas, on this expedition, is thus related 
 by Lord Hailes: — " Meanwhile Douglas, having the 
 " heart of his dear master, set sail from Scotland with a 
 " numerous and splendid retinue. He therefore resolved 
 u to visit Spain, and combat the Saracens in his progress 
 " to Jerusalem. Douglas and his companions were 
 " honourably entertained by Alphonsus the XI. the 
 " young king of Leon and Castile." 
 
 After describing the battle, the account proceeds thus : — 
 " Douglas with his companions eagerly pursued the 
 a Saracens. Taking the casket, which contained the 
 " heart of Bruce, — he threw it before him, and cried, 
 <: Now, pass tJwu onwardy as tJwu was wont, and Douglas 
 " will folloiv thee, or die" 
 
 " The fugitives rallied. Surrounded and overwhelmed 
 " by superior numbers, Douglas fell. His few surviving 
 " companions found his body in the field, together with 
 " the casket, and reverently conveyed them to Scotland. 
 
76 
 
 were interred here; such as William Douglas, Knight 
 of Liddisdale, called the flower of chivalry, and 
 
 " The remains of Douglas were interred in the sepulchre 
 " of his forefathers ; and the heart of King Robert Bruce 
 " was deposited at Melrose. — Annals of Scotland, vol. 2. 
 " year 1330." 
 
 According to the Abridged Scots Chronicle, or the 
 Black Book of Paisley, page Ih 
 
 " King Robert died at Cardross, the 20th of his reign, 
 " and was buried in Dunfermlin. After this time, Sir 
 " James Douglas, a most worthy champion, was chosen 
 " by the nobles to pass with King Robert's heart to 
 " Jerusalem ; and there to cause the same to be buried 
 " within the temple, beside the sepulchre of our Lord, 
 " conform to the said King's direction ; because he had 
 " avouched or vowed, to have past with a great army in 
 " defence of the Christian faith against the Turks and 
 " Sarazens, if he had not been hindered by wars at home, 
 " and now prevented by death. Sir James Douglas 
 " willingly obeyed, as he had most faithfully served King 
 " Robert during his life. They enclosed his heart in a 
 " case of gold, embalmed with sweet spices and precious 
 " ointment, accompanied with Sir William Sinclair, and 
 " Sir Robert Logan, with many other noble men and 
 " valiant men, passed and buried the said heart with great 
 " reverence and solemnity at the place appointed. There- 
 " fore the Douglasses bear the bloody heart in their coat 
 
77 
 
 William Douglas, who killed the dark Knight of 
 Liddisdale, and Archibald Douglas, and James Earl 
 of Douglas, who fell at the battle of Otterburn. 
 Earl Douglas was a heroic general, and by his valour Duncan s 
 
 History. 
 
 quickly recovered the ground he lost from the enemy ; 
 he rushed into the thickest of the battle with two of 
 his friends, and made terrible slaughter, but before his 
 men could come to his assistance, he received three 
 mortal wounds, and was laid on the ground, when a 
 priest defended him valiantly from any further hurt. 
 The nobles coming up, asked him how he did ? he 
 answered, " very well; that he was dying in the 
 field of honour, as most of his ancestors had done, 
 and had only three things to desire of them, viz. to 
 conceal his death till the battle was over ; that they 
 would not suffer his standard to be taken down ; and 
 that they would revenge his death." Whereupon 
 they covered his body with a cloak, displayed his 
 banner, and cried out, " A Douglas ! A Douglas r 
 at which sound his soldiers made a desperate charge, 
 
 " of arms. He purposed to return home ; but he was 
 " killed, with all his nobles and valiant men. It is 
 " chronicled, that he was victorious against Turks and 
 " Sarazens thirteen times. And against the English 
 M fifty-seven times." 
 
78 
 
 Matthew 
 Duncan's 
 history of 
 Scotland, 
 p. 133. 
 
 beat the enemy back, took Henry Percy, their gene- 
 ral, prisoner, and put the rest to flight ; Henry 
 
 Percy, junior, was also taken, and defeated by the 
 other wing. The battle being over, the Scots carried 
 
 corpse, with those of other noblemen, along with 
 them, and interred them at Melrose with military 
 pomp, and every honour that could be paid by the 
 abbot and monks ; and solemn mass was celebrated 
 for the good of their souls. This victory was ob- 
 tainecV August 15, 1388. Douglas's standard, and 
 Percy's armour, or jack, are kept in the house of 
 Dougles of Cavers, in the county of Roxburgh, that 
 family being his lineal descendants. Many great 
 men are also buried in Melrose, such as De Valoniis, 
 
 Milne's 
 
 History. Vausses of Dirlton, Sommervilles, Balfours, and 
 others now unknown ; some of whom are buried in 
 the chapter-house. 
 
 longing to the Pringle's of Buckholm, which contains 
 the following inscription : — 
 
 off the two Percies, with four hundred prisoners of 
 note, and dismissed the rest. They took Douglas's 
 
 There are three modern grave-stones here, be- 
 

 79 
 
 
 HERE. LYES 
 
 HERE. LYES 
 
 HERE. LYES 
 
 GEORGE. 
 
 KATARIN RAM • 
 
 JOHN PRINGLE 
 
 PRINGLE. 
 
 SAY. SPOUSE. TO 
 
 OF WILLIAM 
 
 OF BUCKE. 
 
 JOHN PRINGLE 
 
 LAW. WHO 
 
 HOLME. 
 
 OF WILLIAM LAW 
 
 DECEASED. THE 
 
 AVHO. 
 
 WHO. DECEASED 
 
 24. OF. APRILE, 
 
 DECEASED 
 
 THE 26. OF APRILE 
 
 1675. AGED 72. 
 
 
 
 
 OF MARCH 
 
 
 
 1693. 
 
 
 
 AGED 78. 
 
 
 
 The arch above is very curious, having a key-stone 
 in the centre, with a figure of a saint upon it, holding 
 a crucifix, our Saviour on the cross ; other key-stones 
 have figures holding keys, others holding St An- 
 drew's cross, others with pastoral staves in their 
 hands, and a glory around their heads. 
 
 I shall now make some remarks upon the north 
 trancept. In the first place, on the west side of the 
 trancept is the statue of Peter, with a book open, his 
 right hand upon it, and two keys hanging at his left 
 side ; another figure is Paul, who holds a sword in 
 his front ; below these figures are the remains of a 
 stair which went up to the Treasury, having a font- 
 stone at the foot of it. On the east side of this 
 trancept are elegant pillars, whose capitals are exe- 
 
80 
 
 cuted with the greatest correctness ; there is likewise 
 a hand in exact imitation of nature, which apparently 
 supports the whole of the springing arch ; and below 
 the statue of Peter is the ancient burial-ground of 
 the Cairncrosses of Hislop, and Colmsly Towers. 
 
 In the north of this trancept is a square recess in 
 the wall, finely ornamented with a running flower, 
 having fourteen pedestals to contain small images, 
 perhaps for the twelve apostles, our Saviour, and the 
 Virgin Mary. Below is a Saxon door, which goes 
 down three steps into a cellar, called the wax-cellar, 
 that was made to contain the tapers and candles 
 used for burning at the altars and shrines of the 
 saints, especially at the altar of St Mary and St Wal- 
 dave. These steps at the door appear to be grave- 
 stones, as they are formed like coffins, having a cross 
 and shield upon one stone, and an inscription upon 
 another, bearing this : — 
 
 jojjanrta : if : tog 
 
 These grave-stones are undoubtedly older than this 
 part of the building, it being built upon the third 
 part of them ; and I suspect that they are upon the 
 bones of some venerable dead. 
 
81 
 
 The north small aisle of the body of the church 
 forms a beautiful piazza, which has four clustered 
 pillars executed in the highest style, and as perfect 
 as if they were newly finished ; the groins ascend 
 from these pillars, and terminate by key-stones, 
 forming a cauliflower and other vegetables. Below 
 is the door to the cloister, and on the west of this 
 door is a small monument, in remembrance of the 
 Kers of Yair, whose arms are upon a shield, viz. a 
 stag's head, a cheveron, and three mullets within it ; 
 below which is the following inscription : — 
 
 HEIR LYIS THE. RACE 
 OF. YE. HOVS. OF. ZAIR, 
 
 Here is also a burial-ground of the Karrs of Kip- 
 pilaw, descended from the Kers of Yair and Suther- 
 land Hall, and the following inscriptions upon their 
 tomb-stones : — 
 
 HERE LYES LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ANDREW 
 KER OF KIPPILAW. WHO WAS. BORN AT 
 MELROSE THE 23d FEBRUARY 1620 YEARS. AND 
 DIED AT KIPPILAW UPON THE 3 OF FEBRUARY 
 1697. IN THE 77 YEAR OF HIS AGE 
 AND HIS ONLY SON ANDREW KER 
 WRITER TO THE SIGNET. WHO DYED. THE 
 FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER 1744, AGED 
 85 YEARS. 
 
82 
 
 HERE LIES ELIZABETH KARR, 
 
 DAUGHTER TO. LIEUTENANT 
 
 COLONEL. ANDREW. KARR 
 
 OF KIPPILAW. WHO. DYED THE 
 
 27 DAY. OF. MARCH. 1703. IN 
 
 THE 20TH YEAR. OF HER AGE. 
 
 HERE ALSO LIETH THE REMAINS 
 
 OF JOHN AND MARGARET KARR, 
 
 SON AND DAUGHTER OF ANDREW 
 
 KARR OF KIPPILAW. THE FORMER 
 
 DIED AT KELSO THE 10TH OCTOBER 1746, 
 
 AGED YEARS. AND THE LATTER 
 
 AT EDINBURGH THE 8th MARCH 1782, 
 AGED 88 YEARS. 
 
 The established church left the abbey, A. D. 1810. 
 His Grace the Duke of Buccleugh and Queensberry, 
 in 1812, cleared off five solid feet of rubbish. At that 
 time was discovered some of the original pavement 
 made of brick or tile, about five inches square, 
 glazed different colours ; and applied for the paving 
 of the church, formed into dambrods, or mosaic 
 work, where the vestige of them remains about the 
 Silverless aisle. Also was found square pieces about 
 two inches in thickness, all glazed, that had been 
 applied for the building up of their small altars. 
 
 The stone that the abbey is built with comes from 
 Dryburgh, Bemerside, Newton, and Lessudden, all 
 
83 
 
 within three and four miles of Melrose. And it is 
 said, that the workmen wrought for one penny per IS 
 day. 
 
 In the interior of the building there are twenty- 
 seven ornamental windows in the galleries, twenty- 
 one pillars, and eight half pillars, or pilasters, in the 
 solid wall. The height of the two grand pillars, from 
 the top of the capitals to the ground, is thirty-six 
 feet; circumference round the shafts, eighteen feet. 
 The breadth from one grand pillar to the other, 
 which is the breadth of the great alley of the church, 
 twenty-six feet four inches. The north small aisle, 
 or alley, is seven feet in breadth. The south small 
 aisle, or alley, is ten and a half feet in breadth. The 
 general height of the common pillars, nineteen feet 
 two inches ; circumference round their shafts, four- 
 teen feet ; breadth from pillar to pillar, fifteen feet. 
 Height of the grand arches, from top to bottom, fifty- 
 three feet. Height of the small arches, twenty-nine 
 feet. Length from the north to the south trancepts, 
 one hundred and seventeen feet. Breadth of trancepts, 
 by taking in their small aisles, forty-four feet. 
 Length from the chancel to the end of the cross, two 
 hundred and fifty-six feet. The outside length and 
 
84 
 
 breadth of the building is mentioned in page 30 of 
 this work. I have now finished my description of 
 the ruin, to which the following lines of the pathetic 
 poet, Bruce, are not inapplicable : — 
 
 Here naked stand the melancholy walls, 
 Lashed by the wintry tempests cold and bleak, 
 That whistle mournful through the empty aisles, 
 And piece-meal crumble down the towers to dust. 
 Equal in age and sharers of its fate, 
 A row of moss-grown trees around it stand ; 
 Scarce here and there upon their blasted tops, 
 A shrivelled leaf distinguishes the year. 
 
 Upon an old tomb-stone, in Melrose church-yard, 
 is the following inscription : — 
 
 THE EARTH GOETH 
 ON THE EARTH 
 GLISTRING LIKE 
 
 GOLD ; 
 THE EARTH GOES TO 
 THE EARTH SOONER. 
 THEN IT WOLD ,* 
 THE EARTH BUILDS 
 ON THE EARTH CAST- 
 LES AND TOWERS ; 
 THE EARTH SAYS TO 
 THE EARTH. ALL SHALL 
 BE OURS. 
 
ABBOTS OF MELROSE. 
 
 King David I. the founder of several abbeys, Bypath's 
 
 Hist, in his 
 
 introduced all kinds of mechanics into the monas- uotes ' p ' 
 teries he built, in order to banish idleness, the mother 
 of vice, and procure at an easy rate the necessa- 
 ries of life. Accordingly, in the Abbey of Melrose 
 there were painters, carvers, joiners, smiths, masons, 
 vine-dressers, and husbandmen, who were all under 
 the superintendence of an elder; their earnings 
 were put into the common stock for the maintenance 
 of the religious men. The first abbot elected by 
 David to Melrose was Richard, in the year 1 136, 
 being the same year in which it was founded. To 
 him succeeded Waldevus, son of David's Queen 
 Maud, in the year 1148. Fordun says he per- Symson's 
 
 History of 
 
 formed many miracles, and is now ranked among theStuarts, 
 the saints of the Romish church; many offerings 
 were made at the tomb of the said Waldevus. Joce- 
 line of Furnes succeeded him in the year 1168, and 
 
 F 
 
86 
 
 wrote an account of Waldcvus's life ; he was interred 
 here, and was a great benefactor to the abbey. Jo- 
 celine was succeeded by Laurientius, an abbot of 
 great meekness, and a learned divine. Ralph suc- 
 ceeded him in the year 1194. In the year 1201, 
 John of Salerno, a cardinal and legate from Pope 
 Innocent III., held a council at Perth, at which 
 canons were appointed. In the same year the legate 
 went to Ireland, accompanied by Ralph the abbot of 
 Melrose, who made him bishop of Down. The legate 
 Scotia oem g hospitably entertained at Melrose, remained 
 there more than fifty nights, but left the monastery 
 without settling a dispute that had taken place betwixt 
 Milne's His. the monks of Melrose and Kelso. In the year 1268, 
 the abbot and a number of the monks of Melrose were 
 excommunicated, in a council held at Perth, for killing 
 a clergyman at the Stow, and wounding several other 
 persons, in a dispute respecting their marches. 
 Chron. William, the ninth abbot of Melrose, died in the year 
 
 Mail. J 
 
 1206. Matthew, abbot of Melrose, in the year 1256. 
 Patrick, another abbot of Melrose, in the year 1296. 
 Ford. William de Peebles was prior in the year 1322. 
 Robert Kildalach, formerly a monk and abbot of 
 Milne's Hi,. Dunfermline, and Chancellor of Scotland, was 
 likewise abbot of Melrose. John Fogo, another 
 
87 
 
 abbot, was confessor to King- James I. and much Spottis. p. 
 
 taken notice of for his learning ; he disputed with 
 
 great force against Friar Harding, and confuted 
 
 Paul Craw, the Bohemian. Andrew Hunter, abbot if 
 
 of this place, was confessor to King James II. and sir J. Scot s 
 
 Staggering 
 
 Lord High Treasurer in the year 1449. Michael State. 
 
 Balfour, Secretary to King James IV., was abbot of 
 
 Melrose in the year 1495. After him was Andrew 
 
 Durie, abbot about the year 1527; he was one of the The inden- 
 ture is in 
 
 witnesses to the agreement made at Ancrum, the Milne's 
 
 History of 
 
 16th of March, 1529, betwixt the Kers of Cessford Melrose 
 
 Parish, p. 
 
 and Kers of Fairniehirst, against the Scots of Buc- 51 * 
 cleugh, for killing Ker, the laird of Cessford, at the 
 battle of Melrose, which was the foundation of the 
 deadly feuds that took place betwixt the Kers and 
 Scots. Each of the parties bound themselves in this 
 agreement to go to the four pilgrimages of Scotland, 
 viz. Scone, Dundee, Paisley, and Melrose, for a 
 chaplain to say mass for the souls of those that were 
 slain at the battle of Melrose.* Another abbot of 
 
 * About a mile from Melrose, on the north side of 
 Dernick, adjoining the Tweed, is a place called the Skinner- 
 hill, but more likely the Skirmish-hill, from the battle that 
 was fought there, 18th July, 152G. The occasion of which 
 was, that King James V. frequently complaining to his 
 
Ridpath's 
 History. 
 
 Melrose is Fogo, about this same elate. There were 
 more abbots here of the name of Andrew and Hunter. 
 
 friends, particularly to the Earl of Lennox, of the restraint 
 he was under while he was in the Earl of Angus's hands, 
 Lennox advised him to employ the Laird of Buccleugh to 
 relieve him, (for he was a most powerful man upon the 
 borders), and had an inveterate hatred against the Earl 
 of Angus. Buccleugn being advised of this privately, en- 
 couraged the Borderers to commit great disorders, on 
 purpose to bring the King in person there to rectify 
 them. 
 
 The design took place ; and the King, to do justice, 
 accompanied by the Earls of Angus and Lennox, Lords 
 Hume, Fleming, and Erskine, with Cessford, Fairniehirst, 
 and others, came to Jedburgh. It was concerted that 
 Buccleugh, who dwelt within a few miles of Jedburgh, 
 should invite the King to his house, and retain him there 
 till more were come to his assistance ; but the plot failed, 
 and the King was brought back to Melrose, as Buchanan 
 expresses it. However Buccleugh resolved to prosecute 
 what he intended. He assembled about 1000 horse, of his 
 friends and dependants, and as the King was on his way 
 to pass the draw-bridge on Tweed, about half-a-mile from 
 the field of battle, they perceived a body of armed men 
 coming down Halidon hill. When they were come within 
 distance of discerning, they were known to be commanded 
 by the Laird of Buccleugh. Douglas observed to the 
 King. " Sir, Yon is Buccleugh, and thieves of Annan - 
 " dale with him, to unbeset your grace from the gate. I 
 " vow to God they shall either fight or flee, and ye shall 
 " tarry here on this know, and my brother George with you, 
 " with any other company you please, and I shall pass and 
 
89 
 
 Andrew, abbot of Melrose, in the year 1542, was 
 made bishop of Whithorn, and had one thousand 
 
 " put yon thieves off the ground, and red the gate unto 
 " your grace, or else die for it." Immediately a herald 
 was sent to know their intentions, and commanding them 
 to withdraw out of the way. Buccleugh's answer was : — 
 He came to do the King service, and to invite him to his 
 house. That he knew the King's mind as well as any of 
 his followers, and would not go away till he saw him, nor 
 obey any other but his Prince. (There is a stone erected at 
 a place called Kae-side, where Buccleugh rallied his forces, 
 to prepare themselves for combat.) When Douglas heard 
 the herald's answer, he presently alighted from his horse, 
 and gave orders for all the rest of the men to dismount, 
 and to prepare themselves to light on foot. The first 
 onset was given by Buccleugh and his men, with mighty 
 fury, and a great shout ; and the battle for a while was 
 very fierce, as being in the presence of the King, who was 
 a beholder, and was to be the rewarder of the victor. 
 Lords Hume, Cessford, and Fairniehirst, had taken leave 
 of the King to return home : but having seen Buccleugh 
 at a distance, they returned back for the security of the 
 King, they having 80 spearmen that set on afresh on the 
 wing of the Laird of Buccleugh and bore his forces down. 
 At last Buccleugh being wounded, his whole company 
 turned their backs and fled, and was pursued by the laird 
 of Fairniehirst and Cessford in a most furious manner ; 
 but while they were at the foot of a path the Laird of 
 Cessford was slain by the stroke of a spear, by an Elliot, 
 a servant to the Laird of Buccleugh. 
 
 There being a number killed upon the Angus side ; 
 and of the Buccleugh's fourscore and fourteen, who died 
 
90 
 
 merks annually from King James V., in order that 
 James Stuart, his natural son, might succeed him as 
 Milne's abbot. After him Cardinal dc Guise was named 
 
 History. 
 
 abbot by Mary of Lorrain, but he never took pos- 
 session. 
 
 for the defence of the King, and at the command of his 
 writing. 
 
 The King remained all that night at Melrose, and was 
 sorry that such an action had taken place. Next morning 
 he passed on for Edinburgh. 
 
MONKS OF MELROSE. 
 
 I understand, from Mr Hay's Scotia Sacra, that 
 there were one hundred monks in Melrose, exclusive 
 of the abbot and other dignitaries of the church. 
 Reginald of Roxburgh, a monk of Melrose, negoti- Ford > c - 1 9 - 
 ated a treaty for his master, King Alexander III., at 
 the court of Norway, in the year 1265. Another 
 monk was brother Reginald de Rehalle, in the 
 year 1291. The monks belonging to this abbey 
 wrote a chronicle, called the Mailrose Chroni- Milne's 
 
 History. 
 
 cle, of which there are several manuscript copies 
 both in Scotland and England ; it was begun in 735, 
 and continued down to the year 1270 ; it chiefly 
 treats of the affairs of the kingdom, and is a continua- 
 tion of Bede's History. A friend of Patrick Gor- Patrick 
 
 Gordon's 
 
 don, Esq. brought him a book of virgin parchment, ^ re ^ c ^ of t 
 very much torn, almost illegible, and in many places 
 wanting leaves, yet having the beginning, which 
 was written by a monk belonging to the abbey of 
 Melrose, called Peter Fenton, in the year of our 
 Lord 1369, a year before the death of King David 
 Bruce. It was in old rhyme, like to Chaucer. 
 
 Bruce's he- 
 roic verse. 
 
REVENUES OF THE ABBEY. 
 
 This famous abbey was endowed with large reve- 
 nues, and many immunities, as appears by the char- 
 ters granted to the abbot and convent by several of 
 our Kings : 
 
 " David I. by the grace of God King of the Scots, 
 to all bishops, abbots, counts, barons, and to all good 
 men and faithful allies of his kingdom in France, 
 England, and Scotland, safety : — Be it known to 
 you that I, for my soul, and for the souls of my 
 father and mother, and for the souls of Edgar and 
 my other brother, and for the souls of my sister and 
 wife Matilda, and likewise for the soul of Henry, my 
 son and heir, and for the souls of my ancestors and 
 successors, — Have granted and given to God, and to 
 St Mary of Melrose, and to the monks of Rievalle, 
 serving God at that place, and their successors, my 
 son and heir Henry confirming it by his charter for 
 a perpetual possession, the land of Melrose, and the 
 whole land of Eildon, and the whole land of Darnick, 
 divided by their proper bounds into level parts by 
 
meadows and watery pastures, and ploughed land, 
 into highways and footpaths, and other things of that 
 sort, free and delivered from all landed servitude 
 and exaction, to be possessed in a perpetual secular 
 tenor. Be it known to you, morevor, that I have 
 given to the aforesaid monks, and confirmed in this 
 my charter, all the fruits, and pasture, and timber in 
 my land, and in the forest of Selkirk, and of Tra- 
 quair, and between Gala and Leader water, besides 
 both the fishery of the Tweed, every where on their 
 side of the river as on mine. Besides all that has 
 been already mentioned, I have given and confirmed 
 to them in addition, the whole land and pasture of 
 Gattonside, which I myself, along with my son 
 Henry, and Richard, abbot of the same church, sur- 
 veyed on Friday morning, the ascension of our Lord, 
 and the second year of the capture of Stephen of 
 Boloign, King of England, taken prisoner, anno 
 dom. 1143. Present as witnesses of this transaction, 
 John, George, and William, grandsons of the King, 
 Hugo de Moreville, William de Somerville, Gerva- 
 sius Riddell, and Henry our son. I wish, therefore, 
 that they all may hold and possess the aforesaid lands, 
 and their appurtenances, with greater freedom and 
 
94 
 
 stability than any other tenor could he held and 
 possessed. Witnesses. Henry my son." &c. 
 
 CONFIRMATION OF COUNT HENRY TO THE 
 ABBEY OF MELROSE. 
 
 Henry, the son of David, by the grace of God 
 Kin? of Scotland, to all bishops, abbots, counts, 
 gentlemen, and all good men in France and England, 
 allies of the Scots, safety : — Be it known unto vou, 
 that I for my soul, and for the souls of my father and 
 mother, and of my uncle Edgar, sincerely," &c. in 
 the same words as the preceding. 
 
 Another charter, granted by King Malcom, is 
 much the same as that granted by David L : — 
 
 - Malcolm, by the grace of God King of the Scots, 
 &C. — That I have granted and given the whole of 
 my forest of Selkirk and Traquair, to cut timber and 
 fuel wherever they can find it most convenient for 
 the abbey ; besides the pasture of Gala nearest to it, 
 from the eastern part where the river runs to the 
 bounds of Tweeddale, and thence to the proper 
 
95 
 
 divisions of Richard de Moreville, that is to say, the 
 whole land of Gala to the Leader, to cut timber, 
 according as they shall see it necessary for them ; 
 and besides the fishery of the Tweed on my side as 
 well as on theirs, I have given also in the lower part 
 of Colmsly one place to build a cow-house for a 
 hundred cows, and a fold. And besides I have given 
 to them the fishery of Selkirk, and one of the nets 
 which I hold in a free and honourable tenor in 
 Berwickshire. All these tilings I give to the monks 
 of Melrose, and confirm by this my charter. I wish, 
 therefore," &c. 
 
 Another charter of confirmation was granted by 
 King William the Lyon, after his return from Eng- 
 land, which is much the same as the above. 
 
 There is another charter granted by Alexander 
 King of Scotland, " confirming the land between 
 Gala and Leader, and ordering no person to cut 
 timber or kill game without the special permission of 
 the abbot and monks, under the penalty of ten pounds 
 Scots." 
 
 Another charter of confirmation was granted by 
 
96 
 
 Alexander II. King of Scotland, — " That I have 
 granted to the church of St Mary of Melrose the 
 lands of Machline, and the pasture in the forest, and 
 the land towards the land of Douglas, and the fishery 
 of the river, and the land of Edmonstone, and twenty 
 acres of land of the Berwick tofts, and the land of 
 Eskdale, according to the divisions which are men- 
 tioned in the charter of Robert de Anenil, and of 
 Gervasius his heir. Likewise the whole land below 
 the feu of Hownam, and the donation which Count 
 Cospatrious made to the same monks of the land of 
 Hesteshowed and Spot, the donation which William 
 the Bruce made to them of fisheries near the church 
 of Queenpatrick, with one acre of land, and the pas- 
 ture of four cows and oxen, and other appurtenances 
 of the villa of Queenpatrick. Likewise two yokings 
 of land and two acres of meadow, with the pasture 
 for forty sheep, which the abbot of Kelso gave to 
 them on account of a peace established betwixt them. 
 Likewise that land which they have from Patrick dc 
 Riddle, in the district of Wilton ; and the donation 
 which Count Patrick made to them of the whole of 
 that arable land called the Sorrowless-field, situated 
 on the Leader water ; the whole of that lee land 
 which Richard of Lothian gave to them in September, 
 
as the charter of that said Richard doth testify. 
 Likewise that private charity which David Gilford, 
 and Walter, his son and heir, gave to the abbot of 
 Melrose, and to the aforesaid monks. I have granted 
 to them likewise the peaceful composition made 
 between the Count of Pan and of Dunbar, and the 
 aforesaid monks, upon the dispute which they had 
 concerning the pasture towards the western parts of 
 the Leader, as the writings which were then written 
 do testify. I have granted to them the private gift- 
 by Allan, the son of Walter, of the pasture that was 
 between them on the western part of Leader. 
 Wherefore I order that the said monks of Melrose 
 may possess all the aforesaid grants, free of servitude, 
 &c. William of Bosch, and others, witnesses." 
 
 A charter of Robert I. to the abbot of Melrose, — 
 " This charter speaks of the lands of Carrick, given 
 from the concessions of the Counts of Carrick, for a 
 pure and perpetual charity to the Abbot and Monks 
 of Melrose ; and likewise the land of Machline, for a 
 pure charity, to be free of all customs, imposts, or 
 any thing of that kind : and by the special order of 
 the King, that no person shall presume to vex, 
 oppress, or any way to harass either the religious 
 
98 
 
 men themselves, or their lands. As a testimony of 
 this transaction we have ordered these our letters to 
 be published at Abysbroth, the 10 th day of January, 
 and the twentieth year of our reign." 
 
 Another charter of Robert III. to the monastery 
 of Melrose, — " Robert, by the grace of God King of 
 Scotland, &c. — Be it know to you that we, by the 
 influence of divine grace, and for the safety of our 
 soul, and for those of all our ancestors and predeces- 
 sors of our kingdom, have deliberately given and 
 confirmed to God, and to the Virgin, and religious 
 men, abbot, and congregation of Melrose, present 
 and future, the whole entire custom of fifty sacks of 
 wool, and the whole custom of which David the 
 Bruce, the illustrious King of the Scots, gave and 
 granted to them by his charter, and which charter 
 our illustrious progenitor, Robert the Bruce, con- 
 firmed to be held for ever, viz. the whole custom of 
 fifty sacks of wool, as allotted to the same religious 
 men, without any reduction, and with all liberty to 
 the custom itself. The rest of the charter contains 
 regulations respecting the collection of the custom, 
 finishing in the usual stile : in testimony of this 
 transaction we have ordered our seal to bo appended 
 
99 
 
 to this charter. Witnesses, Walter J. Mather of St 
 Andrew's and Glasgow, bishops of the church, 
 Robert of Fife and Monteith, our dearest brother, 
 Archibald of Douglas, and James of Douglas, and 
 Daniel of Dalkeith, &c. Given at Edinburgh on the 
 5th day of the month of January, 1391 years, and 
 the second year of our reign." 
 
 There are five charters of Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, Alex. Nis- 
 
 bet's heral- 
 
 in the custody of Mr David Simpson, historiographer, dry. 
 who got them out of the Earl of Morton's charter 
 chest, all granted by Earl Patrick (who was married 
 to Ada, natural daughter of King William,) to 
 Melrose Abbey, confirmed with the consent of his 
 wife Ada, of the lands of Redpath, for prayers to be 
 said for their souls, and the souls of their predecessors, • 
 and for the health of King William, his Queen, and 
 their son Alexander. 
 
 There is likewise in a charter granted by Petries Nisbet'sr 
 
 .Herald. 
 
 de Hega, in the end of the reign of Alexander II. — 
 " Dominus de Bemerside, with the consent of his 
 son John, to the abbot and convent of Melrose, to 
 pay yearly ten salmon and half a stone of wax, for 
 prayers to be said for their souls. 
 
100 
 
 It is said, that in the year 1520 there were eighty 
 monks in the abbey; in 1540 there were seventy; 
 and in 1542 there were one hundred, sixty of whom 
 renounced Popery about the Reformation.* They 
 annually received sixty bolls of corn, three hundred 
 barrels of ale, and eighteen hogsheads of wine, for 
 the service of the mass. Likewise, for the entertain- 
 ment of strangers, thirty bolls of corn, forty hogsheads 
 of ale, twenty hogsheads of wine, £4000, for the care 
 of the sick, and £400 to the barber. Mr Hay, in his 
 
 Milne's Scotia Sacra, page 543, calls it the finest and richest 
 Hist. 
 
 monastery in Scotland. The following is well attest- 
 ed by historians to have been the rent received by 
 the monastery of Melrose, which was given up at 
 the commencement of the Reformation in the year 
 1561 : — £1758 in money, fourteen chalders nine 
 bolls of wheat, fifty-six chalders five bolls of barley, 
 seventy-eight chalders thirteen bolls and one firlot 
 of meal, forty-four chalders and ten bolls of oats, 
 eighty-four capons, six hundred and twenty poultry, 
 one hundred and five stone butter, eight chalders of 
 salt, (paid out of Prestonpans, ) three hundred and 
 
 * Daly ell's Fragments of Scottish History, p. 11, 28, 
 says, in the year 1542, there were 200 monks in Melrose. 
 
101 
 
 forty load of peats, and five hundred carriages. It 
 is said by Mr Keith in his collection, that eleven 
 monks and three portioners, who renounced Popery 
 at the Reformation, received each twenty merks, 
 four bolls of wheat, one chalder of barley, and two 
 chalders of meal. John Watson, the dean of the 
 chapter, also complied with the Reformation. 
 
 After the Reformation, the lands that belonged to Encyclo- 
 paedia 
 
 different Abbies were seized by the crown, or by Britan - 
 those subjects who possessed sufficient influence to 
 obtain a share for themselves. It appears by the 
 boundary charter of Newsteacl, granted after the 
 Reformation, that one Michael was commendator of 
 Melrose, anno dom. 1564. A grant was afterwards 
 made of Melrose Abbey, with all the lands and tithes 
 thereto belonging, by Queen Mary, to James Earl of 
 Bothwell and Duke of Orkney, whose estates were 
 forfeited for treason. James Douglas, second son of 
 William Douglas of Lochleven, afterwards Earl of i 
 Morton, was appointed commendator of Melrose. 
 Mr Milne, author of the Description of Melrose 
 Parish, was informed by the Earl of Morton, that 
 the original charters, &c. granted to the Abbey, 
 were in possession of his descendants. A grant of 
 
 G 
 
102 
 
 the abbey-lands was afterwards made to Sir John 
 Ramsay, for rescuing King James VI. from the 
 attempt made by the Earl of Gowry against his life. 
 When the abbey was erected into a temporal lord- 
 ship in favour of Ramsay, Viscount of Haddington, 
 a great part of the lands were given to others ; 
 Milne's Dumfidelling and Westerkirk were given to the Earl 
 
 History. 
 
 of Morton ; the baronies of Kylesmure and Barmure, 
 and the Kirk of Mauehline, to Lord Loudon ; Grange 
 and Grangemure, to Sir James Hay of Fingash ; 
 and the Kirk of Ochiltree, with the teinds of the 
 parish, to Lord Ochiltree. Sir Thomas Hamilton 
 w^as made Earl of Melrose, and had three roses for 
 his arms : which title he afterwards exchanged for 
 that of Haddington. The Hamilton family obtained 
 a grant from King James VI. of a number of kirk- 
 livings, which were annexed to the crown in the 
 
 &Ltt? D y ear 1606 > h ? which it lost one third of its rental ; 
 
 instate. taat family and its friends also received the lands of 
 Aberborthwick, Paisley, Manual, Bothwell, Had- 
 dington, Melrose, and Lesmahagoe. 
 
 A great part of the lands belonging to the monas- 
 tery of Melrose were likewise granted to Walter, 
 Earl of Buccleugh, the Earl of Wigton, Sir Gideon 
 
103 
 
 Murray of Elibank, William Douglas, Esq. of \/' 
 
 Cavers, and Sir Walter Scott of Thirlstane : but I 
 
 refer the reader to Milne's History of Melrose Parish^ 
 
 for a more particular account of the different families 
 
 who obtained lands belonging to the abbey, it being 
 
 foreign to my purpose to mention them in this place. 
 
 The abbey and land was lately purchased by the 
 
 Duchess of Buccleugh from the Earl of Haddington, 
 
 and is now in the possession of his Grace the Duke I 
 
 of Buccleugh and Queensberry. 
 
 I shall now give an account of the different 
 ministers that have been in Melrose parish since the 
 Reformation, anno dom. 1560. By an act of the 
 General Assembly, Mr Pont was the first minister 
 appointed to preach. The next minister appointed 
 was Mr John Knox, nephew of Mr Knox the re- 
 former, who continued to preach a considerable time, 
 and died anno dom. 1623, as appears by his grave- 
 stone. He was succeeded by Mr Thomas Forrester, 
 a poet, who was deposed by the Assembly at Glas- 
 gow, anno dom. 1638, for having declared that work Milne's His. 
 might be done on the Lord's-day, and for bringing 
 his corn out of the fields to his fearn-yard on that 
 day. He taught that preaching the word was not a 
 
104 
 
 necessary part of divine worship — that the reading 
 of the Liturgy was preferable to it — and that no 
 prayers ought to be used but such as are prescribed 
 by it. He was likewise charged with Popery, and 
 with publicly declaring, that the reformers had done 
 more harm to the Christian religion than had been 
 done by the Popes of Rome for ten ages. In his 
 Litany he prayed that the " Good Lord would de- 
 liver us from all the knock-down race of Knoxes." 
 He was succeeded by Mr Alexander Scott, anno 
 dom. 1640, who died the same year. Mr Scott was 
 succeeded by Mr David Fletcher, who died anno 
 dom. 1665. Mr Fletcher was succeeded by Mr 
 Alexander Bisset, who died anno dom. 1689. Mr 
 Bisset was succeeded by Mr Robert Wilson, anno 
 dom. 1690, who died anno dom. 1713. Mr Wilson 
 was succeeded by Mr Adam Milne, anno dom. 171 1, 
 who died June 8, 1747. Mr Milne was succeeded by 
 Mr Brown, who was succeeded by MrM'Claggan, who 
 died August 12, 1818, and succeeded by Mr Thomson, 
 our present minister. 
 
 The new church of Melrose is situated upon a 
 rising ground, about a quarter of a mile west from 
 the Abbey, and commands a very picturesque view: 
 
105 
 
 the foundation-stone was laid upon the 21st of March 
 1808, by James Pringle, Esq. of Torwoodlee, William 
 Riddel, Esq. of Linthill ; Charles Erskine, Esq. Mel- 
 rose ; and the Rev. Mr Thomson, the present minister, 
 who consecrated it by prayer, before a great number 
 of spectators. The building was finished in Sept- 
 ember 1810, and cost about £4000. The church 
 has a neat small spire, about one hundred feet in 
 height, and the interior being executed in a very 
 neat style, it may be considered one of the handsomest 
 in the south of Scotland. It is encircled by a wall, 
 having a light cast-metal rail upon it, and has a prin- 
 cipal south gate and two other gates. It contains 
 about fifteen hundred people, and measures in the 
 inside sixty-four feet in length, and forty-eight in 
 breadth. Mr John Smith, Darnick, was the architect. 
 
 The town of Melrose, anciently called Little 
 Fordel, is built in the form of a cross, with four 
 angles ; a cross is erected in the centre of it, about 
 twenty feet in height, having a flight of five steps, 
 and finishing with a long stone, upon the extreme 
 point of which are the remains of an unicorn, hold- 
 ing the royal arms of Scotland, and a mallet and 
 rose, with its date, 1642 : the % cross was erected by 
 
106 
 
 the Earl of Melrose or Haddington. The town had 
 formerly the privilege of a burgh of regality. A 
 weekly market is held in the town every Saturday, 
 and four fairs in the year, viz. one at Martinmas, 
 one at Lammas, one on the last Wednesday of May, 
 and another the Thursday before Easter, called 
 Skeir Thursday, or Schier, Pure Holy, which was 
 the great fair during the reign of Popery. There is 
 also a corporation of weavers in the place, established 
 by a charter from John Earl of Haddington, anno 
 dom. 1668, which they call the Seal of Cause, grant- 
 ing them certain privileges ; a deacon and box- 
 master are chosen annually at Michaelmas. A 
 Justice of Peace Court is held here on the first 
 Saturday of every month, but the principal court is 
 at Jedburgh, the county town, called the Sheriff- 
 Court. There is also a Lodge of Free-masons be- 
 longing to St John ; in the Lodge is an old picture 
 bearing the masons' coat of arms, with an inscription 
 of " In deo est omnes fides ;" below the arms is John 
 Morvo, first grand-master of St John's Lodge, 
 Melrose, anno dom. 1136. The members of the 
 Lodge walk in procession through the town annually 
 on the 27th of December, attended with music, and 
 decorated with the insignia of free-masonry. When 
 
107 
 
 a member first enters he pays a certain sum, and 
 afterwards subscribes to a fund for the support of 
 sick members belonging to the society. There is 
 likewise a Friendly Society here, which is governed 
 by a president, secretary, collector, and stewards. 
 Members, on entering into the society, pay a small 
 sum, and afterwards contribute one shilling per 
 quarter for the benefit of the fund. There is a 
 Gardener's Lodge, newly established, which is thriv- 
 ing very well ; they walk in procession annually, 
 decorated with all the profusion of Flora. The 
 poor belonging to the parish are well looked after 
 by the elders of the church, who represent their 
 case to the Session, who order a weekly allowance 
 from the funds of the church, according to the neces- 
 sity of the applicants. There are two libraries in the 
 town, called St Mary's, and the Parish Library ; a 
 branch of Ramsays, Bonar, & Co.'s Bank, Edinburgh; 
 a Post Office ; two Carriers, who go weekly to Edin- 
 burgh ; and a principal Inn for the accommodation 
 of gentlemen. The coach from Jedburgh to Edin- 
 burgh passes through the town. 
 
 The town of Melrose contains upwards of five 
 
108 
 
 hundred inhabitants, and the parish above three 
 thousand. 
 
 The Chain Bridge of Melrose, which crosses the 
 Tweed, and forms a communication to the village of 
 Gattonside, is a very handsome structure, and was 
 finished in 1826. It forms altogether a new and inter- 
 esting feature in the scenery of the vale of Melrose. 
 It is chiefly intended for foot passengers, although it is 
 also calculated to admit horses. The span, or distance, 
 between the centres of the suspension pillars is 300 
 feet, and the depth of the arch is 17 feet. The road- 
 way is feet wide, and at the centre is elevated 19 
 feet above the surface of the water in the river at its 
 lowest state, and fully eight feet above the level of 
 the highest flood. The roadway is of wood, and 
 rises three feet from the sides to the centre, in the 
 form of an arch, which harmonizes well with the 
 reverse curve of the chains hanging down from above. 
 The suspending pillars are of hewn stone, 38 feet in 
 height above low water ; and 24 feet above the road- 
 way. The circumference around the pillars, for 14 
 feet up, is 35 feet, which gradually tapers to their ex- 
 treme height, and finishes with a neat embattlement. 
 
109 
 
 There is gothic doors for the passage through each 
 of the pillars, 12 feet high, and U feet wide. 
 There are 4 suspending chains, two on each side, 
 consisting of bars 10 feet long, and If inches diameter, 
 joined by an eye, the one entering into the other, and 
 carried over the pillars, being secured into the ground 
 at each end of the bridge by heavy mason work. The 
 bridge is hung from these suspended chains by a 
 multiplicity of perpendicular rods, and the passage 
 along the bridge is secured by a light iron rail At 
 the south end is a house for a person to receive the 
 pontage. 
 
 The bridge is substantially finished, and does much 
 honour to the contractors, Messrs Redpath, Brown, 
 & Co. Edinburgh. 
 
 Adjacent to Melrose and neighbourhood, within 
 these few years there have been a number of gentle- 
 men's houses erected, viz : Harmony Hall, Robert 
 Waugh, Esq. ; Abbey Park, Captain Steadman ; 
 Prior Bank, Mrs General Goudie ; Gattonside 
 House, George Bainbridge, Esq. ; Allerslee, Dr 
 Brewster ; a castellated house, Ravenswood, Major 
 Scott ; Fryers Hall, &c. 
 
no 
 
 South from the town of Melrose is a place called 
 the Gallows Brae, formerly appropriated for the 
 execution of offenders, when the convent had laws 
 within itself. South-west from this, above the 
 village of Dingleton, there is a place called the 
 Locket- Well, which formerly supplied the Monastery 
 with water, and was conducted from thence by 
 leaden pipes. Above this spring are the Eildon 
 Hills, the summits of which afford a very interesting 
 view to travellers, as they command a prospect of 
 great part of Berwickshire, Northumberland, Teviot- 
 dale, and the Forest of Selkirk. These hills consist 
 of three conic mountains, and upon the top of the 
 one that lies north-east are the remains of a Roman 
 camp, fortified by two fosses around the hill ; the 
 General's quarters appear to have been at the top, 
 huts having been placed around it. The remains of 
 several other camps are also seen in the neighbour- 
 hood, connected with military roads. The top of the 
 west hill is 1330 feet above the level of the sea, and 
 is reported, by tradition, to have been formerly a 
 volcano ; which report was probably occasioned by 
 the stones that were found upon the top of the hill 
 being light, and the earth of a colour resembling 
 ashes ; but whether this has been the case or not, I 
 shall leave to the determination of others. 
 
Ill 
 
 On the nortli side of the middle hill, near the foot 
 of it, is a grove, called Bourjo, where the Druids 
 offered their sacrifices, and performed their supersti- 
 tious rites to Jupiter. 
 
 A little to the west of this, above Dingleton, upon 
 a rising ground, nigh to the centre hill, is a place 
 called the Haly-sing of St Waldave. The pilgrims 
 who came from the south had here the first view of 
 the abbey-church, and of the tomb of St Waldevus, 
 and bowed down and said their Ave-maries. 
 
 About a mile to the west of Melrose, on the south 
 of Tweed, is the village of Darnick. In the high 
 road from the Abbey to this place there has been 
 another cross, called the High Cross, where the pil- 
 grims said their pater-nosters, when they came by 
 the west. In this village there are two old towers, 
 belonging to the Fishers and Hytons, names of old 
 standing. There is a date upon the Hytons' tower 
 1569, and I. H. S. for Jesus, the Saviour of men. 
 
 A little to the south of Darnick was a place called 
 the tile-house, where they made their brick and tile 
 for the use of the Monastery, of which there are 
 
sometimes pieces of it found, highly glazed. East from 
 that again is a place called Chiefs-wood. It is a little 
 neat habitation, rather inclined to the romantic, a 
 burn passing the front of the house ; and higher up, 
 on its sloping wooded banks, is a place called Hunt- 
 lie-burn house. This spot is very neat, especially 
 the hanging gardens, which beautifully slop down on 
 each side of the burn, connected by wooden bridges, 
 and winding walks, the whole having a very fine 
 appearance. Farther up the burn or cleugh, it takes 
 the name of Huntlie Wood, or Rhymer's Glen. The 
 burn draws its resources from a beautiful sheet of 
 water, about two miles in circumference, called the 
 Caldshiels Loch. Standing upon the side of the 
 north hill, which immediately overlooks the loch, 
 you will perceive its channel to run for about twenty 
 feet into it, when it suddenly becomes black as pitch, 
 and unfathomable as the crater of a volcano. Upon 
 the south-east hill, adjoining to the loch, are the re- 
 mains of a large camp, called the Round-abouts,. 
 
 The renowned proprietor hath laid out this ground 
 into beautiful thriving plantations, and serpentine 
 walks, extending down to Abbotsford house, which 
 is about a mile to the north ; and is the summer resi- 
 
113 
 
 dence of the celebrated author, Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 
 It is a delightful situation, upon the slope of a hill, 
 the Tweed flowing by, also adorned with beautiful 
 thriving plantations. It is a baronial looking house, 
 inclining to the Gothic, with turrets upon it, and 
 finished with balustrades of stone. The interior is 
 fitted up in the Gothic style with a variety of gro- 
 tesque looking figures ; a collection of pictures, both 
 oi' romance and history ; a beautiful armoury, con- 
 taining made-up figures, equipt from head to foot in 
 their full dress of steel-mail ; a great collection of 
 ancient swords, some of them two-handed ; battle- 
 axes, sneck-bows, guns, pistols, and ancient curiosi- 
 ties too tedious to enumerate. 
 
 About a mile above Darnick to the west, on the 
 south side of the Tweed, stands Bridge-end, a place 
 noted for having a draw-bridge over the Tweed. (I 
 remember seeing the remains of one of the piers.) 
 There had been three pillars, and in the centre one 
 there had been a chain to draw up the bridge, and 
 a small house for those who kept the bridge and 
 received the custom. On this same pillar, Mr Milne 
 observes, were the arms of the Pringles of Galashiels. 
 
in 
 
 Mr Milne says, there has been a plain way from 
 this bridge through the muirs to Soutra-hill, called 
 Girthgate, for Soutra was an hospital, founded by 
 Malcolm IV. for the relief of pilgrims, and poor and 
 sickly people, and had the privilege of a sanctuary, as 
 girth signifieth. A little to the south from Bridge- 
 end, on the south side of the road to Selkirk, there 
 are the remains of a camp to be seen, called Castle- 
 stead. It is said that it extended a mile and a half m 
 circumference, and was supplied with water from 
 Tweed, and two wells near the camp, Whitehill well 
 and St John's well. 
 
 About two miles from Melrose, to the north-west, 
 on the property of Lord Somerville, is a place called 
 the Fairy Dean, or Nameless Dean, well worthy of a 
 visit from the curious ; which probably derived its 
 name from a production produced in the side of a 
 precipice or brae, being formed of various stones re- 
 sembling guns, butter-caps, cradles with children in 
 them, buttons, bonnets, and the like, (and said to be 
 the workmanship of the fairies.) These stones are 
 mostly found after great falls of rain, which wash 
 them into the rivulet below, and are no doubt the 
 
115 
 
 petrifactions of some mineral water. This rivulet is 
 called Ellwand or Allan Water; and by travelling 
 three miles to the north, following the course of the 
 water, are to be seen two ancient towers, Colmsly 
 and Hilslop, the latter bearing a date upon the door- 
 head 1585. It was inhabited by Hugh Cairncross, 
 the undoubted representer of this ancient family 
 since the death of Mr Alexander Cairncross, Arch- 
 bishop of Glasgow, and after the Revolution, Bishop 
 of Rapho in Ireland. Colmsly, within a short space 
 of the other, was the ancient seat of the Cairncrosses, 
 where their arms are to be seen on a modern house, 
 adjacent to the old tower, a stag's-head crest, and 
 the letters F. or Wi. and ffi. for Walter Cairncross, 
 who had been the erecter of them. I found, when 
 
 V 
 
 our Presbyterian church was within the Abbey, an * 
 
 old seat belonging to the Cairncrosses, with their 
 
 coat of arms upon it, viz. a shield with a stag's-head 
 
 dexter, a hunting horn sinister, and a sinister bend 
 
 betwixt the two, with three scollops in the bend, and Milne's 
 
 r Hist. 
 
 the date 1625. This family had a great interest in the 
 parish and other places. They lay claim to Robert 
 Cairncross, Bishop of Ross, treasurer and Abbot of 
 Holyroodhouse in King James V.th's time. At Hil- 
 slop there is a road called the Abbey-gate, pilgrims 
 
116 
 
 having continually travelled to and from Melrose, 
 because it was one of the four head pilgrimages of 
 Scotland. There has been a chapel upon Colmsly- 
 hillj the ruins of which are yet to be seen ; and it is 
 said that it had been dedicated to Columba, Abbot of 
 Hii. But it is as likely to have been one of the 
 resting places for the pilgrims, when they came from 
 Soutra hospital, to prepare themselves before they 
 took the journey for Melrose. 
 
 Opposite to Colmsly-towcr stand the ruins of 
 Langshaw, and a modern hunting house belonging to 
 Mr Baillie of Jerviswood, who is the proprietor of 
 the barony. The romance of the Monastery is sup- 
 posed to originate from Colmsly and Hilslop towers, 
 and the Fairie Dean to be the place where the white 
 woman appeared to Glendinning, &c. 
 
 Gattonside is a village opposite Melrose, on the 
 north side of the Tweed. There had been a fine 
 chapel in this place, all built of hewn-stone, near the 
 vicar* s-house. This person is called the name, be- 
 cause some of his predecessors feued the vicarage- 
 tithes of this town from the commendator, though 
 others say that they had a gift of them, before the 
 
117 
 
 Reformation, from Abbot Durie, one of that family Milne's 
 
 Hist. 
 
 having married his natural daughter. The people 
 here, in digging and ditching their yards, adjoining 
 to where the chapel stood, find several vaults, a great 
 many hewn-stones and leaden pipes, by which it 
 appears, that in the time of Popery they had been 
 buildings of consequence. On the south part of this 
 town was the Grange that Fordun mentions, which 
 at this time is called the Grange-gate. 
 
 To the west of Gattonside there is a place called 
 the Thythe-yard. Above this there was a fine 
 orchard belonging to the Abbey, consisting of above 
 five acres of ground. There is the cellary meadow, 
 belonging to the cellarist of the Convent; and on the 
 east side of the town is a meadow, called the Abbot's 
 Meadow. On the top of Gattonside-hill there has 
 been a large camp; it has a rampier around it of 
 stone about half a mile in compass. There is a plain 
 entry to it from the westward to the east. Near to 
 this camp there is a place called the Roundabouts, 
 owing to its circular figure. 
 
 About half-a-mile from this camp to the east, on 
 the head of the hill, there has been a large camp 
 
 H 
 
118 
 
 with a deep ditch, said to extend about three 
 quarters of a mile in circumference, called the 
 Chester-know. To the east of this is Drygrange, 
 about two miles from Melrose, being a granary to 
 receive the dry grain for the use of the Monastery. 
 In the reign of King James V. David Lithgow, of 
 Drygrange, received a charter from the Abbot and 
 Convent of Melrose to the lands of Drygrange, for 
 Milne's n ^ s special service in resisting, at the hazard of his 
 Hl * life, depredators and robbers of the dominions of 
 Melrose. It is to be observed, that the cellarer or 
 butler of the grain was a profitable office, they 
 having many lands assigned them, particularly at 
 Darnick, called yet the cellary-lands. Drygrange 
 is a very beautiful place, upon the banks of the 
 Tweed and the water of Leader. Formerly there 
 was a fly-boat that crossed the Tweed here, but the 
 bridge now stands in its place. It consists of three 
 arches, and the centre one is 105 feet in the span, 
 built by Mr Alexander Stevens, architect. 
 
 About two miles from Melrose by the south-east 
 is a little village called Eildon, where there was 
 another granary belonging to the Abbey. To the 
 west from this village, on the south-side of thr 
 
119 
 
 eastern Eildon hill, is Eildonhall House, pleasantly 
 situated on the sloping of the hill, and embosomed 
 among beautiful thriving plantations. The wells 
 about here have been much frequented as medicinal, 
 being a sovereign remedy against any leprous disorder. 
 
 At Melrose there are several consecrated wells, 
 such as St Robert's, St Helen's, and St Dunstan's, 
 which are made use of as a sovereign remedy for 
 different distempers. 
 
 The top of the Eildon Hills commands a view for 
 about thirty miles around. A person standing upon 
 the centre of the eastern hill sees to the north, for 
 the fore-ground, the town and splendid Abbey of 
 Melrose, together with its beautiful vale, and the 
 sloping hills descending gradually to the river Tweed, 
 which is seen sweeping from east to west through 
 the fertile valley of Melrose, forming semicircular 
 windings, but losing itself at certain distances, and 
 again appearing at the crescent of Dryburgh, and 
 miles beyond it, till it is entirely hid from the eye. 
 The village of Gattonside and hills next come in the 
 view ; beyond, to the east, is the peak of Blackhill, 
 and adjoining is Cowdenknows-hill, where originates 
 
120 
 
 that plaintive song, the broom of Cowdenknows. To 
 the north from here is the village of Earlston, the 
 birth place of Thomas the Rhymer. By the eye 
 following the course of the Leader Water, there 
 comes in view the house of Chapel, and the planta- 
 tions of Carolside, including the Soutra and the 
 distant Lammermuir Hills, which terminates the 
 northern view. To the north-east from the Eildon 
 Hills, is the village of Newstead, Drygrange-house, 
 and its beautiful plantations. Below, to the east, is 
 that romantic spot of Old Melrose and Gladswood, 
 that hath a charming effect, both by the colouring of 
 the rocks, and the diversification of its foliage. 
 
 To the north-west from the Eildon Hills is the 
 village of Darnick, Lord Somerville's pavilion house, 
 with its wooded banks, sloping into the water of 
 Allan ; and beyond is the hills of Colmsly and Hil- 
 slop ; west from this is Galashiels, that famous ma- 
 nufacturing town of broad-cloth, Torwoodlee-house 
 and dark-green plantations, the black caped hill above 
 Galashiels, the Magelt Hill, the Buckholm Hills 
 and Peebles-shire hills, finisheth the distant view. 
 
 Mostly to the west, below the western Eildon Hill 
 
121 
 
 is Halydeen, formerly the residence of the Dukes of 
 Roxburgh ; to the north-west from this come in view 
 Caldshiels Loch, and the hills adjoining Abbotsford, 
 together with the more distant black heathy moun- 
 tains of the Forest of Selkirkshire. Below the eastern 
 hill on the south, is Eildon-hall House and garden 
 for the fore part, beyond it is the village of Bowden, 
 the residence of Andrew Scott, the pastoral poet; 
 Bowden church, the vaulted funeral-place of the 
 Dukes of Roxburgh. Adjacent is Kippilaw-house, 
 Elliston, Cavers, Linthill, Riddle, and the village of 
 Lilliesleaf, all most charmingly laid out into cultiva- 
 ted fields, and diversified with rural scenery ; more 
 distant is Minto Hill, with its crags, the place of 
 security for the famous outlaw called Barnhills ; 
 beyond it is that picturesque hill called Ruberslaw, 
 which was a principal resort for the banditti called 
 moss-troopers. The town of Hawick lies to the west 
 from here, and the view is lost with the distant 
 Liddisdale and Cheviot mountains. South from 
 Eildon Hills is that spot of ground called Lilliards- 
 Edge, or Ancrum Muir, where a battle was fought 
 betwixt the Scots and English, A. D. 1545 ; adjoining 
 is a hill called Peniel-heugh, and a monument erected 
 upon it, in remembrance of the battle of Waterloo ; 
 
farther to the south is Dun yon Hill, and the town of 
 Jedburgh. The eye is now lost by the great chain 
 of mountains that divide Scotland and England, 
 called the Cheviot Hills. At the foot of the eastern 
 Eildon Hill are the villages of Eildon. Newton, and 
 Lesudden. The splendid scenery of Dryburgh next 
 strikes the eye. the Chain-bridge, the Temple of the 
 Muses, the colossal Statue of Wallace, the ruin- of 
 the Abbey, and picturesque scenery around, has a 
 noble effect. Adjoining is the ancient tower of Bi- 
 merside. and beyond is the romantic tower of Small- 
 holm, where that beautiful ballad originates,, called 
 The eve of St John." Farther distant to the east, 
 following the course of the Tweed, is to be seen the 
 distant scenery of Kelso and Roxburgh Castle. 
 North from Kelso is Hume Castle, where many a 
 heroic adventure took place. A governor of the 
 castle, when Oliver Cromwell sent him a summons 
 to surrender, answered. 
 
 •• That I "Willie Wastle. stand firm in ma castle. 
 •■ That a' the dogs o" his town, sail not drive Willie 
 •• Wastle down." 
 
 As far as the eye can reach to the east it is skirted 
 with small hills, and terminates the view about the 
 >-cenerv of Bprwirk. 
 
123 
 
 At the foot of Eildon Hills, above Melrose, is a 
 place called Huntlie-brae, where Thomas the Rhymer 
 and the Queen of Fairies frequently met, according 
 to tradition. A little to the east of this is the tryst- 
 ing-tree stone. 
 
 THE END, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 
 
 AND SOLD AT HIS HOUSE IN|MELROSE, 
 
 VIEWS OF MELROSE ABBEY. 
 
VEACOCK AND FAIRGRIEVE, PRINTERS, CROSS, EDINBURGH- 
 
 1323 297 
 
NORTHEAST 
 
 LIBRAPV dinO'Nc no INC. 
 
 sep » 
 
DA 890 .M5 B6 1827 
 Bower v John* 
 
 | ,, f the abbeys 01 
 
 ,°and Old Melrose, 
 Melrose <*" 
 
 Boston College 
 Libraries 
 
 Chestnut Hill, Mass. 02167