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Melrose (Am Maol Ros in Gaelic) is a small, historic town in the Scottish Borders. The town's name is derived from the Celtic mail-rhos, meaning a cropped meadow. It is in the Eildon committee area, and was in the former county of Roxburghshire.
King Arthur is supposedly buried in the Eildon Hills, which overlook the town. A few miles west of the town lies Abbotsford House, the home of novelist Sir Walter Scott.
Melrose is the birthplace of Rugby Sevens.
Derived
from the Tourist Board
Melrose and surrounding areaMelrose, birthplace of the game of rugby sevens and still very much a strong rugby playing town, lies in the tweed Valley at the foot of the distinctive triple peaks of the Eildon hills.
Melrose's ruined 12th century abbey, at one time probably the richest in Scotland, is the burial place of the casket believed to contain the heart of Robert the Bruce.
The abbey is also the starting point for St Cuthbert's Way, a 62-mile (100km) cross border walking route towards Lindisfarne, and the starting point for the Four Abbeys Cycle Routes. Maps for both are available from local Tourist Information Centres and our on-line shop.
Just along the road at St Boswells is Dryburgh Abbey, whose ruins are still remarkably complete. Look out for the final resting place of Field Marshall Earl Haig and Sir Walter Scott, as well as s 22-foot high sandstone statue of 'Braveheart' himself, William Wallace, at the end of a woodland walk. Abbotsford, three miles west of Melrose, was Sir Walter Scott's home for 20 years and is open seasonally to visitors.
Lauder, the main town in Lauderdale, is crossed by the A68, following the oldest established route between Edinburgh & England, a route which has witnessed the passage of many an army over the centuries. Today the Southern Upland Way, Britain‘s first coast to coast footpath passes through the town on its 212-mile journey.
Lauder preserves its original medieval form with a single main street widening into the market place, dominated by the old Tollbooth. Take time out to visit Thirlestane Castle with its renowned plasterwork ceilings from the Restoration period, its historic toy collection and its Border country life exhibitions.
Nearest Tourist Information Centres are in Melrose
Nearest Tourist Information Point located at Flat Cat Gallery, lauder
Information Service Tel: 0870 6080404
Email: bordersinfo@visitscotland.com
Derived
from the BBC
Factsheet
on the Origination of Melrose & Melrose Abbey
Melrose was the first Cistercian abbey in Scotland, founded in 1136 by
King David I. Three miles away from the present abbey, Old Melrose had
been a monastic settlement since the 7th centuary, founded by St Aedan
of Iona, the man who also fouded Lindisfarne. So the foundation of the
new abbey reflected continuity within Scotland’s monastic traditions
rather than a radical break.The Melrose monks, being Cistercians or white monks, were one of the new wave of reformed monastic orders, and were founded in 1098 AD at Cîteaux, near Dijon in Burgundy, by a group of Benedictine monks. They were observers of St Benedict’s Rule, and believed that it was being followed in too lax a manner. The Cistercians, who took their name from the Latin for Cîteaux - 'Cistercium' - opted to follow St Benedict’s rule strictly, refusing feudal revenues and reintroducing manual labour for their monks.
Effectively this gave the Order an unpaid work force, free of feudal customs. In medieval Europe this was a distinct competitive advantage and allowed them to develop their large estates without obstacles.
In the 12th century, around Melrose, they forged ahead implementing new farming techniques and marketing Melrose wool throughout the great trading ports across northern Europe. Their economic success and the attraction of their austere spirituality helped to spread the Cistercian Order throughout Christendom.
The Cistercian’s were very popular in Scotland. David I founded four of their houses in Scotland and eleven were established in all before their worldly success led to inevitable decline.
One of the most famous Cistercians was St Bernard of Clairvaux, who championed the growing cult of the Virgin and denounced monastic ‘liberals’ who undermined the mysteries of God. The church at Melrose was dedicated to the Virgin Mary on its completion in 1146.
In times of famine the Cistercians agricultural success was especially useful. According to the Scotichronicon, the Abbot of Melrose, Waltheof, step son of David I, miraculously fed 4,000 peasants who were camped around the abbey for three months during the famine of 1148, sparing nothing to aid the starving. For such acts Waltheof was revered as a saint and when he died was buried at Melrose.
A fragment of his tomb can still be seen at the site.
‘ On one occasion when the calamity of famine threatened, a vast crowd of destitute people reckoned to number four thousand gathered at Melrose, and erected huts and tents for themselves in the fields and woods around the monastery to a distance of two miles.’
Walter Bower's Scotichronicon - quoting from
Jocelin’s 'Life of
St Waltheof'
According to legend, Melrose has a stranger more demonic connection. The 13th century wizard Michael Scott is said to be buried there with his books magic. Through the power of prophecy he is said to have predicted his own death - by a small stone falling on his head. But his greatest work towers over Melrose: the Eildon Hills (pictured right), which he is said to have split into the three peaks we see today.
Due to its proximity to the border, Melrose frequently suffered at the hands of invading English armies. In 1322 Edward II desecrated and burnt the abbey. It was rebuilt and endowed by King Robert the Bruce in 1326 only to be destroyed again in 1385 when Richard II of England once more set the abbey ablaze.
On Robert the Bruce’s death, his heart was sent on crusade to the Holyland, accompanied by ‘Good Sir James Douglas'. Sir James, confronted by a huge army Moors whilst travelling through Spain with his crusaders, gallantly charged into battle, throwing the Bruce’s heart before him and shouting: 'Lead on brave heart, I'll follow thee.' The heart was disovered the next day amongst the slain bodies by another Scottish Knight, who brought it back to Abbey Melrose, where it was buried.
Recently, a lead vessel, thought to contain Bruce’s heart, was excavated and examined by archaeologists at Melrose, before it was reinterred (the picture, right, shows the old casket found at Melrose and the new one designed to hold the Bruce's heart). A marker in the Abbey shows where it was re-interred. Its inscription comes from John Barbour’s epic poem ‘The Bruce’ - 'A noble hart may have nane ease gif freedom failye.'
Twenty years before the Reformation there were 130 monks at Melrose, but when Henry VIII had the abbey torched and destroyed once again in 1544 it seems Melrose never recovered. By the Reformation in 1560 only 13 monks were pensioned off, with no doubt a few others taking up posts in the new Protestant church. The abbey ceased to function, and its carvings were smashed by a Protestant mob during the Scottish Civil War which followed the deposition of Mary Queen of Scots. Finally, much of the abbey was carted away by the local people looking for good quality building material.
Derived
from the Town Trial
The Mercat
Cross was traditionally a symbol of the trading rites of
Scottish market towns and villages. A law passed by King William I
(1165-1214) required that all goods for sale in burghs be presented at
the "mercat and mercat cross". Not only were crosses centres of trade and symbols of a town's trading status, they were also used as sites of proclamation and punishment of criminals, usually in the form of public humiliation.
The Mercat Cross of Melrose was originally the cross that had been at the entrance to the Abbey precinct at "The Bow". It had an associated piece of land nearby called "Corse Rig", the rent from which was used for maintenance purposes.
The shaft was replaced in 1988 and the metal staple which held the jougs (iron neck ring in which criminals were shackled) was fitted to the new shaft. The octagonal base dates from the mid 19th century, having replaced a set of five steps.
 |
The capital (which was
replaced in 1990) takes the form of a
unicorn, the heraldic supporter for the Scottish Royal Arms. A public well was located near the Cross but this is now covered over. A fresh water supply was carried to the Abbey precinct in a system of lead pipes from springs at nearby Dingleton. Bear left and head through the narrow street called East Port. Notice the sundial on the fishmonger's shop on the corner and the ceiling boss from the Abbey which is built into the wall above Pyrocanthus's shop opposite. As the footpaths are very narrow, you should take care at this particular point. |
This suspension footbridge crosses the River Tweed and gives access to the village of Gattonside on the north of the river, where in 1545 the Earl of Hertford may have set up his cannon to bombard the Abbey. The bridge was opened formally on 26th October 1826. There was also a ford river crossing just down stream for horse drawn vehicles. The paving of the ford was broken only in the 20th century when sewage pipes were laid to Gattonside.
| Several conditions were
placed upon the use of the bridge, including
the constraint that no more than eight people should be on the bridge
at one time. It was also a statutory offence to make the bridge swing. Notices are still displayed at either end notifying those crossing of the various restrictions. |
 |
The house at the end of the bridge was at one time the toll house and was built at the same time as the bridge. Before the wooden porch was built, the door faced directly along the bridge and the toll man could see if anyone was crossing or how many people were on the bridge. Since payment had to be made to cross the bridge, the ford continued to be used for many years. There was a box of stilts at each end of the ford for people to use when crossing the river and even as late as 1929 the refuse cart made frequent ford crossings to and from Gattonside. Should you have time, it is well worth taking a walk into the village and looking back to Melrose. The view that the Earl of Hertford would have seen whilst directing the English bombardment of the Abbey would not have been too dissimilar.
"The Battery" is a set of earthen banks alongside the river, set slightly back from the water's edge. The monks built these to keep flood waters away from the Annay, the fields between the Abbey and the Tweed, where they grew a fair proportion of their food. Return along the path until you reach the cauld, then turn left towards the town centre.
Culture
Melrose Rugby Football Club, Scottish Borders
http://www.melrose.bordernet.co.uk/traders/rfc/
Melrose Rugby Sevens (7s), Scotland
http://www.melrose7s.com/
Melrose Town Trail
http://www.melrose.bordernet.co.uk/trail/
History
GENUKI: Melrose
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/ROX/Melrose/
History of Melrose Rugby Football Club, Scotland
http://www.melroserugby.bordernet.co.uk/info/history.html
Travel Information
The Scottish Borders Tourist Board ~ Melrose and surrounding area
http://www.scot-borders.co.uk/About/Melrose.htm
Melrose Abbey Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/melrose/melroseabbey/index.html
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See also:
Melrose 2