Melrose Abbey

“ The fine old ruin of Melrose Abbey now came into view, half surrounded by a dirty little Scotch village. Here I{107} abandoned the coach until to-morrow, secured a gig, and was soon on my way to Abbotsford.... I walked back from Abbotsford, noticing more particularly the beauty of the valley, and the fine Eildon Hills which rise behind Melrose, from whose summit, it is said, a very beautiful prospect may be obtained. I then spent the remainder of the afternoon about Melrose Abbey, the most beautiful ruin I have ever seen or expect to see ”

“ Melrose—“the light of the land, the abode of saints, the grave of monarchs”—is a glorious fragment, more beautiful, perhaps, in detail than in general effect, in ornament than in design; and memorable even more for its legendary and literary associations than for its actual history. The monastery dates from the same abbey-building reign as its rivals on Tweedside; but architecturally the church belongs to another horizon. Of the original Norman fabric that stood on the site 38 scarcely a trace remains. ”

“ MELROSE ABBEY.
Viewed by day, Melrose is surely fair; fair enough to enchant mortal vision. It is the loveliest ruin in the land where reform has meant ruin, and where from Kelso to Elgin, shattered fanes of the faith proclaim how variable is the mind of man through the generations, and how hostile when it forsakes. ”

“ We got about half way up, when there came into our faces one of those sudden, passionate puffs of mist and rain which Scotch clouds seem to have the faculty of getting up at a minute's notice. Whish! came the wind in our faces, like the rustling of a whole army of spirits down the staircase; whereat we all tumbled back promiscuously on to each other, and concluded we would not go up. In fact we had done the thing, and so we went home; and I dreamed of arches, and corbels, and gargoyles all night. And so, farewell to Melrose Abbey. ”

“ The charming simplicity and loving service of the cloister life, in the days of its unbroken vows, appeal to such defenders of the monks with singular potency.
Truly, the fair-minded should attempt to appreciate the sorrow, the indignation and the love of these friends of a ruined institution. Passionless logic will never enable one to do justice to the sentiments of those who cannot restrain their tears as they stand uncovered before the majestic remains of a Melrose Abbey, or properly to estimate the motives and methods of those who laid the mighty monastic institution in the dust. ”

“ But who can read his writings without a regret, that he should have so woven fact and fiction together, that it is almost impossible to discriminate between the one and the other.
We arrived at Melrose in the evening, and proceeded to the chapel where our meeting was to be held, and where our friends, the Crafts, were warmly greeted. On returning from the meeting, we passed close by the ruins of Melrose, and, very fortunately, it was a moonlight night. There is considerable difference of opinion among the inhabitants of the place as regards the best time to view the Abbey. ”

“ It takes several days of study for an observant traveller that has a relish for auld world trumpery. After breakfast you shall make your visit to Melrose Abbey; I shall not be able to accompany you, as I have some household affairs to attend to, but I will put you in charge of my son Charles, who is very learned in all things touching the old ruin and the neighborhood it stands in, and he and my friend Johnny Bower will tell you the whole truth about it, with a good deal more that you are not called upon to believe—unless you be a true and nothing-doubting antiquary. ”

“ Were it possible to transplant the Abbey together with its rich associations to the site of the original foundation by the beautiful bend at Bemersyde, Melrose would sit enthroned peerless among the shrines of our northern land. Within Melrose Abbey, near to the High Altar, the Bruce's heart rests well—its fitful flutterings o'er. Here, too, lie the brave Earl [Pg 90] Douglas, hero of Chevy Chase; Liddesdale's dark Knight—another Douglas; Evers and Latoun, the English commanders at Ancrum Moor, that ran so deadly red with the blood of their countrymen ”

“ The site of Melrose, like all monastic ones, is fine. The abbey stands on a broad level near the Tweed, but is surrounded by hills and fields full of beauty, and peopled with a thousand beings of romance, tradition, and poetry. South of the village rise the three peaks of the Eildon hill, bearing aloft the fame of Michael Scott and Thomas the Rhymer. On the banks of the Tweed, opposite to Melrose, lies Gattonside, buried in its gardens and orchards, and still retaining its faith in many a story of the supernatural ”

“ Melrose Abbey was especially the recipient of the royal bounty, and during the fourteenth century was, doubtless, in great measure rebuilt. It still retains much of the decorated work of that period, and is amongst our finest examples{56}
Fig. 24.—York Cathedral. West Front. (From Britton’s Cathedrals.)
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of the style. Dryburgh Abbey and Crosraguel Abbey were also encouraged in their works of restoration by King Robert, and still show partial specimens of middle pointed architecture. Glasgow Cathedral also still preserves, almost unimpaired, its fine nave of the fourteenth century. ”

“ Passing through an apple-orchard, we were not long in reaching the Abbey, the ruins of which are much more extensive and more picturesque than those of Melrose, being overrun with bushes and shrubbery, and twined about with ivy, and all such vegetation as belongs, naturally, to old walls. There are the remains of the refectory, and other domestic parts of the Abbey, as well as the church, and all in delightful state of decay,—not so far gone but that we had bits of its former grandeur in the columns and broken arches, and in some portions of the edifice that still retain a roof. ”

“ It was here that the first Scottish representative Parliament ever called together met by the order of Robert Bruce in 1324. The abbey was of the order of St Augustine, dedicated to the Virgin, and was founded by David I. in 1147 as St Mary’s of Stirling. This same king, the founder of Melrose Abbey, endowed the abbey with land and extensive property. In 1201 its name was changed to St Mary’s of Cambuskenneth, a battle having been fought on its site by King Kenneth against the Picts. ”

“ Soon after the Scottish reformation took place and the abbey was never again rebuilt. After the reformation, one James Douglass, commendator, took down a good share of the ruin to build a house. His example was quickly followed by others, and for some time the people of Melrose used the venerable ruins for a quarry, and it is said there is not an old house in Melrose but has a stone from the abbey in its walls. ”

“ Late in the evening of August 29, 1817, I arrived at the ancient little border town of Selkirk, where I put up for the night. I had come down from Edinburgh, partly to visit Melrose Abbey and its vicinity, but chiefly to get sight of the "mighty minstrel of the north." I had a letter of introduction to him from Thomas Campbell, the poet, and had reason to think, from the interest he had taken in some of my earlier scribblings, that a visit from me would not be deemed an intrusion. ”

“ It was decided that Melrose abbey should bear the cost of its transport to the town of Sluys and embarkation there for Scotland, and should make some allowance to Cornelius towards his journey to Melrose; and that they should give him and his chief carver (formiscissori) a safe-conduct for their journey and return. This document was dated 7th October, 1441. [33] {69}
Windsor
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No such wholesale example of foreign design occurs in England; nevertheless there are two important instances in which Flemish design is to be suspected; viz., in the Royal chapels at Windsor and Westminster. ”

“ The carving on capital and corbel, on boss and buttress, has an elaborate yet dainty beauty such as is seldom met with on either side of the Tweed, and must of a truth be the work of hands that were made cunning by love of art and patient by a sense of pious duty.
The first Abbey of Melrose, built of oak and thatched with reeds, occupied a nearly insulated site two miles down the river, where the village of Old Melrose now stands. It was a “Chaldee” foundation, as Mrs. Dods would say—was founded by Aidan of Lindisfarne, was the home of the St. ”

“ The humble church, which in course of time was built there to guard the sacred remains, preceded the present magnificent cathedral of Durham “half church of God, half citadel, ‘gainst the Scots.” In the meantime the settlement of Melrose had prospered, but in 839 was burnt down by Kenneth MacAlpine and remained a desolate ruin for nearly two centuries. Good King David I. “that sair saunt for the crown,” then founded the abbey, in which for several centuries the Cistercian monks laboured—cultivating the land and instituting law and order amongst the country folk of the district. ”

“ The monks of Lindisfarne, when expelled by the Danes, took refuge at Melrose, and brought with them St. Cuthbert's body, which afterwards found its resting-place at Durham. In the eleventh century this old monastery of Melrose had become a ruined and desolate place. It afterwards became the retreat of a few monks, amongst whom was the celebrated Turgot, the confessor of Queen Margaret. A chapel was erected and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, which at first belonged to Coldingham, but was gifted finally by David I. to the new abbey of Melrose. ”

“ Melrose, or Kennaquhair, is only about two miles away. This little village is as ancient as the abbey from which it takes its name, and {256} that splendid ruin dates from 1136, when the pious Scottish king, known as St. David, founded the monastery and granted extensive lands to the Cistercian Order of Monks for its maintenance. The village has followed the fortunes of the abbey—prospering when the monks prospered, and suffering the blight of war whenever the English kings descended upon it. Its present prosperity, so far as it has any, is the gift of Sir Walter Scott. ”

“ At Whithorn Priory and Glenluce Abbey, which are within John Morow’s province, some work is pointed out which might be of his date; but as it is somewhat poor in character, that “Mediæval Architect” is presumed to have been busy elsewhere, and to have left the job to inferior hands.
It is admitted by Mr. Chalmers that the work at Melrose Abbey must have, undoubtedly, extended over more than half a century, and would, in all likelihood, exceed the compass of one man’s lifetime. But as there are two inscriptions at Melrose to “John Morow,” or Morvo, Mr. ”

“ Every thing was arranged with the greatest consideration. I saw many interesting people, and was delighted with the strong, religious interest in the cause of liberty, pervading all hearts. Truly it may be said, that Wilberforce and Clarkson lighted a candle which will never go out in England.
Monday we spent in a delightful visit to Fountains Abbey; less rich in carvings than Melrose, but wider in extent, and of a peculiar architectural beauty. We lunched in what was the side gallery of the refectory, where some drowsy old brother used to read the lives of saints to the monks eating below. ”

“ Mary’s Abbey, Howth, is a great ruined, roofless structure, which, in spite of its decrepitude, tells a story of great and appealing interest to the student of architecture. Its foundation by Luke, Archbishop of Dublin, dates from 1234, and it is one of those picturesque ruins which, while by no means so grand, will rank in the memory with Melrose and Muckross. As a well-preserved ruin, it still exists and shows unmistakable evidences of having been inspired by some Burgundian or Lombard architect-builder. ”

“ Many Roman [pg 446] medals of Vespasian, Adrian, &c. have been found about it. I hardly know a more interesting place to visit than Melrose and its neighbourhood; while the abbey affords a fine moral lesson on the instability and perishableness of even the most magnificent works raised by human skill and industry.
"Here naked stand the melancholy walls,
Lash'd by the wint'ry tempests, cold and bleak,
That whistle mournful through the empty aisles,
And piece-meal crumble down the towers to dust,"
When viewed by moonlight, the solemnity and grandeur of the effect is charming. ”

“ In the accompanying engraving is represented the Abbey of Melrose amidst the beautiful scenery by which it is surrounded. It is the finest specimen of Gothic architecture in Scotland. The spire of the central tower has disappeared, but the tower itself, eighty-four feet in height, imparts dignity to the structure. The grand east window is of unparallelled beauty and elegance. Gothic pinnacles terminate the principal buttresses,'which, with the various windows, are decorated with admirably carved figures and niches richly sculptured. ”

“ There is no evidence of any abbey having ever existed on the site; but surrounded as the district is with Newstead and New and Old Melrose, the seats of ancient ecclesiastical establishments, the discovery of the brick foundations of extensive buildings would very naturally suggest the local name of the Red Abbey. It was in the immediate neighbourhood of this Roman site that one of those curious subterranean structures was discovered, which has been referred to in an earlier chapter. ”

“ The graveyard around the Abbey is still the only one which the village has, and is crowded with gravestones, among which I read the inscription of one erected by Sir Walter Scott to the memory of Thomas Pardy, one of his servants. Some sable birds—either rooks or jackdaws— were flitting about the ruins, inside and out.
Mr. Bowman and I talked about revisiting Melrose by moonlight; but, luckily, there was to be no moon that evening. I do not myself think that daylight and sunshine make a ruin less effective than twilight or moonshine. ”