Melrose

Melrose, a pleasant village on the Tweed in Roxburghshire, Scotland, 37 miles S.E. of Edinburgh. It is famous for the ruins of the Cistercian abbeychurch, built originally by David in the 11th century, but twice destroyed, the fragments remaining being those of the third church, which was erected between 1485 and 1530. It is a fine example of the Middle Pointed Gothic, with foreshadowings of the Flamboyant and Perpendicular styles. The heart of Bruce, with the bodies of Alexander II. and many Border celebrities, were buried here. Sir Walter Scott recorded the glories of the abbey in The Lay of the Last Minstrel, and Abbotsford, his country seat, is close to the town.