The Tweed has to be one of the most beautiful rivers in Scotland, weaving through the rolling hills of the Border Country as it makes its inevitable way to the North Sea at Berwick. It is a landscape famed for its fishing, textiles, rugby and a colourful history of Border Reivers and monastic settlement. The stretch of river from Caddonfoot to St Boswells, including the towns of Galashiels and Melrose will forever be linked with one of Scotland’s greatest literary geniuses – Sir Walter Scott; and this is Scott’s Country.
Scott was born in Edinburgh in 1771, and lived there for most of his formative years; however, he was a frequent visitor to relatives in his family’s homeland of the Scottish Borders. It was here he heard tales of heroes and villains; of romantic figures and battles a plenty – and his fast mind lapped it all up. Scott was a child prodigy, entering university at the age of 12; and entertaining luminaries such as Robert Burns while still a teenager. Throughout his adult life he cultivated his passion for history and romance, crafting numerous stories, poems and novels in the genre; he was instrumental in reinventing perceptions of the Highlands; and he masterminded the visit to Edinburgh of King George IV in 1822. This was a choreographed piece of tartan theatre that has yet to be rivalled. It was all part of the world that Scott was creating; and the public loved it. He became the first truly internationally famous writer in the English language; Scotland’s first superstar.
He travelled widely; got himself into financial difficulties more than once and wrote his way out of them; was a lawyer and an historian (beyond just a Scottish theme – he wrote a biography of Napoleon for example); and he begat a legacy and image of Scotland that has endured, especially to overseas visitors. Yet, for all that, Scott was a borders man and it was here that he would spend the latter years of his life: writing right up until the end in 1832.
A few miles north of Selkirk the Ettrick Water joins the Tweed close to Abbotsford House; a palatial mansion that Scott built for himself in the heart of the country he loved so dearly. He bought the farm of Cartleyhole in 1811 and set about rebuilding and reworking the entire estate. The house was finished in 1824, and the interior is pretty much as it was in Scott’s day – making it possibly the best preserved Georgian house in Scotland. The paintings and furniture inside are exquisite, and outside the gardens are quite incredible. Named for the ancient crossing of the Tweed taken by the monks at nearby Melrose Abbey, Abbotsford is open to the public and one of the must see houses of the Borders.
Abbotsford House
The nearest town to Abbotsford is Galashiels; the largest settlement in the area. In the area to the west of ‘Gala’, as it’s known locally, are the remnants of Iron-Age earthworks and forts, especially at Torwoodlee; and it’s a reminder of the links the whole area has to the time period. More recently, Galashiels was home to a thriving textile industry, which like most of the order border towns has gone by the wayside (although Herriot Watt University’s School of Textiles is based here). The border hills have long been famed for their sheep, and the fast flowing Gala Water gave the mills the power they needed. You can still see the old factories here and there is a small museum charting the town’s history at Old Gala house.
A couple of miles down the river is Melrose; Galashiels’ symbiotic twin. Apart from a love of rugby (it was here the famous ‘Sevens’ game was invented) there is little in common between the towns, and to visitors they are chalk and cheese. Where Galashiels is post-industrial and very much a commercial-service town; Melrose has charm and a sense of history about it; and thus more popular. The narrow streets and wide square are typical of a quaint Borders market town, and the old abbey is one of the best examples in Scotland (albeit that it’s ruined). Old Melrose was actually a couple of miles away in a loop of the Tweed, and it was here in the 7th century the venerable St Cuthbert lived and prayed before taking charge of Lindisfarne and Durham.
The remnants of Melrose Abbey, which was founded in 1136 and run by the Cistercian order, are to be found just beyond the main car park; but, if you continue along the road you come to a very pleasant spot on the river with an old footbridge – if picnics are your thing this is the place. The abbey is worth the visit, but it begs the question: why are there so many in this area? Well, if the king couldn’t trust his nobles to fight for him (border lords were unreliable), then better get the church onside by building and financing a load of monasteries. Most important centres in the borders have an abbey for this reason. Religion may however have played a role here going back to the prehistoric.
The Eildon Hills, the ‘Hills of the Elves’ have since time-immemorial been sacred hills – fawned over by our Neolithic ancestors, and worshiped by our Celtic forefathers. A set of prominent volcanic peaks long since extinct, they have a peculiar conical shape which probably explains the fascination since the Stone Age. Local legend tells that they are the final resting place of Thomas the Rhymer, a 13th century poet turned prophet; who received his gift of second sight from the fairy people residing in the hills. In the Bronze Age there was a sizeable settlement on the top of the peaks, perhaps the largest hill-settlement in Scotland at the time; but, by the time the Romans arrived in the 1st century AD it was pretty much abandoned. The Romans built a signalling station on one of the peaks guarding Dere Street – their long road north from Eboracum (York).
In AD80 the Romans entered what is now southern Scotland, and set up their principal base at the foot of the Eildons on a small rise above the Tweed. The fort was called Trimontium (and may mean ‘three hills’). The local population belonged to the Votadini (Gododdin) people, a Celtic tribe that had their ‘capital’ at Traprain near Haddington; and once the Romans had consolidated their British conquests with the building of Hadrian’s Wall in the 2nd century the Votadini served as a friendly buffer state, and it is likely that Trimontium was used as a sort of embassy and trading post. The remains of the fort are to the east of Melrose at Newstead, and there is an interpretation centre that is open to the public.
Across the river from Newstead is the hidden village of Dryburgh, and ruins of Dryburgh Abbey, where Scott was finally buried – his tomb is next to that of Field Marshall the Earl Haig; who was born in Edinburgh and led the British forces in the First World War. Like Melrose, Dryburgh is also ruined having fallen into disuse following the Reformation in 1560. Today it’s in the care of Historic Scotland, and pretty easy to visit as long as you have a car.
Scott's View and the Eildon Hills
If you are planning a trip down to the area (about a 40 minute journey from Edinburgh), I would advise taking the back road from Earlston to Dryburgh and stopping at the beautiful ‘Scott’s View’; and its spectacular panorama over the Tweed and Eildons. It was said that Scott often stopped here while riding, and when his funeral cortege was heading to Dryburgh his faithful horse stopped one last time.
The Scottish Borders have a lot to offer visitors, and can in places be quieter and more charming than parts of the Highlands; and this little corner of the Tweed valley is one of the jewels in the borderland crown.
This article was written by David McNicoll who runs Vacation Scotland, a Tour company that specialises in Scottish travel and vacation packages – including to the Borders. For more information please visit their website – www.vacationscotland.biz
February 2, 2012
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