Melrose

a village in Scotland situated on the Tweed, twenty-nine miles southeast of Edinburgh. Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, lies three miles to the northward. The village is celebrated for the ruins of Melrose Abbey. They are considered the finest in Scotland. For a brief but telling description, the reader is referred to Scott's famous lines in The Lay of the Last Minstrel, beginning.

If thou would'st view fair Melrose aright, Go visit it by the pale moonlight.

The Abbey was founded by King David I, 1136. The body of the church was 258 feet long and 137 feet wide. The general style is ornate Gothic. It is built of sandstone. See Abbotsford