Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

MELROSE
jnst mentioned it is noticed as a separate charge, and
that state of matters continued. The earliest mini-
ster was John Knox, whose tombstone still remains
in the abbey churchyard, and who was a nephew and
namesake of the great Reformer. He died in 1623, and,
under the modified Episcopacy of the time, was succeeded
by Thomas Forrester, a poet, who was bold enough to
introduce into the litany the special prayer, ' From all
the knock-down race of Knoxes, good Lord, deliver us.'
Besides this he also declared that the Reformation had
done incalculable harm to Christianity; that the liturgy
was better than sermon; and that bringing corn in from
the fields on the Sabbath was a work of necessity — the
last of which propositions he practically exemplified.
For these and other delinquencies he was deposed by the
Glasgow Assembly of 1638.
The principal antiquities, besides those already men-
tioned and those noticed in the following article and
in the account of the Eildon Hills, are remains of
camps between Kittyfield and Leaderfoot; N of Kaeside,
near Abbotsford; and at Mars Lee Wood; and border
peels at Buckholm on the Gala, in the valley of the
Allan, and at Darnick. The principal mansions, most
of which are separately noticed, are Abbotsford, Allerly,
Chiefswood — once the residence of Lockhart, Scott's son-
in-law — Drygrange, Eildon Hall, Huntly-burn House —
once the residence of Scott's friends, the Fergussons.
and the name itself of Sir Walter's choosing — Gatton-
side House, Ladhope House, Langhaugh, Lowood,
Abbey Park, The Pavilion, The Priory, Prior Wood
formerly Prior Bank — once the residence of the well-
known Edinburgh publisher, Tait, the founder of Tail's
Magazine, which was established to oppose Blackwood's
Magazine — Ravenswood, Sunnyside, Threepwood, White-
lee, Wester Langlee, and Wooplaw. Besides the town
of Melrose, which is noticed in the following article, the
parish contains also the villages of Blainslie (NE),
Darnick (S), Gattonside (S), Newstead (SE), New-
town (extreme SE), and the hamlet of Eildon. There
are no industries, and the population of the parish is
mostly engaged in agriculture. In suitable spots there
are excellent orchards — legacies of the monks — some of
which are very productive, those in the Gattonside dis-
trict being said to produce more fruit than all the others
in the vale of Tweed. About J mile WSW of the town
of Melrose, on Bowden Moor, is the district lunatic
asylum for the counties of Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Ber-
wick, which with its grounds covers a space of 35 acres.
The buildings occupy three sides of a rectangle; the prin-
cipal front to the SW being 377 feet long, and the wings
each 148 feet. They are mostly two storeys in height,
and two towers are 100 feet high. The asylum was
erected in 1870-72, after designs by Messrs Brown &
Wardrop of Edinburgh, at a cost, inclusive of site, of
£57,000, and there is accommodation for about 246
patients. To the N of Darnick, and about 1 mile W of
the town of Melrose, is a rising-ground, called Skinners
or Skirmish Hill, the name being taken from the last
great battle among the Borderers proper in 1526. In
that year, James V. , tired of the dominion of the Doug-
lases, sent word privately to Seott of Buccleuch to come
to his rescue. This Scott did, but the forces of Angus,
Home, and the Kerrs proved too strong for him, and
his men fled. Pitscottie tells the story at length. The
place is now the site of the Waverley Hydropathic Estab-
lishment. Erected in 1871, and enlarged in 1876, this
is a fine edifice, with accommodation for 150 visitors.
Its dining and drawing rooms each are 84 feet long; and
there are also a news-room, library, two billiard-rooms,
etc., besides every variety of bath. The grounds, 40
acres in extent, are tastefully laid out; and the view
around is of singular beauty.
In common with the whole district, the parish suffered
severely from the ravages of the English during Hert-
ford's invasions in 1544-45, and at a later date Oliver
Cromwell gets the credit of having pounded the ruins
of the abbey from the heights above Gattonside. Besides
the churches in the town, which are noticed in the fol-
lowing article, there is a U.P. church at Newtown.
1150
MELROSE
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of Sel-
kirk and the synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and the
living is worth £296 a year. The following are the
schools under the Melrose School Board, with their ac-
commodation, average attendance, and Government
grant:— Blainslie, 103, about 80, £84; Gattonside, 86,
about 30, £27: Langshaw, 50, about 35, £38; Melrose,
365, about 330, £320; Newstead, 86, about 35, £30;
and Newtown St Boswell's, 156, about 140, £124.
Blainslie and Newtown St Boswell's have evening schools
attached. Pop. (1801) 2654, (1831) 4339, (1861) 7654,
(1871) 9432, (1881) 11,131, (1891) 4854; of the ecclesi-
astical parish (1891) 4366.— Ord. Sur., sh. 25, 1866.
The IT. P. Church has a presbytery of Melrose, which
holds its meetings in the town, and includes 3 churches
at Galashiels, 4 at Hawick, 2 at Selkirk, and those at
Earlston, Innerleithen, Lauder, Lilliesleaf, Melrose,
Newcastleton, Newtown, and Stow.
Melrose, a post town and burgh of barony, in the
southern section of the parish just described, between
the Tweed and the northern base of the Eildon Hills.
The station, a spacious and handsome erection, on the
Waverley section of the North British railway system,
is 3| miles ESE of Galashiels, 15J N by E of Hawick,
and 37J SE by S of Edinburgh. By road the place is
7 miles NE by N of Selkirk, 11 NW of Jedburgh, and
35 SE by S of Edinburgh. The situation and surround-
ings are very beautiful. Looked at from about the town,
the heights that border the Tweed seem to close in at
either end, so that the place nestles in the long hill-girt
hollow known as the Vale of Melrose. The town, which
dates from very ancient times, was originally a small
village called Fordel, and the present name was trans-
ferred to it from Old Melrose at or shortly after the
foundation of the abbey in 1136. It shared largely and
constantly in the fortunes of the monks. During Hert-
ford's invasion, in 1544-45, it was twice plundered and
destroyed; and though, after the Reformation it struggled
on for a time as the seat of a small trade, it ultimately
fell into poverty and decay, a state of matters that lasted
well into the 19th century. Then the revival of the
taste for Gothic architecture brought the ruins of the
abbey into prominence, and this, and the associations
of the district with Sir Walter Scott, made it a tourist
centre. The tourists were followed by people of inde-
pendent means, who were led by the beauty and amenity
of the neighbourhood to take up here their occasional
or permanent residence, and all these causes combined
have given Melrose a fresh start in prosperity. The
town proper, which is the Eennaquhair of the Allot
and the Monastery, consists of three streets, branching
off from the corners of an open triangular space, known
as the market place, close to the station. The street
leading northward to Gattonside, and that passing
southward by Dingleton, are both narrow and old, but
High Street, which leads north-westwards towards Gala-
shiels, has been widened and improved as new buildings
have replaced old. The suburbs are principally lines
and groups of villas, extending about a mile westward
from the end of High Street, by Weirhill and High
Cross. Many of the older houses of the town show,
amid the general plainness of their walls, stones whose
carvings prove that they have come from the ruins of
the abbey, at a time when its walls were deemed of so
little importance as to be practically a quarry for who-
soever chose. In the centre of the market place, sup-
ported by five courses of steps, stands the market cross,
bearing the date of 1642, and surmounted by the unicorn
of the Scottish arms with mallet and rose. It seems to
have replaced an older cross of some sanctity, which was
destroyed in 1604. A patch of land, called ' the Corse
Rig, ' in a field near the town, is held by the proprietor
on the condition of his keeping the cross in repair.
Another cross, which anciently stood on a spot about
i mile to the W, bore the name of the High Cross, which
it has bequeathed to the modern suburb around its site.
The so-called jail has long ceased to be used for that
purpose, and the lower part is now a store for the victual
feu-duties payable by the Duke of Buccleuch's vassals,