Melrose Guest Guide Book
Sightseeing
Melrose Rugby was founded in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880. In the early years, the club’s achievements were modest. Their first Border League success came in 1910-11 and the second in 1938-39. Since the Second World War Melrose has remained among Scotland’s leading clubs. The unofficial championship was won in 1951-52, 1962-63 and 1966-67 and the Border League won five times between the war and 1971.
League rugby was introduced to Scotland in 1973 at a difficult time for Melrose and in the early years of the competition, the club often struggled in the relegation area of the 1st Division. Twice they were relegated but on both occasions came straight back as Division 2 Champions. The 1980s saw steady improvement, with Melrose finishing third in 1987-88 and winning the championship in 1989-90. This victory was followed by the most consistently successful period in the club’s history with successful championship wins in 1992, 1993, 1995, and five times Border League Champions.
The inaugural Tennents Premiership was also won in 1996 following a points differential win over Stirling County, and again in 1997. In 1997 Melrose also won the SRU Tennants National Cup – the first team to win this trophy and the Border League Championship, as well as the Melrose Sevens Cup – all in all, the most successful season ever for the Club. Further success in recent years has seen:
9 Premiership wins,
4 Scottish Cup wins and
8 Kings of the Sevens titles.
Melrose has provided 30 internationalists. Kelly Brown is the most capped with 64 caps, followed by George (Doddie) Weir, who gained 61 caps. Other caps include Craig Chalmers (60 caps) and Jim Telfer, who had a tremendous influence over the club’s fortunes as a player and coach, and, until recently was coaching The Wasps our semi-junior team. Jim is also a former Director of Rugby for Scotland and the British Lions coach. With the advent of professional rugby, several former players have represented Scotland at both fifteens and sevens and Melrose has provided 19 Club Internationalists since this level of the game was introduced, with five in the starting line-up for season 2009-10.
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Melrose Rugby Football Club
High StreetMelrose Rugby was founded in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880. In the early years, the club’s achievements were modest. Their first Border League success came in 1910-11 and the second in 1938-39. Since the Second World War Melrose has remained among Scotland’s leading clubs. The unofficial championship was won in 1951-52, 1962-63 and 1966-67 and the Border League won five times between the war and 1971.
League rugby was introduced to Scotland in 1973 at a difficult time for Melrose and in the early years of the competition, the club often struggled in the relegation area of the 1st Division. Twice they were relegated but on both occasions came straight back as Division 2 Champions. The 1980s saw steady improvement, with Melrose finishing third in 1987-88 and winning the championship in 1989-90. This victory was followed by the most consistently successful period in the club’s history with successful championship wins in 1992, 1993, 1995, and five times Border League Champions.
The inaugural Tennents Premiership was also won in 1996 following a points differential win over Stirling County, and again in 1997. In 1997 Melrose also won the SRU Tennants National Cup – the first team to win this trophy and the Border League Championship, as well as the Melrose Sevens Cup – all in all, the most successful season ever for the Club. Further success in recent years has seen:
9 Premiership wins,
4 Scottish Cup wins and
8 Kings of the Sevens titles.
Melrose has provided 30 internationalists. Kelly Brown is the most capped with 64 caps, followed by George (Doddie) Weir, who gained 61 caps. Other caps include Craig Chalmers (60 caps) and Jim Telfer, who had a tremendous influence over the club’s fortunes as a player and coach, and, until recently was coaching The Wasps our semi-junior team. Jim is also a former Director of Rugby for Scotland and the British Lions coach. With the advent of professional rugby, several former players have represented Scotland at both fifteens and sevens and Melrose has provided 19 Club Internationalists since this level of the game was introduced, with five in the starting line-up for season 2009-10.
Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford is one of the most famous houses in the world.
Standing on the banks of the River Tweed, Abbotsford was Sir Walter Scott’s creation and, after his death in 1832, somewhere visited by millions. It was built on the proceeds of a phenomenally successful literary career, and Scott became determined to keep it in his family as he worked to pay off huge debts after near-bankruptcy in 1825. Abbotsford is an enduring monument to the tastes, talents and personal tragedies of its creator.
Scott was an obsessive collector of books, artefacts, weaponry and more, much of which can still be seen in the Abbotsford Collections. But his home was his most cherished possession, ‘the Delilah of his imagination’, his ‘Conundrum Castle’ and ‘flibbertigibbet of a house’ that would ‘suit none but an antiquary.’ Its architecture and interior design made it an iconic building of the 19th century Scottish Baronial style, and it remains a key site in the history of European Romanticism.
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Abbotsford The Home Of Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford is one of the most famous houses in the world.
Standing on the banks of the River Tweed, Abbotsford was Sir Walter Scott’s creation and, after his death in 1832, somewhere visited by millions. It was built on the proceeds of a phenomenally successful literary career, and Scott became determined to keep it in his family as he worked to pay off huge debts after near-bankruptcy in 1825. Abbotsford is an enduring monument to the tastes, talents and personal tragedies of its creator.
Scott was an obsessive collector of books, artefacts, weaponry and more, much of which can still be seen in the Abbotsford Collections. But his home was his most cherished possession, ‘the Delilah of his imagination’, his ‘Conundrum Castle’ and ‘flibbertigibbet of a house’ that would ‘suit none but an antiquary.’ Its architecture and interior design made it an iconic building of the 19th century Scottish Baronial style, and it remains a key site in the history of European Romanticism.
David I founded Melrose Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Scotland, in 1136. It was one of a number of abbeys that he set up in the Borders to show both his piety and his power over this contested territory.
The Cistercians were drawn to this fertile spot beside the River Tweed by its close associations with St Aidan and St Cuthbert. The monks came from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, the Cistercians’ great northern English missionary base.
Monastic life continued at Melrose for the next 450 years. The last monk, John Watson, died around 1590. The crumbling abbey church was used as a parish church until a new kirk was built nearby in 1810.
A focal point of the Borders
The great abbey church of St Mary the Virgin at Melrose loomed large in the lives of many people on both sides of the border.
Powerful people endowed the abbey richly and it was a highly desirable final resting place. Alexander II (died 1249) was among the privileged people to be buried here. The heart of Robert the Bruce (died 1329) was also buried at Melrose, although his body was interred at Dunfermline Abbey.
Melrose’s location put it on the front line of conflict with England during the later Middle Ages:
attacks by Edward I (1300 and 1307) and Edward II (1322) required major repairs
Richard II’s attack in 1385 led to a complete rebuilding of the abbey church
the War of the Rough Wooing in the 1540s caused further damage
Architecture of solitude
Only a very small part of the first abbey church survives. The present building of rose-coloured stone dates almost entirely to the post-1385 rebuilding. Yet Melrose is still considered one of the most magnificent examples of medieval church architecture anywhere in the British Isles.
Still remarkably intact are:
the presbytery at the east end, where the high altar once stood
the monks’ choir and transepts
part of the nave
Highlights of the interior include the ornate stone vaulting over the presbytery, the elegant piers and the window tracery (carved stone separating the glass).
The exterior is decorated with some of the most fascinating sculpture found on any medieval church building.
It depicts:
demons and hobgoblins
lute-playing angels
cooks with ladles
the famous bagpipe-playing pig
Everyday monastic life
Little remains standing of the two great cloisters that lay to the north and west of the abbey church, but their ground plans are largely complete. These provide a glimpse of monastic life.
Finds made here include everyday objects like:
cooking pots
portable urinals
floor tiles
There is also a precious fragment of the shrine of St Waltheof, the second abbot.
The various objects are displayed in the (restored) Commendator’s House, built in the late 1500s.
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Abadía de Melrose
Abbey StreetDavid I founded Melrose Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Scotland, in 1136. It was one of a number of abbeys that he set up in the Borders to show both his piety and his power over this contested territory.
The Cistercians were drawn to this fertile spot beside the River Tweed by its close associations with St Aidan and St Cuthbert. The monks came from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, the Cistercians’ great northern English missionary base.
Monastic life continued at Melrose for the next 450 years. The last monk, John Watson, died around 1590. The crumbling abbey church was used as a parish church until a new kirk was built nearby in 1810.
A focal point of the Borders
The great abbey church of St Mary the Virgin at Melrose loomed large in the lives of many people on both sides of the border.
Powerful people endowed the abbey richly and it was a highly desirable final resting place. Alexander II (died 1249) was among the privileged people to be buried here. The heart of Robert the Bruce (died 1329) was also buried at Melrose, although his body was interred at Dunfermline Abbey.
Melrose’s location put it on the front line of conflict with England during the later Middle Ages:
attacks by Edward I (1300 and 1307) and Edward II (1322) required major repairs
Richard II’s attack in 1385 led to a complete rebuilding of the abbey church
the War of the Rough Wooing in the 1540s caused further damage
Architecture of solitude
Only a very small part of the first abbey church survives. The present building of rose-coloured stone dates almost entirely to the post-1385 rebuilding. Yet Melrose is still considered one of the most magnificent examples of medieval church architecture anywhere in the British Isles.
Still remarkably intact are:
the presbytery at the east end, where the high altar once stood
the monks’ choir and transepts
part of the nave
Highlights of the interior include the ornate stone vaulting over the presbytery, the elegant piers and the window tracery (carved stone separating the glass).
The exterior is decorated with some of the most fascinating sculpture found on any medieval church building.
It depicts:
demons and hobgoblins
lute-playing angels
cooks with ladles
the famous bagpipe-playing pig
Everyday monastic life
Little remains standing of the two great cloisters that lay to the north and west of the abbey church, but their ground plans are largely complete. These provide a glimpse of monastic life.
Finds made here include everyday objects like:
cooking pots
portable urinals
floor tiles
There is also a precious fragment of the shrine of St Waltheof, the second abbot.
The various objects are displayed in the (restored) Commendator’s House, built in the late 1500s.
Situated in the historic town of Melrose in the heart of the Scottish Borders, Melrose Golf Club is a beautiful 9-hole golf course nestled at the foot of the Eildon Hills with scenic views of the surrounding countryside.
Established in 1880, our par-70 course has developed into a popular golf course with both members and visitors. Our tree-lined fairways, totalling 5,545 yards, offer a challenge for all golfing abilities.
Favourable comments received from the Stephen Gallacher Foundation in 2015 called the course “one of the hidden gems of Scottish golf .”
Melrose Golf Club
Dingleton RoadSituated in the historic town of Melrose in the heart of the Scottish Borders, Melrose Golf Club is a beautiful 9-hole golf course nestled at the foot of the Eildon Hills with scenic views of the surrounding countryside.
Established in 1880, our par-70 course has developed into a popular golf course with both members and visitors. Our tree-lined fairways, totalling 5,545 yards, offer a challenge for all golfing abilities.
Favourable comments received from the Stephen Gallacher Foundation in 2015 called the course “one of the hidden gems of Scottish golf .”
Eildon Hill lies just south of Melrose, Scotland in the Scottish Borders, overlooking the town. The name is usually pluralised into "the Eildons" or "Eildon Hills", because of its triple peak. The 422 metres high eminence overlooks Teviotdale to the South. The north hilltop is surrounded by over 5 km of ramparts, enclosing an area of about 16 ha in which at least 300 level platforms have been cut into the rock to provide bases for turf or timber-walled houses, forming one of the largest hill forts known in Scotland. A Roman army signalling station was later constructed on the same site as this hill fort. The mid hilltop is the highest, whilst the south hilltop is the lowest. The hills are owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, Scotland's largest private landowner. As with all land in Scotland the public have a right of responsible access to the hills, and there are many paths crossing the area and leading to all three summits. The hills form part of the Eildon and Leaderfoot National Scenic Area, one of forty such areas in Scotland, which have been defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.
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Melrose
Eildon Hill lies just south of Melrose, Scotland in the Scottish Borders, overlooking the town. The name is usually pluralised into "the Eildons" or "Eildon Hills", because of its triple peak. The 422 metres high eminence overlooks Teviotdale to the South. The north hilltop is surrounded by over 5 km of ramparts, enclosing an area of about 16 ha in which at least 300 level platforms have been cut into the rock to provide bases for turf or timber-walled houses, forming one of the largest hill forts known in Scotland. A Roman army signalling station was later constructed on the same site as this hill fort. The mid hilltop is the highest, whilst the south hilltop is the lowest. The hills are owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, Scotland's largest private landowner. As with all land in Scotland the public have a right of responsible access to the hills, and there are many paths crossing the area and leading to all three summits. The hills form part of the Eildon and Leaderfoot National Scenic Area, one of forty such areas in Scotland, which have been defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.