Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Scotland

92  SC O TLAND REGION B Y REGION SOUTHERN SC O TLAND  93

taken on a crusade to the Holy 9 Traquair House stairway leads to the Priest’s q Pentland Hills
Land. It was returned to Melrose Peebles, The Scottish Borders. Room, which, with its clerical The Lothians. 3 Edinburgh, then bus.
Abbey after its bearer, Sir James Tel (01896) 830323. @ from Peebles. vestments that could be n Regional Park Headquarters,
Douglas, was killed in Spain. Open Apr–Sep: 11am–5pm daily; Oct: dis guised as bedspreads, attests Edinburgh (0131) 529 2401.
11am–4pm daily; Nov: 11am–3pm Sat to the problems faced by Catholic ∑ pentlandhills.org
8 Abbotsford & Sun. & - 7 limited. = families until Catholi cism was The wilds of the Pentland Hills
legalized in 1829.
House ∑ traquair.co.uk stretch for 26 km (16 miles)
Scotland’s oldest contin uously southwest of Edin burgh, and
Galashiels, The Scottish Borders. 0 Peebles
Tel (01896) 752043. @ from Galashiels. inhabited house has deep roots offer some of the best hill-walking
Open Apr–Oct: 10am–5pm daily; Mar in Scottish religious and political The Scottish Borders. * 8,000. country in Southern Scotland.
& Nov: 10am–4pm daily. & 8 9 history stretching back over @ from Edinburgh. n 23 High St Walkers can saunter along the
0 - 7 partial. = 900 years. Evolving from (01721) 723159. many sign posted footpaths,
∑ scottsabbotsford.com a fortified tower to while the more adventurous
a 17th-century This charming Borders town can take the chairlift at the
The ruins of Melrose Abbey, viewed from the southwest Few houses bear the stamp mansion (see p25), has some fascin ating Hillend dry ski slope to reach the
of their creator so intimately the house was a sights, including the higher ground leading to the
7 Melrose Abbey known as the “Rough Wooing”. as Abbotsford House, the home Catholic Stuart Tweeddale Museum and 493 m (1,617 ft) hill of Allermuir.
This resulted from the failure of Sir Walter Scott for the final stronghold for 500 Gallery which houses full- Even more ambitious is the classic
Melrose, The Scottish Borders.
Tel (01896) 822562. Open Apr–Sep: of the Scots to ratify a marriage 20 years of his life. He bought years. Mary, Queen of scale plaster casts of part of scenic route along the ridge from
9:30am–5:30pm daily; Oct–Mar: treaty bet ween Henry VIII’s son a farm here in 1811, known Scots was among the the Parthenon Frieze, and casts Caerketton to West Kip.
10am–4pm daily. & 7 limited. = and the infant Mary, Queen of as Clarteyhole (“dirty hole” in many monarchs to of a frieze depicting the entry of To the east of the A703, in the
∑ historicenvironment.scot Scots. What remains of the Borders Scots), though he soon have stayed here. Alexander the Great into Babylon. lee of the Pentlands, stands the
abbey are the outlines of renamed it Abbots ford, in Her crucifix is kept in The walled Kailzie Gardens exquisite and ornate 15th-century
The rose-pink ruins of this cloisters, the kitchen, monastic memory of the monks of the house and her attract day-trippers from Rosslyn Chapel, which features
beautiful Border Abbey bear buildings and the shell of the Melrose Abbey who used to bed is covered by Edinburgh. Glentress Forest, in The Da Vinci Code. It was origi-
testimony to the devastation abbey church, with its soaring cross the River Tweed nearby. a counterpane which begins on the fringes nally intended as a church, but
of successive English invasions. east window and pro fusion of He later demolished the house that she made. Mary’s crucifix, of town, is very popular with after the death of its founder,
Built by David I in 1136 for medieval carvings. The decora- to make way for the turreted Family letters and Traquair House hikers and mountain bikers William Sinclair, it was used as a
Cistercian monks, and also to tions of the south exterior wall building we see today, its engraved Jacobite from the city as well. burial ground for his descendants.
replace a 7th-century monas- include a gargoyle shaped like construction funded by the drinking glasses are among The delicately wreathed
tery, Melrose was repeatedly a pig playing the bagpipes and sales of his popular novels. the relics re calling the period E Tweeddale Museum Apprentice Pillar recalls the
ransacked by English armies, sev eral animated figures, in clud- Scott’s library contains of the Highland rebellions. and Gallery legend of the apprentice carver
most notably in 1322 and 1385. ing a cook with his ladle. over 9,000 rare books and his Following a vow made by Tel (01721) 724820. Open Mon–Sat. who was killed by the master
The final blow, from which none An embalmed heart, found collections of historic relics reflect the fifth Earl, Traquair’s Bear Y Kailzie Gardens stone mason in a fit of jealousy
of the abbeys recovered, came here in 1920, is probably that of his passion for the hero ic past. Gates (the “Steekit Yetts”), Tel (01721) 720007. Open daily. & at his pupil’s superior skill.
in 1545, when Henry VIII of Robert the Bruce, the abbey’s The walls display an extensive which closed after Bonnie 8 - ∑ kailziegardens.com
England implemented his chief benefactor, who had collection of arms and armour, Prince Charlie’s visit in 1745, } Glentress Forest R Rosslyn Chapel
destructive Scottish policy decreed that his heart be including Rob Roy’s broads word will not reopen until a Stuart Tel (0300) 067 6900. Open daily. - Tel (0131) 440 2159. Open daily. &
(see p123). Stuart mementoes reas cends the throne. A secret ∑ scotland.forestry.gov.uk 7 ∑ rosslynchapel.com
Sir Walter Scott include one of many crucifixes
belonging to Mary, Queen of
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) was born in Edinburgh and trained Scots and a lock of Bonnie Prince
as a lawyer. He is best remembered as a major literary figure Charlie’s hair. The study in which
and champion of Scotland, whose poems and novels (most Scott wrote his Waverley novels,
famously his Waverley series) created enduring images of a heroic is open to the public, as is the
wilderness filled with the romance of the clans. His orchestration, room where he died in 1832.
in 1822, of the state visit of George IV to Edinburgh was an
extrava ganza of Highland culture that helped establish tartan
as the national dress of Scotland. He served as
Clerk of the Court in Edinburgh’s Parliament
House and for 30 years was Sheriff of Selkirk.
He loved Central and Southern Scotland,
putting the Trossachs (see pp122–3)
firmly on the map with the
publication of the Lady of the Lake
(1810). His final years were spent
writing to pay off a £114,000
debt following the failure of his
publisher in 1827. He died with
his debts paid, and was buried
at Dryburgh Abbey in 1832.
The Great Hall at Abbotsford, adorned with
arms and armour Details of the highly ornate, decorative carved-stone vaulting in Rosslyn Chapel
For hotels and restaurants see pp173–5 and pp183–4

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