Souvenir itinerary of the visit of the British Medical Association to the land of Scott, Saturday, August 1st, 1896 / by J.R. Oliver.

  • Oliver, J. R.
Date:
[1896?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Souvenir itinerary of the visit of the British Medical Association to the land of Scott, Saturday, August 1st, 1896 / by J.R. Oliver. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    fervour of the patriot and all the idealism of the poet. At Abbotsford may be seen the desk, and the chair he used while with unflagging energy—latterly alas! painfully, and with such feverish haste—his hand travelled over those glowing pages which were to give such delight to the whole English-speaking world. In Sir Walter Scott’s day, Melrose was little more than a village of thatched houses, with the little- regarded ruins of the beautiful abbey rising in its midst. The Abbey of Melrose was munificently founded by David I. in 1136. It was sacked and destroyed by Edward II. in 1322, and rebuilt in 1326 in the magnificent style of architecture of which the present fabric is such a splendid example. In 1385 the abbey was again burned by an invading force under Richard II., but once more underwent early restoration. In the i6th century we learn that the monks had departed from the strict simplicity of earlier times, and were much given to self indulgence. “ The Prior is ane man of great devotion, Tharfor daylie he gettis ane double portioun.” As another rhyme has it— “ The monks of Melrose made gude kail On Fridays when they fasted, And never wanted beef and ale As lang as their neighbour’s lasted.” In 1544 Sir Ralph Evers and Sir Brian Laiton visited Melrose with a hostile force which did much damage to the abbey and barbarously defaced the tombs of the Douglases therein. In the following year an army under the Earl of Hertford laid waste the whole borders and burned and demolished Melrose, as well as all the other abbeys in the district. The Reformation followed soon after, and Melrose was never restored from the state of ruin to which it had been then reduced. Its splendid revenues were annexed to the crown, or dispersed in grants to court favourites. In j6i8 the compart- ment of the nave from the screen wall to the cross was fitted up as the parish church, but instead of being restored to harmonise with the ancient building, a plain vaulted roof was thrown over between the pillars of the nave, the stones from another part of the building being used to effect this barbarous defacement. The monastic buildings, of which hardly a vestige remains, were enclosed within a high