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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    promontory where the monastery of Old Melrose was situated. It was established by some of the monks of Holy Island in the beginning of the yth century, but had fallen into decay in 1073. Its situ- ation is singularly beautiful, and it is matter of both regret and surprise that David I. should have chosen a much less desirable site for the monastery he founded some 60 years after Old Melrose was deserted. Descending the hill Smailholm Tower, which Sir Walter Scott has made the scene of his fine ballad The Eve of St. John, is seen to the north. The farm Sandy know, where many years of Sir Walter’s childhood were passed, is close to Smailholm, and many an hour the boy spent, under the shadow of the old tower, revelling in the romantic fancies inspired by the situation and fostered by the tales of Sandy Ormistoun the shepherd. Unfortunately limitations of space preclude the full quotation of the beautiful lines in Marmion.^ referring to his child life at Smailholm. At Leaderfoot we pass under a long and lofty red sandstone railway bridge. On the opposite side of the river is Ravenswood, the seat of Admiral Fairfax. A little further on is the Eildon 5tone, beside which grew the Eildon tree, where Thomas the Rhymer saw the Queen of the Fairies. “ True Thomas lay on Huntlie Bank, A ferlie he spied with his ee ; And there he saw a ladye bright, Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.” Allerly, for many years the residence of Sir David Brewster, is next passed, then the village of Qattonside and Gattonside House. We cross the Tweed a little above Melrose, and come to Darnick Tower, a specimen of an old Border peel tower in perfect preservation. Near here was fought, on the i8th of July, the battle of Skirmish Hill. In 1811 Sir Walter Scott purchased a small farm-house and adjoining land, where he soon after begun to build the splendid mansion of Abbotsford; and, bit by bit, as funds came in from his literary labours, he purchased more and more land around it till the estate of Abbotsford extended to 1,200 acres. The scenery of Rymour’s Glen on the estate forms the background of Sir Edwin Landseer’s portrait of Sir Walter Scott. Scott was an enthusiastic antiquary, and Abbotsford is a museum of objects of interest, most of which were collected by Scott himself. This collection forms a fascinating link with that dim and distant past which the great Wizard of the North loved so well and described with such magic charm. He loved his romantic surroundings with all the