We are back in Crieff at Merlindale B&B (our Scottish home) after a three day excursion to the Borders area. We’ve played some entertaining golf at Bridge of Allan, Torwoodlee, and Minto, but we’ve also done a good bit of touring which becomes the subject of this photo rich entry.
GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER: MELROSE ABBEY
Melrose Abbey from the Main Street through the Village
Founded in 1136 by King David I for Cistercian Monks, the ruins we visited in the Borders town of Melrose are of late 14th century architecture. The abbey has been destroyed and rebuilt several times.
Edward II destroyed the abbey during the Scottish War of Independence. King Robert the Bruce rebuilt it. In the English Civil War Cromwell destroyed the abbey again.
The Abbey at Night
This is the abbey now under the care of Historic Scotland (a national trust).
The ruined Melrose Abbey is lovely to visit--towering facades, fascinating gargoyles and corbels, and special attractions.
The Cloisters
Two features to seek out at the abbey are the pig with a bagpipe and the heart of King Robert the Bruce. The carved figure of a pig with a bagpipe is intriguing.
The Pig with a Bagpipe Gargoyle
Appearing in other venues as well, the pig supposedly represents the local Scots whom the French masons thought smelled “like pigs” (according to the Historic Scotland stewart). While the body of King Robert the Bruce is laid to rest in Dunfermline Cathedral,
Robert The Bruce's Heart Is Buried Here
his heart which was carried to the crusades was buried someplace at Melrose Abbey. Found in the 1920s, the heart after medical examination was reinterred in a special ceremony in 1998. Melrose Abbey is one four Borders abbeys (Dryburgh, Kelso, Jedburgh, and Melrose) built in the 12th century which should be on any list of places to visit.
Corbels or Grotesques
WHO DOESN’T LOVE A PARADE
Sometimes mistakes can work out for the best. We planned our Saturday around attending the Highland Games in Peebles. We toured Melrose Abbey in the morning and then drove into Peebles to see the games only to find out when we got to town that the games were on Sunday when we were booked for golf at Minto 25 miles away. We filled the rest of Saturday wandering the great gardens at Kailzie,
but I kicked myself for getting our scheduling wrong. All my fault.
On Sunday after golf we drove to Peebles where we were to spend the night at the Neidpath Inn. As we checked in our host said, “Well, you’re just in time for the parade of the bands.”
The Parade of Bands
When we asked what he meant he told us that at the end of the games--remember, the Peebles Highland Games were on Sunday--all the bands march from the park down the main street through town, and that the bands should start coming down the street any time now.
A Variety of Locals Enjoy the Parade
We may have missed the games, but we had never seen a parade of pipe bands at any of the Highland games we’d attended. This was a special treat!
The best part was standing on a pedestrian island in the middle of the street and having the playing band divide around the island--
In the Middle of a Band
it was stirring to be in the middle of a band of Highland bagpipes and drums! Seeing the games would have been nice, especially since our very first Highland Games had been in Peebles in 2000,
The Drum Corps
but seeing and hearing (and almost being in) the pipe band parade was a special treat.
The Tail End of the Parade
Did they actually film "Melrose Place" there in Melrose? Because it looks a lot different in your pictures than it did on tv...
ReplyDeleteAnd if a bagpipe is a weapon of war and they have pigs carrying bagpipes, are they therefore War Pigs? Should we be yelling "Cry havoc and let slip the pigs of war!"?
Melrose may not be Payton Place but we were informed that Comrie, a small village 7 miles from our home in Crieff, is. Swing clubs, wife swapping, all manner of extra-curricular goings on are the order of the day. We also were informed that several of the surrounding small villages were jealous. So much we didn't know.
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