MELROSE ABBEY. — KELSO ABBEY. 199 



key-stones and buttresses were executed by their own hands ?* In the French 

 and ItaHan monasteries, the manual and ingenious labours of the brotherhood are 

 often shown and applauded ; and as many of the monks secluded in Melrose 

 were, probably, men who had been educated in countries where they liad been 

 familiar with the highest state of the arts, it may be inferred that the more 

 elaborate finish of Melrose Abbey was the result of a long-continued effort on 

 the part of its religious inmates, and not emanating from the liberality and taste 

 of the royal founder. Always ambitious of adorning their habitations with 

 great architectural works, the designs were frequently made on a scale of 

 magnificence far surpassing their means, so that their completion was the 

 labour of many successive generations. Hence those deviations in style and 

 execution which are so often observed in religious houses, in which every century 

 is characterised by its own peculiar features. The monastic chronicle of Melrose 

 — continued from the middle of the eighth to near the close of the thirteenth 

 century — is the most authentic record now extant of early Scottish history. 



In this vicinity, the banks of the Tweed are richly embellished with villas and 

 stately mansions. Of these, Abbotsford, already presented in this work, is no 

 less famous for its present than Melrose for its ancient glory. Both are places 

 of daily pilgrimage, and closely associated with all that is wonderful in the 

 achievements of art, or admirable as the productions of genius. From this 

 seclusion, the emanations of Scott's mind went forth to surprise and delight the 

 world. Here his happiest hours were spent, and here every object wears the 

 stamp of his genius, and seems to address us in his own words. 



Kelso is proverbially known as one of the most attractive spots in Scotland. 

 The beauty of its scenery, the cultivated state of its society, its historical asso- 

 ciations, fertile soil, and genial climate, have been the subjects of frequent 

 panegyric among those who have founded their observations on a personal 

 residence. Charmingly situated near the confluence of the Tweed and the Teviot, 

 the town commands a luxuriant and picturesque landscape, many features of 

 which conjure up the lays and legends of other days, and thus captivate the mind 

 and eye with a twofold charm. f 



• The monks of Tiron, in France, who improved upon the rules of St. Benedict, were far from 

 passing that life of indolence so often ascribed to them. In order to preserve them from the corrupting 

 power of idleness, and to provide, at the same time, by useful industry, for the general support of the 

 establishment, " it was required that each of the brotherhood should practise, within the convent 

 whatever mechanical art he knew. — Monastic Annals, Mouton. Statist. Ace. Melrose, Thomson. The 

 monks of Kelso were of this reformed class of the Benedictine order. 



t One of the most approved points of view in which this enchanting landscape is seen, is from the 

 bridge — itself a noble and perfect work of architecture. 



