Anniversary Address. 327 



foundation, and liberal benefactions were bestowed upon the 

 monks, who were of the Premonstratensian order, and 

 brought from Alnwick Abbey, founded in 1147 by Eustace 

 Fitz John. The monks were called Augustinians and some- 

 times white monks, from the habit they wore. The refining 

 influence of learning is shewn by the choice the monks of 

 old made in their habitations; no site could be more beautiful 

 than Dryburgh. Edward the Second in his retreat from 

 his unsuccessful invasion of Scotland, burnt the monastery 

 to the ground. Robert the First contributed to its repair. 

 In 1514 the town was destroyed by Sir George Bowes; and 

 in the following year the monastery was plundered and 

 burnt by the Earl of Hertford. Under the. high altar of 

 the church, James Stuart, the last abbot Was buried. James 

 the Sixth dissolved the abbey, and gave it as a temporal 

 lordship to the Earl of Mar ; this nobleman made it over to 

 his son Henry, ancestor of David, ninth Earl of Buchan ; 

 subsequently it was sold to the Halliburtons of Mertoun, the 

 maternal ancestors of Sir Walter Scott, who frequently 

 expressed his regret that Dryburgh had not been kept in 

 the family. 



After leaving the Abbey the party divided, one going to 

 botanize, the other to Bemerside Hill to visit the Tower, 

 the subject of the Rhymer's prophecy : — 



" Tide, tide, whate'er betide, 

 There'll aye be Haigs in Bemerside." 



And so far the prophecy has been true. We were only able 

 to see the exterior, as the place was let to a tenant. When 

 we gained Bemerside Hill, the lovely Tweed lay below, 

 curving gracefully round its wooded banks, in every varying 

 light and shade, displaying glimpses of great landscape 

 beauty. After resting awhile, the party retraced their steps 

 and came to Mertoun House, the residence of Lord Polwarth. 

 The day was hot, and the company were supplied with that 

 pure beverage which his lordship so ardently advocates. 

 After viewing Mertoun House, which contains some good 

 pictures, among them the " Flower of Yarrow," an attempt 



