Melrose Abbey and Abbotsford, on the Scottish Borders

Not far from Edinburgh lies Abbotsford, the estate of Sir Walter Scott, currently one of our favourite writers. The estate is named for the ford along the nearby river Tweed where the clerics could be seen crossing on their way to and from Melrose Abbey, but a few miles hence. Today, the Scott family still occupies the castle but allows folk to visit the impressive library and rooms of the lower floor, and the gardens surrounding. Scott collected various bits of armour and armaments of famous Scots, including the gun of Rob Roy, etc.
Melrose Abbey was built by King David I in 1136, and was first occupied by Cistercian monks. In the 15th century, English soldiers destroyed the original abbey, which soon rebuilt (Melroe and its environs are in the Scottish Borderlands which, as the name suggests, forms the Scottish border with England. In the long history of the two countries, destruction has not uncommonly been wrought by English soldiers) . In the kirkyard of Melrose is buried the heart of Robert the Bruce.