Voyages

1869 · 49620 — Melrose / Edinburgh: Misses S. & C. Cameron / W. P. Nimmo St. James Square 1869. Later edition first published in 1847. Original publisher's purple flexible cloth-covered card-stock covers with gilt stamped lettering to front cover. Lacks rear cover. Spine cloth worn away in upper half. Mid-20th C pos with occasional annotation to text. A Good copy. 4 95 1 blank pp. Frontis. 5 inserted plates. 12mo. 6-3/8" x 4-1/8" <br/><br/>"The original Melrose was Mailros meaning "the bare peninsula" in Old Welsh or Brythonic. This referred to a neck of land by the River Tweed several miles east of the present town where in the 6th century a monastery was founded associated with St Cuthbert. It was recorded by Bede and also in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle with the name Magilros. This monastery and settlement later known as 'Old Melrose' were long abandoned by the 12th century. <br /> <br />King David I of Scotland took the throne in 1124 and sought to create a new Cistercian monastery on that site; however the monks preferred a site further west called "Fordel". So the monastery now known as Melrose Abbey was founded there in 1136 and the town of Melrose grew up on its present site around it. In the late Middle Ages its name was represented by a mell a mason's hammer and a rose for the Virgin Mary to whom all Cistercian abbeys were dedicated. The Abbey fell into ruin after the Reformation but is still a striking structure. Several Scottish nobles are buried there and a casket has been found which is believed to contain the heart of King Robert the Bruce. The casket has been re-buried in the Abbey. The Abbey ruins are cared for by Historic Scotland. <br /> <br />Nearby is the Roman fort of Trimontium Abbotsford House the home of Sir Walter Scott and Dryburgh Abbey where he's buried. Melrose is surrounded by the small villages of Darnick Gattonside Newstead Lilliesleaf and Bowden." Wiki Misses S. & C. Cameron / W. P. Nimmo, St. James Square hardcover books