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Dryburgh

The ruins of Dryburgh Abbey (Historic Scotland) must be the most romantically situated in all of Scotland, sitting as it does on a loop of the Tweed, which surrounds it on three sides. Nothing much remains of the great abbey church, except for the west door and parts of the north and south transepts. However, the cloister buildings are remarkably well-preserved and the lovely surroundings create a sense of deep peace. Within the north transept is buried Sir Walter Scott and his wife Charlotte, as well as Field Marshall Earl Haig of Bemersyde. He was Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary forces in France and Flanders during World War I.

The abbey now forms part of the 55-mile-long Abbeys Cycle Route, taking in the other three great Borders abbeys of Melrose, Kelso and Jedburgh. A short walk from the abbey is the 31 feet high (including pedestal) William Wallace Statue which depicts the great warrior rather incongruously in Roman garb. Wallace spent a lot of time in the Borders hiding from the English in Ettrick Forest. The Earl of Buchan commissioned the statue in 1814; it was the first monument erected to Wallace.

North of Dryburgh is Scott’s View, which gives an amazing panorama of the Eildon Hills. Sir Walter Scott used to ride up here to get inspiration, and when his funeral cortege was making its way to Dryburgh, the hearse stopped for a short while. It is best accessed from the A68, where it is signposted from the Leaderfoot Viaduct that spans the Tweed.

A mile or so to the east of Dryburgh are Mertoun House Gardens. Though the house is not open to the public, the 26-acre gardens can be visited between April and September.