3rd & 4th August, Wednesday & Thursday

And now for the fourth and final of the Border’s Abbeys: Dryburgh.

We did a circular walk, from St Boswells, along one bank of the Tweed and back along the other.  The Tweed was very high after the rain of the previous day but it was a lovely warm day and a pleasant walk.

 

Bridge over the Tweed, Himalayan Balsam in flower

Upstream from the bridge, showing a sandstone cliff

Downstream from the bridge –this could be in France

From the top of the cliff

The romantic ruin of Dryburgh Abbey

Dryburgh is famed for 3 things:

1  Earl Haig is buried here

2  Sir Walter Scott is buried here

There was a procession from Abbotsford to the Abbey with his coffin.  When he was ill the government provided him with a ship so he could go abroad and get better and daily bulletins were given out as to where he was and how he was getting on.

3  There is a very old yew tree – which I couldn’t find but the abbey grounds have been planted up like an arboretum so hopefully I’m excused for failing

In the abbey grounds there is this mini obelisk to James I and II (Scotland) – James II (above) developed a canon which killed him when it misfired.

 

A grand gate to a now non existent orchard

The now non existent orchard-keeper’s cottage

A muse and muses

Memorial lighting to the coronation of Edward II in St Boswells.  St Boswells is a charming village with a bookshop/cafe, a butcher, a post office and a bus turning circle with a very much used bench, every time we were there there was a different person sitting on it eating something.  I want to film the activity throughout the day (and night?) and show it as an art installation – it would be fascinating.  It also has a gun shop and we saw someone come out of the gun shop, shotgun in hand, not something you see every day but Borders country is big on shooting.

So that’s up to date.  Yesterday (Thursday) I re-stowed the van – instead of reducing my book collection I keep adding to it – went to Jedburgh Jail (reported earlier) and wrote up the blog.  I will move on somewhere, not worked out where yet, that is the next job.