By a loop of the Tweed

By a loop of the Tweed beside Dryburgh Abbey on an April day

By a loop of the Tweed sits Dryburgh Abbey, another of the twelfth century Borders abbeys. Like the others it was prey to cross-border and Reformation fighting and burning. Like the others its impressive ruins still draws visitors. Established in 1150 by white-clad Premonstratensian canons, an order hailing from Prémontré in north-east France, Dryburgh became the order’s premier house in Scotland.

Dryburgh Abbey’s impressive ruins

The grounds around the abbey were laid out in the 18^th century by the eleventh Earl of Buchan, and the sculptural trees now provide an appropriate backdrop to the sculptural abbey.

Sculptural trees by Dryburgh Abbey

We went on a day of sun and wind when daffodils were in bloom and long shadows spilled across the grass. The arched doorways, the great windows, the remains of fluted pillars and mighty carved bosses, vaulted ceilings and last resting places, all are worthy of exclamation though not dissimilar to the other abbeys. Apart from the Chapter House with plaster and paintwork that dates back to its inception (a rarity in Scotland’s climate), it’s the little things that give the place its own character.

The Chapter House with painted plasterwork that dates back to the building’s inception. Now covered in glass which gives reflections, and difficult to make out never mind photograph.

A glimpse of medieval fashion is apparent in this head.

She was probably quite a beauty in her day. Wonder who she was?

According to Historic Scotland, which has responsibility for the care of the abbey, this large niche was the book cupboard, complete with slots in the stone for wooden shelves.

The Book Cupboard – obviously built to hold something larger than paperbacks. Presumably they were vellum manuscripts.

A carving of Adam and Eve beneath an apple tree.

Adam, Eve, the serpent and that apple tree…along with a nice shadow of presumable the window bars.

A lamb on a mound covered in ivy.

Appropriate season for lambs.

Lots of basins are in evidence.

Display of stone basins. Many others were to be found nestling in the walls.

In the grounds beside the abbey stands a pillar in memory of its founder Hugh de Moreville. This was erected by David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan who was attracted to Dryburgh’s ivy clad ruin, purchasing it in 1786 along with Dryburgh House. Images of James 1^st and 2^nd of Scotland are carved into opposite sides of the pillar.

James 1 of Scotland

I presume this is James 2nd of Scotland. Love the little cannon and pile of cannon balls at the top. And what about his headgear!

Buchan was also responsible for the erection, near the abbey, of the 21.5 feet high red sandstone statue of William Wallace whom most people now associate with the film Braveheart. He doesn’t look much like Mel Gilson, does he?

William Wallace was very tall and well built.

When Buchan died in 1829, he was buried within the abbey. Three years later, Buchan’s friend, the novelist Sir Walter Scott, was buried in the north transept.

The abbey’s north transept where the novelist Sir Walter Scott is buried. He stayed not far off at Abbotsford.

Its days of being pillaged and destroyed far in the past, Dryburgh is now a place of peace and tranquillity where the only sounds are the wind swishing the branches of trees, the chirping of visitors’ voices and the haunting rhythm of monastic chanting that seeps from the Chapter House.

Dryburgh Abbey – a place of peace, tranquility and, on the day we visited, swathes of daffodils.

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