Melrose Abbey (Ruins) – Pencil/Ink in a Moleskine Sketchbook
The original abbey dates back to the year 660 and the building, in this scene, was completed in 1146 the monks having moved, a few miles, to obtain better farming land.
Just before King Robert the Bruce died in 1329, he asked that his heart be taken to the Holy Lands as part of a crusade. It never made it and during a battle in 1330, in Spain against the Moors, his friend, Sir James Douglas; as he was about to be overpowered and killed, hurled the casket, containing Bruce’s heart, towards the enemy. It was later recovered, brought home to Scotland and buried in this abbey. In 1996 a casket was unearthed from a vault beneath the Abbey’s Charter House and, although it is impossible to prove that the remains inside were Bruce’s heart it is reasonable to assume that they are as no other documentation exists connected with such burials in the Abbey. A new casket was created with the words
“A noble hart may hae nae ease, gif freedom failye” – “A noble heart may have no ease if freedom fail”. This casket was buried under a new stone.
In 1385, following a raid by Scottish troops over the English border, Richard 11 sent troops which destroyed many buildings in the Scottish Borders. These included Melrose Abbey as well as Newbattle and Dryburgh Monasteries. Much work was done to restore the damage but, in 1544 Henry V111 destroyed much of the place. This was in retaliation as the Scots had sent the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, to France when Henry had tried to enforce a marriage betrothal to his son – this has been known ever since as the “Rough Wooin’”. (Rough courtship/Forced courtship). Much of what you see today is the result of Henry’s action.
The surrounds of this magnificent ruin were still used until fairly recent times, as a graveyard for local folk. If you look at my sketch and imagine you are standing at the extreme right there is a gravestone, which is rather poignant. Here, a lady is laid to rest and, a month later, is joined by her sister. The date is not that old so I will not write the names but I have looked at this many times and find a great sadness in what I see.
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roseindigo 8:19 am on July 1, 2009 | #
The age of this building and all the history that goes with it just sort of blows my mind, especially when I think about the fact that the lot on which my house sits has NEVER had any sort of building on it in all the history of the earth, until this place was built about 20 or so years ago, and it will probably turn out to be only temporary. In fact, the land is so wild that I doubt even Indians came through this particular section of it. But I do remember the town in Germany that I lived in which dated from back then. Amazing!
roseindigo 8:23 am on July 1, 2009 | #
Regarding the lady beneath the gravestone, I often have that feeling when I’m in one of our mining “ghost towns” and see the ages of the people buried there—most often quite young, and many children. Usually the stones also tell what part of the world they came from to find their fortunes, and I stand there hoping they at least found what it was they were looking for in their short and difficult lives.
Sophie Brown 4:57 pm on July 1, 2009 | #
Do you really think this could be a true story? It kind of reminds me of some very big thigh bone found in England and they decided it was a Robin Hood character. The US generally doesn’t have stories as cool as this one in that way because we really haven’t been here so long that some of the details may have been changed. HOWEVER I would usually rather believe than not whenever these things come along…This drawing somehow made me think of Collinwood from “Dark Shadows”. I was just learning the songs from the sheet music so it may have been on my mind…Cemeterys are usually peaceful places.
trebor61 9:10 am on July 2, 2009 | #
Hi Rose. Thanks again for your comments. I understand exactly how you feel when looking at markers of folks long gone. There are many old graveyards, here in Edinburgh, and it is possible to trace social conditions by reading dates ie was there an outbreak of disease like the plague which accounts for whole families dying so soon after one another? I’m not goulish but have been known to study these stones at length. I love all things historical but am so glad I live in this time. Life must have been hard then.
Greetings Sophie. Yes, I do beleive this is a true story. When I was at school every child was told the tale of how a dead king’s heart won a battle. Here is a link describing this battle. Sir James Douglas is revered in parts of Spain and, as this link shows, is commemorated every year. What really is a pity is much of my county’s history is now not taught as the “national school curriculum” is so overheated with other stuff. I bet you now know more about this episode than most of my countrymen
http://www.spain-info.co.uk/History/Battle-of-Teba/Braveheart-Sir-James-Douglas.htm