Scott's View
Scott's View is a viewpoint in the Scottish Borders, overlooking the valley of the River Tweed, which is reputed to be one of the favourite views of Sir Walter Scott.
The viewpoint can be located directly from a minor road leading south from Earlston just off the A68 and by travelling north from the village of St. Boswells up the slope of Bemersyde Hill. The view is around 3 miles east of Melrose. The view is to the west, and is dominated by the three peaks of the Eildon Hills. To the south west the view is extensive and open, taking in rolling farmland beyond the village of Newtown St Boswells. Immediately below the viewer is a meander of the Tweed itself, enclosing a peninsula of land on which stood the ancient monastery of Old Melrose, referred to in Bede,[1] where St Boisil welcomed the young St Cuthbert to train following his vision of St Aidan of Lindisfarne in 651ad. Often a fly fisherman can be seen fishing the river. To the north west the viewer looks along the Tweed valley to Melrose. Towards the north-west the viewer can see the Black Hill, a Marilyn near Earlston.
Immediately below the view point, on the cliffs above the River Tweed, is one of the few remaining fragments of semi-natural woodland in the area. The oak trees that remain are the descendants of trees used to supply wood for the manufacture of coffins in the area.
According to a popular story, Sir Walter Scott stopped at this point so often on the way to his home at Abbotsford, that his horses would halt without command. After his death in 1832, his funeral cortège passed this way en route to his burial at Dryburgh Abbey, and his horses stopped at his favourite view to allow their master a last look at the Borders landscape. In fact, although the funeral procession did pass this way, the halt was due to 'some accident'.[2]
- The William Wallace Statue in the grounds of Bemersyde House is a larger than life statue of Scotland's hero, Sir William Wallace.
References
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- Queenhoo Hall (1808)
- Waverley (1814)
- Guy Mannering (1815)
- The Antiquary (1816)
- The Black Dwarf (1816)
- Old Mortality (1816)
- Rob Roy (1817)
- The Heart of Midlothian (1818)
- The Bride of Lammermoor (1819)
- A Legend of Montrose (1819)
- Ivanhoe (1819)
- The Monastery (1820)
- The Abbot (1820)
- Kenilworth (1821)
- The Pirate (1821)
- The Fortunes of Nigel (1822)
- Peveril of the Peak (1823)
- Quentin Durward (1823)
- Saint Ronan's Well (1823)
- Redgauntlet (1824)
- The Betrothed (1825)
- The Talisman (1825)
- Woodstock (1826)
- The Fair Maid of Perth (1828)
- Anne of Geierstein (1829)
- Count Robert of Paris (1831)
- Castle Dangerous (1831)
- The Siege of Malta (1831–1832, pub. posthumously 2008)
- Bizarro (1832, pub. posthumously 2008)
- Translations and Imitations from German Ballads (1796–1819)
- "Glenfinlas" (1800)
- Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (1802–1803)
- The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805)
- Ballads and Lyrical Pieces (1806)
- Marmion (1808)
- The Lady of the Lake (1810)
- The Vision of Don Roderick (1811)
- The Bridal of Triermain (1813)
- Rokeby (1813)
- The Field of Waterloo (1815)
- The Lord of the Isles (1815)
- Harold the Dauntless (1817)
- Chronicles of the Canongate, 1st series (1827)
- "The Keepsake Stories" (1828)
- The letters (1788–1832)
- "Abstract of the Eyrbiggia-Saga" (1814)
- "Memoirs" (1808–1826)
- The Journal (1825–1832)
- Tales of a Grandfather (1828–1831)
- Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1830)
- Manners, customs and history of the Highlanders of Scotland; Historical account of the clan MacGregor. (1893, posthumously)
- Halidon Hill (1822)
- MacDuff's Cross (1823)
- The Doom of Devorgoil (1830)
- Auchindrane (1830)
55°35′59″N 2°38′51″W / 55.59971°N 2.64747°W / 55.59971; -2.64747
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