Our Visit to Dryburgh Abbey

Chapter house inside

Chapter house entrance

            

East Processional Door

The Commemorative Obelisk

Rose Window

    

Scott's Grave

                                                                               
      We first visited  Dryburgh Abbey located near St.Boswells, a Scottish village just beside the

bend of the Tweed river. Though it is in a ruined state, the available blocks of sculpture and

walls with windows gave us a faint idea about the beautiful but not showy construction of the

abbey. This abbey was founded on 10th Nov.1150 by the Premonstratensian monks ( a sect of

Augustinians) on a site made sacred St. Modan (an Irish monk who built a chapel here in 522

A.D.). The monks from Alnwick founded this abbey on the site owned by Hugh De MoreVille,

father of one of the assassins of St.Thomas Beckett of Canterbury during the reign of Henry II of

 England  in 1170. In this abbey, the rose window, the cloister, the dormitory, south east entrance 

 and the chapter house ( meeting hall for monks) are still in good condition. The obelisk (a pillar like 

structure commemorating the founder , Hugh De Moreville) installed  by the Earl of Buchan is also in

good condition.

   The English troops of Edward II burnt this abbey severely in 1322. The Scottish king Robert I

restored and patronized the abbey. It was again ravaged and burnt in 1385 during the reign of 

Richard II  of England. With the support of Scottish kings the abbey continued functioning till its

final destruction in 1544. James VI (James I of United Kingdom) gave this abbey to the Earl of

Mar for maintenance after  Scottish reformation in 1560. Later it was bought by David Erskin,

 the Earl of Buchan in 1786. When he died in 1829 he was laid to rest in its sacristy ( an apartment 

in a church where sacred utensils and vestments of priests are kept). This property is now managed by 

Historic Scotland, an organization that looks after preservation and proper maintenance of Scottish 

monuments.

James VI

A Book Cupboard

 Though this abbey was not constructed on a grand scale, the pious and austere lives of monks 

rendering service to the community both at mundane and spiritual levels made it a  worthy monument  

to be remembered as a holy place worth visiting and to feel a sense of devotion.

  The Gothic ruins of the abbey are surrounded by yew and cedar trees. Hugh De Moreville, the

  founder of this abbey, later became a novice in his old age and spent the rest of his life in this abbey

 till His death in 1162. The celebrated novelist, Sir Walter Scott, who was the friend of David Erskin

found his final resting place here in the northern transept. The body of another Scottish hero,

 Field Marshal Douglas Haig was interred beside the tomb of Walter Scott in 1928.

 Unlike other abbeys this abbey, in spite of possessing limited funds , survived for a longer

period though it faced destruction so many times by the English forces. This reputation of this

abbey spread far and wide due to the holy writings of Adam Scott who wrote on nature of God

and Biblical Exegesis.  In brief this abbey is a place of quiet contemplation for medieval monks

who led a very austere and disciplined life without craving for any trace of luxury and opulence.

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     4th February, 2014                                                        Somaseshu Gutala