On a pane of glass in the Inn at Melrose.

Here view the ruins of a barbarous age,
Frantic with zeal and mad with party rage;
Not all thy beauties, Melrose, could prevent
The impious deed, which all must now lament.

Now I will proceed and point out what is worthy of notice on the outside of the ruin, which is built in the form of St John's cross: It is one of the most magnificent pieces of Gothic architecture in the kingdom, and the admiration of every beholder, for the lightness and embellishment of its pillars, the variety of its sculpture, the beauty of its stones, and the symmetry of its parts. Its length is two hundred and fiftyeight feet; its breadth one hundred and thirtyseven feet and an half; its circumference nine hundred and forty three feet; the height of the steeple, or grand tower from its foundation, eighty-four feet; but part of it being gone, we cannot determine the original height of it.

On the end of the long nave of the cross there appears upon one of the buttresses the royal arms of Scotland, set up in the reign of King

James IV.; the lion rampant within a double tressure supported by two unicorns; above one of the unicorn's horns is an I and the other a that is, Jacobus Quartus, with a Scottish crown beautifully cut for the crest; between the legs of the unicorns is a cherub holding a shield, and at the points of its wings is the mallet and rose, the arms of Melrose. But what is signified by the cherub having connexion with the mallet and rose, I leave to the imagination of others to determine; the arms are Anno Dom. 1505.

Above these arms is a pedestal for an image, with three letters upon it, í. h. s. that is, Jesus hominum Salvator, or Jesus the Saviour of men. There is another pedestal east from the arms, upon a buttress, having a bare shield, supported by a Scots thistle; upon the other buttress is a pedestal, supported by the thistle, having the mallet and rose upon the shield, for Melrose, of which the derivation may be this-the mell is intended to represent the instrument by which this beautiful fabric was erected; and by the rose, which signifies sweet, it may well be termed sweet and pleasant to

the eye, for the lightness and elegance with which it is finished. The pedestal of the next buttress is the Hunter's arms, (there being abbots here of that name), with two crosiers in saltier, and two hunting horns stringed, with a rose in chief and a mallet in base, and the letters r. . on the right and left of the shield. It is supported by two cherubs, or mermaids, whose faces are almost entire, considering the smallness of their size. The bare shields were intended to be in readiness to fill up the coat of arms of any abbot or person of note who died.

There are eight windows remaining of this long nave of the cross, and the day-light of them is sixteen feet eight inches by ten feet, except one at the east end, whose breadth is six feet eight inches. They are beautifully formed into the Gothic point, and their moulding very sharp, considering that they have for centuries stood the stormy blast. They are adorned with three bars or mullions (whose breadth is seven inches) forming a circle in the top, in the circle two SS are represented. Others are formed

into hearts, and some interwoven with semicircles; they are decorated on each side with monks' and nuns' heads, the latter with various head dresses. Above these windows are three beautiful buttress pinnacles, decorated with four carved points, and a point springing from the midst of the four, which is admirably cut. There are flying buttresses from these pinnacles to pinnacles with niches, amazingly well wrought, especially the one on the west, which is the finest in the building, and is adorned with the image of the Virgin and her child, but the head of it is gone*. On each side of her are four small niches, which were probably intended for

* There is a traditional story, that a person of the name of Thomson, who lived in Gattonside, and who was employed to demolish the images in the year 1649, while stricking at the babe in the Virgin Mary's arms, was struck by a piece of that stone on his arm, which he never had the right use of afterwards. And by scoff upon his name he was called Stumpy, which his posterity still retain. A gentleman told me, that it was repre sented at Rome that the person who broke the head of the babe in Melrose Abbey was dragged at horses' heels for the sacrilegious deed, which actually took place; for in those days sledges were used, and their happening a great fall of snow at the time of his death, he was laid on one of these, and literally dragged at horses heels to be interred in Melrose church-yard.

cherubs, or guards for her protection; the canopy above the image of the Virgin is exquisitely carved, representing a temple in miniature.

In the pinnacle east from the Virgin is a niche with the statue of St Andrew, who appears to be holding his own cross; his canopy, but especially his pedestal, is curiously wrought, having a face with flowers coming out on each side of its chin. Back from these pinnacles are small windows, and above them a variety of flowers, in the midst of which is a spout in the form of a sow playing on the bagpipes. In the angle of the south nave of the cross is the staircase pinnacle, which is the finest in the whole building; it is adorned with a number of fine niches, whose canopies are like crowns, finished in the highest manner, there being a number of heads about it, and at the upper cornice are beautiful flowers, and heads with leaves in their mouths; one of these is the head of a fox with two doves in his mouth; there are also several grotesque looking figures for spouts, with open mouths to conduct the water from the pinnacle. This pin