Hansard

I congratulate Chic Brodie on the motion. I also congratulate the Seafield house campaigners. However, I am going to be very parochial: I am going to talk about Melrose abbey and Abbotsford house, both of which—luckily for me—are in Melrose in my constituency.

Melrose abbey was built in 1136 and funded by Cistercian monks. Off and on over the decades, it was burned and demolished by the invading English, who were trying to capture Scotland. At one point in its fluctuating fortunes—around 1500—a 100-year reconstruction was completed. People did not move fast in those days. It could be said that it was a perpetually shovel-ready project. Today, even in the ruins, we can appreciate the abbey’s grandeur, elegance and design.

Buildings are by people and for people. Melrose abbey also tells the story of Robert the Bruce, whose connection with it goes back to 1326 and one of those rebuilding programmes, courtesy of the English. On his death, Robert the Bruce’s heart was sent on a crusade to the holy land with Sir James Douglas. When Sir James was confronted by a large array of Moors, he cast Bruce’s heart before him with the cry, “Lead on brave heart”. That expression is still occasionally used nowadays, sometimes by me. Later, Bruce’s heart was retrieved from the battlefield, and it is interred at Melrose abbey.

I go from a brave heart to the “The Heart of Mid-Lothian”—I think that that is called a link. I am referring to Sir Walter Scott, “Ivanhoe” and the Waverley novels. Scott built his quasi-baronial style home—Abbotsford house—on what was originally known as Clarty land. Now members can see what there is in a name.

Scott indulged his eclectic tastes there—much like myself in my wee terraced property—overlooking his beloved Tweed. Indeed, when he was dying, he had his bed moved into a room with a view of the Tweed so that he could die looking at his beloved river.

I first saw Abbotsford on a frosty January day when the grounds, trimmed hedges and turrets sparkled in the sunshine, and I loved it from that moment. Inside the armoury hallway and up near the rafters are the clan crests. Believe it or not, next to the Scott crest was that of Grahame, with an “e”—the affinity was complete.

Scott’s great-great-great granddaughter died in 2004. She was the last of the family to live in what continued to be a family home until her death. Since then, a trust has taken over responsibility for the house, with lottery and Scottish Government funding to restore it. I say to the campaigners in the public gallery that it is a long haul but that they can get there, as has been done with Abbotsford house. In fact, it has been refurbished and will reopen on 4 July—if the queen is invited, so am I.

I have talked about two wonderful historic buildings with stories to tell. When the Borders railway reopens, people will travel from Waverley to Abbotsford at Tweedbank—how appropriate. I might even have a Dandie Dinmont by then.