The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Melrose, town, Scotland
town (1991 pop. 2,221), Scottish Borders, S Scotland, on the Tweed River. It is the site of one of the finest ruins in ScotlandMelrose Abbey, owned by the nation and founded for Cistercians by David I in 1136. Sir Walter Scotts Lay of the Last Minstrel has descriptions of its beauty. Several times partly destroyed and rebuilt, the abbey contains the heart of Robert I (Robert the Bruce).