Undiscovered Scotland

 

Scotland is a country with no shortage of magnificent views. So many, in fact, that it's quite unusual for a visitor attraction to be sold entirely on the quality of the view it offers: there are, after all, plenty to choose from.

But it has to be admitted that Scott's View really is rather special. Its location is high on the western side of Bemersyde Hill some three miles east of Melrose as the crow flies. One of its attractions is undoubtedly that it's a view that you can take in with little effort. The viewpoint is on the B6356, suitably widened to provide plenty of parking, so is very easy to reach.

The view itself takes in a broad sweep of the Scottish Borders, but its main features are the valley of the River Tweed, a river that twists and turns through the near foreground below you, and the three peaks of the Eildon Hills, which rise to the south of Melrose.

This was one of the favourite views of literary superstar Sir Walter Scott, whose home at Abbotsford is around five miles to the west. Hence the name it is known by today. It is said that he came this way so often that the horses he used to pull his carriage knew to stop here without being instructed to do so. Legend has it that after his death in 1832, Sir Walter's funeral cortege came this way en route to his burial at Dryburgh Abbey, and that the horses pulling the carriage carrying his coffin also stopped unbidden at this spot, perhaps to afford him a final glimpse of the view he loved so much.