which it acquired from the poems
and stories of Scott. The thousands of pilgrims who come every year are
attracted by this alone, since the abbey had no extraordinary history
and no tomb of king or hero is to be found in its precincts. Were it not
for the weird interest which the "Lay of the Last Minstrel" has thrown
around Melrose, its fame would probably be no greater than that of the
abbeys of Jedburgh and Kelso in the same neighborhood. Abbottsford House
is only three miles from Melrose, but it is closed to visitors after
five o'clock and we missed a second visit, which we should have liked
very much. Upon such things the motorist must fully inform himself or
he is liable to many disappointments by reaching his objective point at
the wrong time.

We returned to Edinburgh by the way of Galashiels, a manufacturing town
of considerable size that lay in a deep valley far below the road which
we were following along the edges of the wooded hills. This road
abounded in dangerous turns and caution was necessary when rounding
sharp curves that, in places, almost described a circle. We had a clear
right-of-way, however, and reached Edinburgh before nine o'clock. A
delightful feature of summer touring in Britain is the long evening,
which is often the pleasantest time for traveling. The highways are
usually quite deserted and the mellow effect of the sunsets and the long
twilights often lend an additional charm to the landscapes. In the
months of July and August in Scotland daylight does not begin to fade
away until from nine to ten, and in northern sections the dawn begins as
early as two or three o'clock. During our entire tour we found it
necessary to light our lamps only two or three times, although we were
often on the road after nine o'clock. Though Edinburgh has unusually
broad and well paved streets, it is a trying place for a motorist. The
people make little effort to keep to the sidewalk, but let the fellow
who is driving the car do the looking out for them. In no city through
which we passed did I find greater care necessary. Despite all this,
accidents are rare, owing to the fact that drivers of motor cars in
Great Britain have had the lesson of carefulness impressed upon them by
strict and prompt enforcement of police regulations.

We left Edinburgh the next forenoon with a view of making
Berwick-on-Tweed our stopping place for the evening--not a long distance
in miles but a considerable one measured in spots of