Scott's View

Scott's View, oil on board, 16" x 12".

The Eildon Hills near Melrose are something of a landmark both geographically and personally. You can see their distinctive molar shape on the horizon from practically anywhere in or near the Merse, just as much of a presence as Cheviot and its foothills.

Sir Walter Scott - ever so extensive author, inventor of Scotland, manager of Heart of Midlothian and noted punctuationophobe - enjoyed this view so much and so often that his horses were accustomed to stop here without his bidding. Legend has it that the horses drawing the funeral cortege paused to allow their master one final look at the hills. Unfortunately it's not true. The horses did stop, but history records it as "an accident."