ck cassock, covered by a white
woollen cape, "in imitation of the angels in heaven, who are clothed
with white garments." The monks introduced were from Alnwick. "A large
part of the domestic buildings seems to have been erected within fifty
or sixty years of the date of the foundation, as they are built in the
transition style of the beginning of the thirteenth century. The church
appears to have been in progress during the thirteenth century, as in
1242 the Bishop of St. Andrews, owing to the debts incurred in building
the monastery and other expenses, gave the canons permission to enjoy
the revenues of the churches under their patronage, one of their number
performing the office of vicar in each parish. The canons took the oath
of fidelity to Edward I. in 1296, upon which their property was restored
to them. Their possessions were widely spread, and extended into
several counties, as appears from letters addressed by Edward regarding
them to the sheriffs in the counties of Fife, Berwick, Roxburgh, and
Edinburgh."[327]

Tradition states that the English under Edward II., in their retreat in
1322, provoked by the imprudent triumph of the monks in ringing the
church bells at their departure, returned and burned the abbey in
revenge. Dr. Hill Burton remarks that Bower cannot be quite correct in
saying that Dryburgh was entirely reduced to powder, since part of the
building yet remaining is of older date than the invasion. King Robert
the Bruce contributed to its repair, but it has been doubted whether it
ever was fully restored to its former magnificence. Certain disorders
among the monks in the latter part of the fourteenth century brought the
censure of Pope Gregory XI. upon its inmates. Being within twenty miles
of the border, the abbey was frequently exposed to hostile English
attacks, and we hear of its burning by Richard II. in 1385, by Sir
Robert Bowes and Sir Bryan Latoun in 1544, and again by the Earl of
Hertford in 1545--James Stewart, the abbot commendator, having with
others crossed the Tweed into Northumberland and burned the village of
Horncliffe. It was annexed to the Crown in 1587, and the lands were
erected into a temporal barony, with the title of Lord Cardross, in
favour of the Earl of Mar, from whom they have passed by purchase
through the hands of several proprietors.

Chaucer was held to have visited the abbey, but the claim has been
demolished by Dr. Hill Burton in Billings' _Antiquities_. Among t