James V., was
abbot, and drew the revenues. In 1542 the Duke of Norfolk, and in 1545
the Earl of Hertford, again attacked and further destroyed the abbey. On
the latter occasion the garrison of the abbey--numbering 100, of whom 12
were monks--refused the summons of the Herald to surrender, and
succeeded in repulsing the Spanish mercenaries, who were the first to
attack the building. It was then bombarded and the monastery captured;
but the garrison still held out in the strong square tower of the
church, whence some of them, though strictly watched, escaped by means
of ropes during the night. The next day the assault was resumed, the
tower carried, and the defenders were put to the sword. The buildings
were then sacked and destroyed, the order being given to "breik them"
and "thake of the leied, and outer myen the towres and strong places,
and to owaier trowe all." By the following Sunday this had been strictly
carried out; the abbey was razed, and "all put to royen, howsses, and
towres, and stypeles." The removal of the lead to Wark alone occupied
the carts of the army for several days. After this the abbeys of
Melrose, Dryburgh, and Jedburgh shared in the fate of Kelso,[417] but,
unlike it, they did not resist. Kelso Abbey was still further reduced by
Lord Eure in 1546; and finally in 1560, when a few monks still remained,
the buildings were attacked by the mob, and all the remaining fittings
and furnishings destroyed. In 1559 the revenues and property of the
abbey were taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation in the
name of the Crown. The temporalities were afterwards distributed
amongst the favourites of James VI., and were finally conferred on Sir
Robert Ker of Cessford, who was created Lord Roxburgh in 1599. The abbey
still belongs to his successor, the Duke of Roxburgh, and the remains of
the late duke are buried in the south transept.[418] In 1649 a vault was
thrown over the transept so as to convert it into a parish church, and
above this another vault served as a prison! This is seen in Grose's
view, made about a century ago.

"During service on a Sunday in 1771 a panic was caused by the fall
of a fragment of cement, and the church was thereafter abandoned.
The ruins were partly disencumbered by the Duke of Roxburgh,
1805-16, and in 1823 the buildings were repaired by the noblemen and
gentlemen of the county."[419]

Referring to the modern town, Dr. Cosmo Innes says:--