The New Student's Reference Work/Abbotsford

For works with similar titles, see Abbotsford.

Ab′botsford, celebrated as the home of Sir Walter Scott, is situated on the Tweed river, near Melrose Abbey, Scotland. It was named from a ford where the abbots of Melrose Abbey crossed the Tweed. The house is an irregular, picturesque mansion, built by Sir Walter Scott in 1811, in the style of the old English manor houses. Carved stones taken from old castles and abbeys are placed at intervals in the walls of the house and garden. The lavish use of money in adorning Abbotsford was one of the chief causes of Scott’s financial failure.