First, let us ask this question, “Which Scottish town do you think has the most tarts?” We’re not talking ladies of dubious morals or anything like that we are talking tart tarts … proper tarts. We don’t have a definitive answer, however, we feel that Melrose must be in the running. It has it’s very own Melrose Tart. A confection of pastry filled with honey, ginger and brown sugar topped off with yellow and black icing as a homage to the colours of the local rugby team. Not only that, the baker who makes the Melrose Tart also makes a sponge of coconut and almonds … the famous Border Tart. You can only get them in Melrose. That’s quite a few tarts for a wee town!

A man of parts

The town is famous for more than tarts though. It has its own very grand but ruined Cistercian Abbey founded in 1136. It does in fact get its name from the time the Abbey was built. Mell, after the stonemasone’s hammer and rose after the Virgin Mary to whom all Cistercians were dedicated. Robert the Bruce’s heart is also buried within the Abbey. The rest of him is buried in Dunfermline and Dumbarton … he was a man of many parts!Anyway, we weren’t here for tarts but for scones of course. And where better than a wee visit to the award winning bakery responsible for all these tarts – Dalgetty’s Tearoom.

Bran?

The tearoom is actually just a small addition to the bakery itself. Unfortunately, we were given Hobson’s Choice when it came to scones. They had had a serious run on scones earlier in the day and only had two left, one cheese and the other bran. Bran scones? We all need our fair share of bran but putting it in scones is maybe a step too far?

Pat opted for the cheese one and, of course, that left me with the bran. It certainly looked interesting, if a bit unscone like. Sometimes when expectations aren’t high you are pleasantly surprised and so it was in this instance. Not crusty at all but wonderfully soft with a distinctive texture throughout. I had expected a bran scone to be much more solid and heavy but this one was very light. Loads of jam and cream as well, so overall, although not a topscone, it was very enjoyable. Pat’s cheese scone was nice as well with a good dollop of melted cheese on top. It was a pity we weren’t able to sample their more ‘normal’ scones. Dalgetty’s Tearoom is pretty obviously a place that takes great pride in everything it does so we are sure they would have been excellent … and probably top.

No lies

Returning to Thomas the Rhymer. His real name was Thomas of Ercildoune and one day while out on the Eildon Hill, just south of the town, he met the queen of Elfland. He fell under her spell and went with her into the the hollow hill to the fairy underworld. There, certain gifts were bestowed upon him. When he returned to the mortal world he had not only acquired immortality and could foretell the future but he was also completely unable to tell a lie. Thenceforth he was also known as True Thomas.

His immortality means that he is still alive and well and living in the area. It does make you wonder, however, with his inability to tell lies, what he does for a living? Obviously modern day politics is completely out of the question. Becoming a stand-in Duke of York would also be extremely tricky.One of Thomas the Rhymer’s predictions was that one day Scotland would rule the whole of Britain. Scoff if you like but these days you just never know. Remember he couldn’t tell a lie!