Curses & omens

The Rhymer's Warning of the Falling Kirk at Kelso Abbey

Kelso Abbey, Kelso

1649 to 1771

According to Andrew and John Lang, the transept of Kelso Abbey was roughly ceiled over and served as the parish church from 1649 to 1771. It was given up in the latter year because part of the roof came down while a service was in progress. The Langs report that the kirk emptied in something under record time, and that Thomas the Rhymer's prediction that "the kirk should fall at the fullest" was in the people's minds.

This is a single, brief mention in a book from 1913. I have not seen the prophecy in an earlier source, and, like many Rhymer sayings, it may have been attached to the event afterwards. The roof fall itself is the kind of thing that can be checked in parish records.

Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open ground
Location
55.597, -2.432 (Sited to the building or field)

Sources: Andrew Lang and John Lang, Highways and Byways in the Border (Project Gutenberg) [public-domain]; Wikipedia, "Kelso Abbey" [other]

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