We left the campsite and began to drive towards Scotland. We stopped off at the viewpoint as we crossed into the country, then continued on. We then stopped off at Jedburgh, which was the first town in Scotland that we hit on our way up, about 10 miles from the Scottish border. In Jedburgh we visited the Mary Queens of Scots House, which has a free museum about the Queen. The house was built in the 16th century, and was in very good shape considering!
We had a wander around Jedburgh, which was sunny and warm, before driving to a place called Melrose. There was an old abbey there that I wanted to have a look at. It was started in 1136, and continued to be built and added to until the end of the 12th century. It is in ruins today, with a significant portion still standing but having been beaten down by fires and wars throughout its life. Since we had been to the Fountains Abbey yesterday, neither of us felt like paying to go inside another ruined abbey. That's not to say that it wasn't lovely, it was, but you could get a pretty good view from a fence around the outside, and so we skirted around the fence.
The next stop was a little harder to find but nearby. We had to drive up some small, dirt roads to get there but it was worth it. Smailholm tower is a small, 4-story 15th century tower built by the Pringle family as protection from raiding English forces. It was attacked in 1543, 44 and 46, and has stood the test of time (and attack) to still be standing today, and in good shape too!
It was closed when we went there, but usually you can go inside and up the many stairs. Instead we contented ourselves with sitting outside and eating lunch, before taking some photos. It was truly picturesque! And the good thing about it being closed meant that we had the place to ourselves!
From there we drove up some lovely little roads, through forests and past gorgeous houses. I made Josh stop at this church that I spotted along the way, and went to get a closer look.
That night, we struggled to find a campsite. We then also couldn't find anywhere to wild camp, as, for some reason, some of the roads into the wilderness were closed, with a big gate across the road. It was getting late and, I admit it, I was getting cranky. In my trips around France and Italy, I have looked at my guidebooks around 3pm to work out a general direction towards a campsite. Josh was more the "find one when we need it" kind, which, when we were close to Edinburgh on a Friday night, was a little problematic. The result of this was that we ended up staying in a cheap hotel for the night.