Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable/Abbotsford

by Ebenezer Cobham Brewer

Abbotsford. A name given by Sir Walter Scott to Clarty Hole, on the south bank of the Tweed, after it became his residence. Sir Walter devised the name from a fancy he loved to indulge in, that the abbots of Melrose Abbey, in ancient times, passed over the fords of the Tweed.