Melrose, town (1991 pop. 2,221), Scottish Borders, S Scotland, on the Tweed River. It is the site of one of the finest ruins in Scotland—Melrose Abbey, owned by the nation and founded for Cistercians by David I in 1136. Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel has descriptions of its beauty. Several times partly destroyed and rebuilt, the abbey contains the heart of Robert I (Robert the Bruce).

Melrose, city (1990 pop. 28,150), Middlesex co., E Mass., a suburb of Boston; settled c.1629, set off from Malden and inc. 1850. It is chiefly residential. The opera star Geraldine Farrar was born in Melrose.