Dryburgh Abbey was founded in 1152 by Premonstratensian monks, on a site perhaps made sacred by Saint Modan around 600. It was founded by monks from Alnwick on land owned by Hugh de Moreville , the father of one of the assassins of Saint Thomas Becket.

It was burned by English troops in 1322, after which it was restored and patronised by Robert I of Scotland. It was again burned in 1385, but it flourished in the fifteenth century. It was finally destroyed in 1544, briefly to survive until the Reformation, when it was given to the Earl of Mar by James VI of Scotland.

The Earl of Buchan bought the land in 1786. Sir Walter Scott and Douglas Haig are buried in its grounds.