 It became a secular lordship for the last commendator, Mark Kerr (Ker) in 1587.Newbattle Abbey was a filiation of Melrose Abbey (itself a daughter of Rievaulx Abbey) and was situated, according to Cistercian usages, in a beautiful valley along the River South Esk.Rudolph, its first abbot, a strict and severe observer of the rule, devoted himself energetically to the erection of proper buildings.