Gazetteer of Scotland

ABE
mods. The glory of the place was
the abbey, the venerable ruins of
which are much admired by all tra-
vellers, and ftill convey an idea of its
ancient magnificence. It was founded
in 1178 by Willi' 11 I. furnamed the
Lion, King of Scotland, and dedi-
cated to the memory of Thomas a
Becket, the celebrated Archbifhop of
Canterbury. The founder was in-
terred here ; but there are now no
remains of his tomb. This monaftery
was one of the richeft of the whole
ifland, and its abbots were frequently
the firft churchmen of the kingdom.
Cardinal Beaton, the Wolfey of Scot-
land, was the laft abbot, at the fame
time that he was Archbifhop of St.
Andrews. The monks were of the
Tyronenfian order, and were firft
brought from Kelfo, whofe abbot de-
clared thofe of this place, on their
firft inftitution, to be free from his
jurifdiclion. This monaftery formerly
enjoyed great and uncommon privi-
leges ; and a charter is ftill extant,
from King John of England, under
the great fe'al of that kingdom, by
which the monaftery and citizens of
Aberbrothock are exempted, a tehntis
et cenfttetudine, in every part of Eng-
land, except London and Oxford. It
has alfo been of confiderable note in
the Scottifh hiftory, particularly as
the feat of that parliament during the
reign of King Robert Bruce, in which
the celebrated manifefto was addrefs-
ed to the Pope, on account of the
hardfhips which Scotland lay under
from the anathemas of his Holinefs,
and the invafions of Edward I. ; a
manifefto aimoft unequalled for the
fpirit of its remonftrance, and the li-
berty of fentiment which it avowed ;
(vide Hatles' Annals of Scotland.)
After the death of Beaton, the abbey
felt the deftructive fanaticifm of the
reformers ; and its revenues were e-
rected into a temporal lordfhip, in
favour of a Lord J. Hamilton, fon of
the Duke de Chatelherault ; and Lord
Aberbrothock is ftill one of the titles
of the Duke of Hamilton. The ruins
of the abbey are ftrikingly picturefque,
confuting of ruinous towers of the
moft folid conftruction, columns over-
thrown and broken in pieces, Gothic
windows, cloifters, ftaircafes, &c. all
exhibiting, as well the ravages of
tirce, as the frenzy of religious zeal.
ABE
The profperity of the town fliared
the fate of the abbey, till about the
year 1736, when its commerce began
to revive. At that time, a few gen-
tlemen of property engaged in the
manufacture of ofhaburghs and brown
linens, which fucceeded well, and is
ftill the principal branch of manufac-
ture. In i8cz, there were ftamped
at the ftamp- office, 1,457,851-*; yards
of thofe kinds of cloth, valued at
63,908!. 8s. stA- fterling ; and, prior
to the conclullon of the late war, the
fail-cloth manufacture produced near-
ly as much. There are about 34 vef-
fels belonging to the place, each from
60 to 160 tons burden, employed in
the Baltic and coafting trade. Aber-
brothock is a royalty of very ancient
erection ; it being the general opinion,
that it was erected into a royal bo-
rough by King William the Lion, a-„
bout the year 11 86 ; but this cannot
exactly be afcertained, owing to the
lofs of the original charter, which was
taken by force out of the abbey, where
it was lodged in the time of the civil
wars, during the minority of James
VI., by George Bifhop of Moray, cal-
led Poftulat of Arbroath. It was,
however, confirmed in its privileges
by a writ of novodamus from James
VI. in 1559. It is governed by a pro-
voft, 2 bailies, a treafurer, and 1^
counfellors, and has 7 incorporated
trades. The revenues arifing from
the (hore dues, and other public pro-
perty, is upwards of 900I. fterling. It
unites with the burghs of Aberdeen,
Montrofe, Inverbervie, and Brechin,
in fending a reprefentative to parlia-
ment. In 1801, the population, in-
cluding that part of the town fituated
in the pariih of St. Vigeans, was nearly
7000; being an inereafe of about 1800
fince 1792. Its fairs are on the 31ft
January, ^d Wednefday of June, and
1 8th July. The pariih of Aber-
brothock or Arbroath, is of fmall
extent, being an erection about tv/o
centuries ago, of the town and royalty
into a feparate pariih from St. Vi-
geans, in which it formerly was in-
cluded. Around the town the foil is
rich and fertile, but towards the N. W,
there is a confiderable extent of muiry
ground, the property, of the com-
munity, which is now covered with
thriving plantation. About half a mile
W. from the town is a confiderable
A 2