Gazetteer of Scotland

ABE
sretecfo. The glory of the place was
the abbey, the venerable ruins of
which are much admired by all tra-
vellers, and still convey an idea of its
ancient magnificence. It was founded
■in 1178 by "William I. surnamed the
Lion, King of Scotland, and dedi-
cated to the memory of Thomas-a-
Becket, the celebrated Archbishop of
Canterbury. The founder was in-
terred here ; but there are now no
•remains of his tomb. This monastery
was one of the richest of the whole
island, and its abbots were frequently
the first churchmen of the kingdom.
Cardinal Beaton, the Wolsey of Scot-
land, was the last abbot, at the same
. time that he was Archbishop of St.
■ Andrews. The monks were of the
Tyronensian order, and were first
brought from Kelso, "whose abbot de-
clared those of this place, on their
first institution, to be free from his
jurisdiction. This monastery former-
ly enjoyed great and uncommon privi-
leges ; and a charter is still extant
from King John of England, under
the great seal of that kingdom, by
which the monastery and citizens of
Aberbrothock are exempted, a tshnlis
et consuetudine, in every part of Eng-
land, except London and Oxford. It
has also been of considerable note -in
the Scotish history, particularly as
the seat of that parliament, during the
" reign of King Robert Bruce, in which
the celebrated manifesto was addres-
sed to the Pope, on account of the
hardships which Scotland lay under
from the anathemas of his Holiness,
,and the invasions of Edward L; a
manifesto almost unequalled for the
spirit of its remonstrance, y.nd the li-
berty of sentiment which it avowed,.
(Fide Hailes's Annals of Scotland.)
After the death of Beaton, the abbey
felt the destructive fanaticism of the
reformers ; and its revenues were e-
rected into a temporal lordship, in
favour of a Lord J. Hamilton, son of
the Duke de Chatelherault. Lord
Aberbrothockfs still one of the titles
of the Duke of Hamilton.. The ruins
of the abbey are strikingly pictur-
esque, consisting of ruinous towers of
the most solid construction, columns
overthrown and broken in pieces, Go-
thic windows, cloisters, staircases, &c.
all exhibiting, as well the ravages of
• time, jis the freuzy of religious zeal.
ATBE
The prosperity of the town shared
the fate of the abbey, till about th«
year 1736, -when its commerce began
to revive. At that time a few gen-
tlemen of property engaged in the
manufacture of osnaburghs and brown
linens, which succeeded well, and is
still the principal branch of manufac-
ture. In 1802, there were stamped
at the stamp-office, 1,457,851 1 yards
of those kinds of cloth, valued at
63,9081. 8s. 5^- Sterling ; and, prior
to the conclusion of the late war, the
sail-cloth manufacture produced near-
ly as much. There are about 34 ves-
sels belonging to the place, each from
60 to 160 tons burden, employed in
the Baltic and coasting trade. Aber-
brothock is. a royalty of very ancient
erection ; it being the general qphuon,
that it was erected into a royal bo-
rough by King William the Lion, a-
bout the year 1J86; but this cannot
exactly be ascertained, owing to the
loss 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 Bishop of Moray, cal-
led Postulat of Arbroath. It was,
however, confirmed in its privileges
by a writ of novodamus from James
W^g in 1589. It i3 governed,by a pro-
vost, 2 bailies, a treasurer, and 15
counsellors, and has 7 incorporated
trades. The revenues arising from
the shore dues, and other public pro-
perty, is upwards of 9001. Sterling, ft
unites with the boroughs of Aberdeen,
Montrose, Inverbervie, and Brechin,
in sending a representative to parlia-
ment. In 1801, the population, in-
cluding that part of the town situated
in the parish of St. Vigeans, was near-
ly 7000. Its fairs are on the 3 1st Janu-
ary, 3d Wednesday of June, and 18th
July. The parish of Aberbrothock
or Arbroath is of small extent, being
an, erection about two centuries ago,
of the town and royalty into a sepa-
rate parish from St. Vigeans, in which
.it formerly was included. Around
the town the soil is rich and fertile 5
but towards the N. W. there is a
considerable extent of mtury ground*,-
the property of the community,
which is now covered with thriving
plantations. About half a mile W.
from the town is a considerable com-
monty, in which is a strong chaly-
A 2