ARBROATH, or Aberbrothock, a seaport and manufacturing town of Scotland, in the county of Forfar, 17 miles N.E. of Dundee and 60 N.N.E. of Edinburgh, in lat. 56° 33' N. and long. 2° 35' W. Of its origin we have no information, but it is probable that the shelter of the river Brothock, from which it derives its name, early attracted a settlement of seafaring folk. It was certainly in existence before the Tyronensian monks came from Kelso to take possession of the beautiful abbey dedicated to Thomas a-Becket, which King William the Lion had just founded in 1178. Whether the town was created a royal burgh in 1186, as has been stated, is uncertain; but it still preserves its charter of 1599. By King John of England it was exempted from. “toll and custom” in every part of the southern kingdom except London. In 1320 a parliament was held in the abbey by Robert I., and a letter—one of the most remarkable documents of our early history— was addressed to the Pope in regard to the relations between Scotland and England. In 1394 the burgesses of Arbroath entered into an agreement with John Gedy, the abbot, by which he and his successors were bound to maintain a sufficient harbour at their own expense. The abbacy was held in succession by Bishop Beaton of Glasgow, and his nephew, Cardinal Beaton, afterwards Archbishop of St Andrews. It was abolished by Act of Parliament, and erected into a temporal lordship of the Hamilton family in 1541. There is a tradition that the abbey was burned by a neighbouring “laird” in consequence of a private quarrel with the commendatary; but it is more generally believed that it merely fell into ruin from neglect. There is no evidence that it suffered from the attacks of the Reformers. The vestry, the south transept, part of the chancel, ...