DUNBAR, royal parish and police burgh (Gaelic, "the fort on the point"), and seaport, East Lothian, Scotland. Pop. (I 93I) 3,751. It is on the southern shore of the entrance to the Firth of Forth, 294 m. E. by N. of Edinburgh by the L.N.E.R. Dunbar is said to have the smallest rainfall in Scotland and is a favourite summer resort, with good golf and bathing. The ruins of the castle, and the remains of the Grey Friars' monastery, founded in 218, at the west end of the town, and Dunbar House in High Street, formerly a mansion of the Lauderdales, but now used as barracks, are of historic interest.
There are two harbours, difficult of access owing to the number of reefs and sunken rocks. On the advent of steam the shipping declined, and even the herring fishery, which fostered a large curing trade, has lost much of its prosperity. Crabs and lobsters are caught. There are few industries, but corn, fish and potatoes are exported.
A castle was built on the cliffs at least as early as 856. In I070 Malcolm Canmore gave it to Cospatric, earl of Northumberland, ancestor of the earls of Dunbar and March. The fortress was an important bulwark against English invasion, and the town— which was created a royal burgh by David II.—grew up under its protection. The castle was taken by Edward I., and it afforded shelter to Edward II. after Bannockburn. In 1336 it was be sieged by the English under William, Lord Montacute, after wards 1st earl of Salisbury, but was successfully defended by Black Agnes of Dunbar, countess of March, a member of the Murray family. Joanna Beaufort, widow of James I., chose it for her residence, and in 1479, after his escape from Edin burgh Castle, the duke of Albany concealed himself here before sailing for France, and Mary sheltered here in two crises. The regent Moray dismantled it in 1568, but its ruins are still a picturesque object on the hill above the harbour.
Cromwell, after a war of manoeuvre near Edinburgh, had been compelled by want of supplies to withdraw to Dunbar; Leslie pursued and took up a position on Doon Hill, commanding the English line of retreat on Berwick. The situation was more than difficult for Cromwell. Some officers were for withdrawing by sea, but the general chose to hold his ground, though his army was enfeebled by sickness and would have to fight on able terrain against odds of two to one. Leslie, however, who was himself in difficulties on his post among the bare hills, and was perhaps subjected to pressure from civil authorities, scended from the heights on Sept. 2 and began to edge towards his right, in order first to confront, and afterwards to surround, his opponent. The cavalry of his left wing stood fast, west of Doon Hill, as a pivot of noeuvre, the northern face of Doon (where the ground rises from the burn at an average slope of fifteen degrees and is even steeper near the summit) he left unoccupied. The centre of infantry stood on the forward slope of the long spur which runs east from Doon, and beyond them, practically on the plain, was . the bulk of the Scottish cavalry. But if Leslie had placed himself on Cromwell's line of retreat, he had thereby placed Cromwell on his—to the latter's moral advantage. In the ning Cromwell drew up his army, under ir,000 effective men, along the ravine, and issued orders to attack the Scots at dawn of the 3rd (13th) . The left of the Scots was ineffective, as was a part of their centre of foot on the upper part of the side, and the English commander proposed to deal with the mainder. Before dawn the English advanced troops crossed the 'ravine, attacked Doon, and pinned Leslie's left; under cover of this the whole army began its manoeuvre. The artillery was posted on the Dunbar side of the burn, directly opposite and north of Doon, the infantry and cavalry crossed where they could, and formed up gradually in a line south of and roughly parallel to the Berwick road, the extreme left of horse and foot, acting as a reserve, crossed at Brocksmouth House on the outer flank. The Scots were surprised in their bivouacs, but quickly formed up, and at first repulsed both the horse and the foot. But ere long Cromwell himself arrived with his reserve, and the whole English line advanced again. The fresh impulse enabled it to break the Scottish cavalry and repulse the foot, and Leslie's line of battle was gradually rolled up from right to left. In the words of an English officer, "The sun appearing upon the sea, I heard Nol say, `Now let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered,' and following us as we slowly marched I heard him say, `I profess they run.' " Driven into the broken ground, and penned between Doon Hill and the ravine, the Scots were indeed helpless. "They routed one another after we had done their work on their right wing," says the same officer. Ten thousand men, including almost the whole of the Scottish foot, surrendered, and their killed numbered three thousand. Few of the English were killed. "I do not believe," wrote Cromwell, "that we have lost twenty men." The account of the battle of Dunbar here followed is that of C. H. Firth, for which see his Cromwell, pp. 281 ff. and references there given. For other accounts see Carlyle, Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, letter cxl.; Hoenig, Cromwell; Baldock, Cromwell as a Soldier; and Gardiner, Hist. of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, vol. i.