DUNBAR, a royal, parliamentary, and municipal burgh, and very ancient seaport and t. in the n.e. of Haddingtonshire, on an eminence at the mouth of the firth of Forth, 29 m. e.n.e. of Edinburgh. The coast near D. consists of basaltic rocks and islets, and gives fine views of the Bass rock, the isle of May, and Fifeshire. D. is a fine old town. It has a sailcloth and cordage manufactory, a paper mill, and extensive tile works, breweries, etc., but the chief industry is the fisheries, in connection with which there are large curing establishments. The old harbor is impeded at the entrance by craggy islets and sunken rocks, but is accessible to vessels of 300 tons. About the year 1840, an additional harbor, called the Victoria harbor, was erected at D., at the expense of the fishery board and town; with recent important repairs and improvements, it has cost altogether upwards of £50,000. It has 4 ft. at low water, and is considered one o the best suited for fishery purposes in the country. From 4,000 to 5,000 tons of herrings are annually exported from D., besides what are used for local consumption.
The other exports are chiefly corn and potatoes. Pop. '71, 3,311. D. unites with North Berwick, Jedburgh, Haddington, and Lauder in sending a member to parliament. On the high rocks at the entrance to the new harbor are a few fragments of the ruins of a castle, which, from the end of the 11th c., was the chief seat of the ancient earls of March, It was once very strong and an important security against English invasions: Edward I. took it, and Edward II. fled thither after the battle of Bannockburn; it was demolished in 1333, and rebuilt in 1336; it was successfully defended in a siege of six weeks against the earl of Salisbury by Black Agnes, countess of Dunbar, in 1338; it sheltered queen Mary and Bothwell in 1567; and in the same year it was destroyed by the regent Murray. In 1650, Cromwell, at the "Race of Dunbar," defeated the Scottish army under Leslie.