ABERBROTHOCK, or An Brio 5T11, a sea-port town, and one ol the royal boroughs of Scotland, situated on the mouth of the small river Brothock, in the county of Angus, about 56 miles N. N. E. of Edinburgh.
This town was erected into a royal borough about the middle of the 12th century, by king William the Lyon, who, in 1178, founded its abbey, dedicated to St Thomas ;I Becket ; but it was not consecrated till the year 1233. The remains of its royal founder are in terred there, now undistinguished amidst plebeian dust. This monastery was one of the richest in Scotland ; the monks were of the Tyronensian order from the abbey of Kelso, but were declared independent of its jurisdic tion. It enjoyed many other uncommon privileges : a charter from king John of England is still preserved, wherein the monastery and citizens of Aberbrothock are exempted a teloMis el con•uctudinc in every part of England, except London and Oxford.
A parliament was held at Arbroath in 1320, when the barons of Scotland under king Robert Bruce, in a cele brated and energetic manifesto, addressed to the pope, asserted the independence of their kingdom. In 1525, the famous cardinal Beaton, the Wolsey of Scotland, was the last abbot of Arbroath. After the destruction of the abbey, by the ungovernable fanaticism of the re formers, its revenues were erected into a temporal lord ship, in favour of lord John Hamilton, of the family of Chatelherault ; and lord Aberbrothock is still one of the titles of the duke of Hamilton. There is a dignity and venerable grandeur in the ruins of the abbey, which still command respect from strangers as they approach the town ; and when more closely inspected, its mould ering Gothic arches, and dilapidated columns, impress the mind with high ideas of its former magnificence.
With the abbey the town appears to have fallen into decay for a considerable period. But early in the last century, when the Union had diffused a spirit of com merce into Scotland, a few individuals of property be gan the manufacture of brown linen, which succeeded beyond expectation : it is still the principal trade of the place ; and from its quality, has acquired a celebri ty hitherto unrivalled.
The following abstract from the books of the Brown Linen Stamp-Office, Arbroath, and confirmed to the honourable the Board of Trustees, by the affidavit of the stamp-master, will show the progressive increase of the linen-manufacture for the last four years.
Stamped from Yards. Average lave.
Nov. 1803 to Nov. 1804, 1,129,495 L. 62,097 15 0 1804 1805, 1,147,240 64,915 10 9 1805 1806, 1,210,0344 69,246 14 11 1806 1807, 1,484,4251 83,454 15 9 Besides the above, the manufacture of sail-cloth is extensive, and may be fairly calculated for some years past at not less than 100,0001. annual value. Ten sail cloth manufacturers are contractors for supplying his majesty's navy with canvas ; the rest of the CUIIN manufactured goes for exportation and home consump tion. From 15u0 to 2000 tolls of flax and hemp, exclu sive ol lintseed, tallow, and ashes, are annually import ed from the Baltic : The above, including a tan-work, spirit and actility, are the prim ipal branches of trade in Arbroath. It enjoys a safe har bour, entirely artificial, which has been twice extended within these last four years, owing to its increase of shipping, which at present consists of upwards of 50 vessels, comprehending- about 4000 tons register ; their general size being from 60 to 150 toils : 01 these, three vessels belong to a company of the merchants, and are constantly employed in the London trade, the greater part of the linen and sail-cloth manufactured being shipped direct for that port : The rest are chiefly em ployed in the Baltic and coasting trade.
In the year 1781, an attack was made upon the town by a French privateer, after which a fort was built by subscription. It is constructed in the form ol a cres cent, on a small hill adjoining to the harbour, mounted with six 12-pounders, and commands the coast to a considerable distance.