The New International Encyclopædia/Arbroath

ARBROATH, är-brōTH' (Celt. aber confluence, mouth + Brothock), Aberbrothwick, ăb'ẽr-brŏth'ĭk, or Aberbrothock, -ŭk. A seaport town in Forfarshire, Scotland, on the North Sea, about seventeen miles east-northeast of Dundee (Map: Scotland, F 3). Here King William the Lion founded a Tyronensian abbey in honor of Thomas à Becket in 1178. The King was interred in it in 1214. In the abbey, Bruce and the Scottish nobles met in 1320, to resist the claims of Edward II. to Scotland. Its ruins, which are cruciform, 270 by 160 feet, are very picturesque, presenting lofty towers, columns, gothic windows, etc. The chief industries of Arbroath are flax-spinning, jute-spinning, and the manufacture of sail-cloth. The new harbor, begun in 1841, admits vessels of 400 tons; it is protected by a breakwater. The chief exports are grain, potatoes, fish, pork, and paving-stones. Arbroath is a royal burgh, and, in conjuction with Montrose, Brechin, Forfar, and Bervie burghs, returns one member to Parliament. Population, with suburbs, in 1901, 22,372. The famous Bellrock lighthouse stands in the sea twelve miles southeast of Arbroath.