THE COUNTIES OF FORFAR AXD KINCARDINE. 55 



connected with the town are Sir William Wallace, who, as well 

 as his companion in arms Scrymgeour, is said to have attended 

 school tliere, and who defended its walls in 1303 against 

 Edward I., — and Hector Boethius, the first Principal of King's 

 College, Aberdeen. 



Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a very old seaport town and 

 royal burgh. It is situated at the mouth of the Brothock, and 

 has a population of 20,169. It possesses a good harbour, and a 

 large trade is carried on in farm produce, and in pavement 

 obtained from 8 or 10 miles inland. There are also extensive 

 tanneries, roperies, breweries, and a shipbuilding yard. The 

 chief object of interest is the Abbey of Arbroath, once one of 

 the richest in Scotland. It was founded by William the Lion, 

 and dedicated to the memory of Thomas a Becket. In 1320 

 Eobert Bruce and his nobles here met, and despatched a nuncio 

 declaring the independence of Scotland. It shared the fate of 

 most of the other abbeys, having been destroyed by tha Ee- 

 formers in 1560. The last of its abbots was Cardinal Beaton. 

 Twelve miles south-east of Arbroath lies the Bell Eock light- 

 house, the tradition concerning which is preserved in Southey's 

 well-known ballad. 



Montrose, with a population of over 14,000, is a very ancient 

 royal burgh and seaport, with one of the best natural harbours 

 on the east coast. Standing on a level peninsula, it has on one 

 side tlie sea, on tlie other the river and basin. Here was 

 established, in 1534, the first school for the study of Greek in 

 Scotland. Among the first of its pupils was the learned Andrew 

 Melville ; while David Lindsay, Bishop of Brechin and Edin- 

 burgh, who raised the ire of Jenny Geddes, was one of its 

 teachers. In 1848 the Queen and Prince Consort visited 

 Montrose on their way from Balmoral to London. A fine sus- 

 pension bridge, erected in 1829, connects the island of Eossie 

 with the main body of the town. In the neighbourhood there 

 is a beautifully situated lunatic asylum capable of accommodat- 

 ing 450 patients. 



On the South Esk, 8 miles north-west of Montrose, lies 

 Brecliin, a town of nearly 8000 inhabitants, and a royal burgh 

 of very ancient date. Like most other Forfarshire towns its 

 staple manufacture is linen, but j)aper mills, tobacco factories, 

 distilling, brewing, and freestone (juarrying, give work to a good 

 many of the inliabitants. The cattle and horse markets of 

 Trinity Muir are held here. Close to the city, on the opposite 

 side of a ravine, stands Jirechin Castle, a seat of the Earl of 

 Dalhnusie. St Ninian's Cathedral, built in the thirteenth, four- 

 teentli and fifteenth centuries, is now used as a parish church. 

 A round tower, rising to a height of about 100 feet, stands 

 near the church. The only other one of these ancient and 



