Dunbar, an ancient seaport and town of Haddingtonshire, on the coast of the Forth, 29 m. E. of Edinburgh; is a fishing station, and manufactures agricultural implements and paper; was, with its castle, which has stood many a siege, a place of importance in early Scottish history; near it Cromwell beat the Scots under Leslie on September 3, 1650.

Dunbar, William, a Scottish poet, entered the Franciscan order and became an itinerant preaching friar, in which capacity he wandered over the length and breadth of the land, enjoying good cheer by the way; was some time in the service of James IV., and wrote a poem, his most famous piece, entitled "The Thistle and the Rose," on the occasion of the King's marriage with the Princess Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII. His poems were of three classes—allegoric, moral, and comic, the most remarkable being "The Dance," in which he describes the procession of the seven deadly sins in the infernal regions. Scott says he "was a poet unrivalled by any that Scotland has produced" (1480-1520).