JEDBURGH, a royal and parliamentary burgh of Scotland, capital of Roxburghshire, situate on the Jed Water, a tributary of the Teviot, 12 miles S.E. of Melrose, and 47 miles S.E. of Edinburgh, with both of which it is connected by rail. It is surrounded with orchards and fertile fields, and in the neighbourhood are the remains of numerous strongholds built to protect the Scottish border. The town owes its interest wholly to the past, associated as it is with many important events in the history of Scotland. In the oldest chronicles the name is spelt indifferently as Gedworth, Jedworth, Jedwood, and Jeddart. The last of these still lingers among the peasantry. It owed its origin to the erection of the abbey founded by David I. in the twelfth century, and to the castle built about the same time, doubtless as a protection for the sacred edifice. The latter was frequently honoured by the residence of royalty; and Alexander III. selected it for the festivities of his second marriage. Toward the close of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries, Jedburgh appears as a place famous in border warfare. In 1523 it was burned by the Earl of Surrey, and the abbey suffered so severely as to be rendered uninhabitable afterwards. The slogan or war-cry of the inhabitants was "Jeddart's here;" and their mode of first hanging and then trying prisoners has passed into the proverb of "Jeddart justice." After the Union, Jedburgh gradually fell in importance, and it was not till the recent introduction of wool manufactories that it showed any signs of progress. The modern town contains four principal streets, diverging from the great square where the markets are held. The chief buildings of interest are the old abbey and the gaol. The former, which is now little better than a ruin, exhibits in its architecture a very effective blending of the Norman and early English styles. The abbey was long used as a school and church after the Reformation. In the former Thomson the poet received his early education. The gaol, which is a modern building, stands on the site of the old castle not far from the abbey. The trade of Jedburgh chiefly consists in agricultural produce and woollen stuffs. The latter are manufactured in considerable quantities, as well as iron and brass goods. Markets are held in the town every Tuesday and Saturday. The municipal affairs are in the hands of a provost and fifteen councillors; and the burgh unites with Haddington, Dunbar, Lauder, and North Berwick in returning a member to parliament. There are seven churches in the town belonging to the Established, Free, United Presbyterian, Independent, and Episcopalian denominations. Pop. (1851) of royal burgh, 2948; parliamentary burgh, 3615.