Dronne. It is well
known for the remains of an abbey founded by Charlemagne about 770 and
afterwards destroyed by the Normans. The oldest existing portion is a
square tower dating from the 11th century, built upon a rock beside the
church which it overlooks. It communicates by a staircase with the
church, a rectangular building partly Romanesque, partly Gothic, to the
west of which are the remains of a cloister. The abbey buildings date
from the 18th century, and now serve as hotel-de-ville, magistrature and
schools. Caves in the neighbouring rocks were inhabited by the monks
before the building of the abbey; one of them, used as an oratory,
contains curious carvings, representing the Last Judgment and the
Crucifixion. In the middle of the 16th century Pierre de Bourdeille came
into possession of the abbey, from which he took the name of Brantome.

Brantome has some old houses and a church of the 15th century, which was
once fortified and is now used as a market. Truffles are the chief
article of commerce; and there are quarries of freestone in the
neighbourhood. The dolmen which is known as Pierre-Levee, to the east of
the town, is the most remarkable in Perigord.

BRANXHOLM, or BRANKSOME, a feudal castle, now modernized, and an ancient
seat of the Buccleuchs, on the Teviot, 3 m. S.W. of Hawick, Roxburgh,
Scotland. It was at Branksome Hall that Sir Walter Scott laid the scene
of _The Lay of the Last Minstrel_.

BRANXTON, or BRANKSTON, a village of Northumberland, England, 10-1/2 m.
E. by N. of Kelso, and 2 m. E.S.E. of Coldstream, and 10 m. N.W. of
Wooler. It was on Branxton Hill, immediately south of the village, that
the battle of Flodden (q.v.) was fought between the English and the
Scots on the 9th of September 1513. During the fight the Scots centre
pushed as far as Branxton church, but "the King's Stone," which lies
N.W. of the church and is popularly supposed to mark the spot where
James IV. fell, is some three-quarters of a mile from the scene of the
battle; it is believed in reality to mark the sepulchre of a chieftain,
whose name had already perished in the 16th century. Branxton church,
dedicated to St Paul, was rebuilt in 1849 in Norman style. Of the older
building nothing remains save the chancel arch.

BRAOSE, WILLIAM DE (d. 1211), lord of Brecknock, Radnor and Limerick,
spent the early part of his life fighting the Welsh in Radnorshire. He
was high in King John's favour, received a