The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a community in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the primary administrative, cultural as well as geographical centre for East Lothian, which as a result of late-nineteenth century Scottish city government reforms took the form of the area of Haddingtonshire through from 1889-1921. It exists regarding 17 miles (27 km) eastern of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the 6th or 7th century AD when the area was integrated right into the kingdom of Bernicia. The town, like the rest of the Lothian area, was yielded by King Edgar of England and also became part of Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington obtained burghal standing, one of the earliest to do so, throughout the reign of David I (1124-- 1153), providing it trading rights which motivated its growth right into a market town. Today Haddington is a small town with a population of fewer than 10,000 individuals; although throughout the High Middle Ages, it was the fourth-biggest city in Scotland after Aberdeen, Roxburgh and also Edinburgh. In the middle of the community is the Town hall, built in 1748 according to a strategy by William Adam. When first built, it inheld a council chamber, prison and also constable court, to which assembly rooms were added in 1788, and a brand-new clock in 1835. Neighboring is the Corn Exchange (1854) and also the County Courthouse (1833 ). Other nearby significant websites include the Jane Welsh Carlyle House, Mitchell's Close and also the birth place of writer and government reformer Samuel Smiles on the High Street, noted by a celebratory plaque.