Haddington
The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the major management, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which as a result of late-nineteenth century Scottish local government reforms took the kind of the county of Haddingtonshire through from 1889-1921. It lies about 17 miles (27 kilometres) eastern of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or 7th century AD when the location was included right into the kingdom of Bernicia. The community, like the rest of the Lothian region, was yielded by King Edgar of England and also entered into Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington received burghal status, one of the earliest to do so, during the regime of David I (1124-- 1153), giving it trading legal rights which motivated its development into a market town. Today Haddington is a small town with a population of fewer than 10,000 people; although during the High Middle Ages, it was the fourth-biggest city in Scotland after Aberdeen, Roxburgh and Edinburgh. In the middle of the town is the Town House, built in 1748 according to a plan by William Adam. When first built, it inheld a council chamber, jail and sheriff court, to which assembly rooms were included 1788, and a new appear 1835. Nearby is the Corn Exchange (1854) and the Court (1833 ). Other nearby noteworthy sites include the Jane Welsh Carlyle House, Mitchell's Close and the birth place of writer and government reformer Samuel Smiles on the High Street, marked by a celebratory plaque.