The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and also geographical centre for East Lothian, which as a result of late-nineteenth century Scottish local government reforms took the form of the region of Haddingtonshire for the period from 1889-1921. It lies regarding 17 miles (27 km) east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the sixth or 7th century AD when the location was integrated right into the kingdom of Bernicia. The community, like the rest of the Lothian region, was yielded by King Edgar of England and entered into Scotland in the tenth century. Haddington got burghal condition, one of the earliest to do so, during the power of David I (1124-- 1153), offering it trading legal rights which encouraged its development into a market town. Today Haddington is a village with a population of less 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 town is the Town House, integrated in 1748 according to a plan by William Adam. When first developed, it inheld a council chamber, jail and also sheriff court, to which assembly rooms were added in 1788, and a new appear 1835. Close-by is the Corn Exchange (1854) and also the County Courthouse (1833 ). Other close-by noteworthy websites consist of the Jane Welsh Carlyle House, Mitchell's Close and also the birth place of author and also government reformer Samuel Smiles on the High Street, noted by a celebratory plaque.