HADDINGTON

This article appears in Volume V12, Page 796 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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HADDINGTON , a royal, municipal and police burgh, and
county town of Haddingtonshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 3993.
It is situated on the Tyne, 18 m. E. of Edinburgh by the North British railway, being the terminus of a branch line from Longniddry Junction. Five bridges cross the river, on the right bank of which lies the old and somewhat decayed suburb of Nungate, interesting as having contained the Giffordgate, where John Knox was born, and where also are the ruins of the pre-Reformation chapel of St Martin. The principal building in the town is St Mary's church, a cruciform Decorated edifice in red sandstone, probably dating from the 13th century. It is 210 ft. long, and is surmounted by a square tower 90 ft. high. The nave, restored in 1892, is used as the parish church, but the choir and transepts are roofless, though otherwise kept in repair. In a vault is a fine monument in alabaster, consisting of the recumbent figures of John, Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (15451595), chancellor of Scotland, and his wife. The laudatory sonnet composed by James VI. is inscribed on the tomb. In the same vault John, duke of Lauderdale (16161682), is buried. In the choir is the tombstone which Carlyle erected over the grave of his wife, Jane Baillie Welsh (18o11866), a native of the town. Other public edifices include the county buildings in the Tudor style, in front of which stands the monument to George, 8th marquess of Tweeddale (17871876), who was such an expert and enthusiastic coachman that he once drove the mail from London to Haddington without taking rest; the corn exchange, next to that of Edinburgh the largest in Scotland; the town house, with a spire 150 ft. high, in front of which is a monument to John Home, the author of Douglas; the district asylum to the north of the burgh; the western district hospital; the Tenterfield home for children; the free library and the Knox Memorial Institute. This last-named building was erected in 1879 to replace the old and famous grammar school, where John Knox, William Dunbar, John Major and possibly George Buchanan and Sir David Lindsay were educated. John Brown (17221787), a once celebrated dissenting divine, author of the Self-Interpreting Bible, ministered in the burgh for 36 years and is buried there; his son John the theologian (17541832), and his grandson Samuel (18171856), the chemist, noted for his inquiries into the atomic theory, were natives. Samuel Smiles (18121904), author of Character, Self-Help and other works, was also born there, and Edward Irving was for years mathematical master in the grammar school. In Hardgate Street is " Bothwell Castle," the town house of the

earl

EARL

of Both-well, where Mary Queen of Scots rested on her way to Dunbar. The ancient market cross has been restored. The leading industries are the making of agricultural implements, manufactures of woollens and sacking, brewing, tanning and coach-building, besides corn mills and engineering works.
The burgh is the retail centre for a large district, and its grain markets, once the largest in Scotland, are still of considerable importance. Haddington was created a royal burgh by David I. It also received charters from Robert Bruce, Robert II. and James VI. In 1139 it was given as a dowry to Ada, daughter of William de Warenne,

earl

EARL

of Surrey, on her marriage to Prince Henry, the only son of David I. It was occasionally the residence of royalty, and Alexander II. was born there in 1198. Lying in the direct road of the English invaders, the town was often ravaged. It was burned by King John in 1216 and by Henry III. in 1244. Fortified in 1548 by Lord Grey of Wilton, the English

commander

COMMANDER

, it was besieged next year by the Scots and French, who forced the garrison to withdraw. So much slaughter had gone on during that period of storm and stress that it was long impossible to excavate in any direction without coming
necks or vents. The Carboniferous Limestone series which succeeds the Calciferous Sandstone consists of a middle group of sandstones, shales, coals and ironstones, with a limestone group above and below. The coal-field is synclinal in structure, Port Seton being about the centre; it contains ten seams of coal, and the area covered by it is some 3o sq. m. Glacial boulder clay lies over much of the lower ground, and ridges of gravel and sand flank the hills and form extensive sheets. Traces of old raised sea-beaches are found at several points along the coast. At North Berwick, Tynninghame and elsewhere there are stretches of blown sand. Limestone is worked at many places, and hematite was formerly obtained from the Garleton Hills.
Climate and Agriculture.Though the county is exposed to the full sweep of the east wind during March, April and May, the climate is on the whole mild and equable. The rainfall is far below the average of Great Britain, the mean for the year being 25 in., highest in midsummer and lowest in

spring

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

. The average temperature for the year is 470'5 F., for January 38 and for July 59. Throughout nearly the whole of the 19th century East

Lothian

LOTHIAN

agriculture was held to be the best in Scotland, not so much in consequence of the natural fertility of the soil as because of the enterprise of the cultivators, several of whom, like George Hope of Fenton Barns (1811-1876), brought scientific farming almost to perfection. Mechanical appliances were adopted with exceptional alacrity, and indeed some that afterwards came into general use were first employed in Haddington.

Drill

DRILL

sowing of turnips dates from 1734. The threshing machine was introduced by Andrew Meikle (17191811) in 1787, the steam plough in 1862, and the reaping machine soon after its invention, while tile draining was first extensively used in the county. East

Lothian

LOTHIAN

is famous for the richness of its grain and green crops, the size of its holdings (average 200 acres) and the good housing of its labourers. The soils vary. Much of the Lammermuirs is necessarily unproductive, though the lower slopes are cultivated, a considerable tract of the land being very good. In the centre of the shire occurs a belt of tenacious yellow clay on a tilly subsoil which is not adapted for agriculture. Along the coast the soil is sandy, but farther inland it is composed of rich loam and is very fertile. The land about Dunbar is the most productive, yielding a potatothe "Dunbar red "which is highly esteemed in the markets. Of the grain crops oats and barley are the principal, and their acreage is almost a constant, but wheat, after a prolonged decline, has experienced a revival. Turnips and potatoes are cultivated extensively, and with marked success, and constitute nearly all the green crops raised. Although pasture-land is below the average, live-stock are reared profitably. About one-sixteenth of the total area is under wood.
Other Industries.Fisheries are conducted from Dunbar, North Berwick, Port Seton and Prestonpans, the catch consisting chiefly of cod, haddock, whiting and shellfish. Fireclay as well as limestone is worked, and there are some stone quarries, but the manufactures are mainly agricultural implements, pottery, woollens, artificial manures, feeding-stuffs and salt, besides brewing. Coal of a very fair quality is extensively worked at Tranent, Ormiston, Macmerry and near Prestonpans, the coal-field having an area of about 30 sq. m. Limestone is found throughout the greater part of the shire. A vein of hematite of a peculiarly fine character was discovered in 1866 at Garleton Hill, and wrought for some years. Ironstone has been mined at Macmerry.
The North British Company possess the sole running powers in the county, through which is laid their main line to Berwick and the south. Branches are sent off at Drem to North Berwick, at Longniddry to Haddington and also to Gullane, at Smeaton (in Mid-Lothian) to Macmerry, and at Ormiston to Gifford.
Population and Government.The population was 37,377 in 1891, and 38,665 in 1901, when 459 persons spoke Gaelic and English, and 7 spoke Gaelic only. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

towns are Dunbar (pop. in 1901, 3581), Haddington (3993), North Berwick (2899), Prestonpans (2614) and Tranent (2584). The county, which returns one member to Parliament, forms part of the sheriffdom of the Lothians and Peebles, and there is a resident sheriff-substitute at Haddington, who sits also at Dunbar, Tranent
796
on human remains. The town has suffered much periodically from floods. One of the most memorable of these occurred on the 4th of October 1775, when the Tyne rose 8 ft. 9 in. above its bed and inundated a great part of the burgh. An inscription in the centre of the town records the event and marks the point to which the water rose.
There are many interesting places within a few miles of Haddington. Five miles E. is Whittingehame House, and 5 m. N.E. is the thriving

village

VILLAGE

of East Linton (pop. 919). About 21 M. N. lies Athelstaneford (locally, Elshinford), so named from the victory of Hungus, king of the Picts, in the 8th century over the Northumbrian Athelstane. On a hill near Drem, 31 m. N. by W., are traces of a Romano-British settlement, and the remains of the priest's house of the Knights Templars, to whom the barony once belonged. On the coast is the pretty

village

VILLAGE

of Aberlady on a fine bay, and in the neighbourhood are some of the finest golf links in Scotland, such as Luffness, Gullane, Archerfield and Muirfield. On Gosford Bay is Gosford House, an 18th-century mansion, the seat of the earl of Wemyss. At Gladsmuir, 31 m. W. of Haddington, alleged by some to have been the birthplace of George Heriot, Principal Robertson was minister and wrote most of his History of Scotland. Of the old seat of the Douglases at Longniddry few traces remain, and in the chapel, now in ruins, at the eastern end of the village, John Knox is said to have.preached occasionally. At Gifford, 4 M. to the S., John Witherspoon (1722-1794), president of the College of New

Jersey

JERSEY
JERSEY, EARLS OF

(Princeton), and Charles Nisbet (1736-1804), president of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, were born. A little to the south of Gifford are Yester House, a seat of the marquess of Tweeddale, finely situated in a park of old trees, and the ruins of Yester Castle. The cavern locally known as Hob-goblin

Hall

is described in Marmion, and is associated with all kinds of manifestations of the black art. Lennoxlove, 11 m. to the S., a seat of Lord Blantyre, was originally called Lethington, and for a few centuries was associated with the Maitlands. Amisfield, adjoining Haddington on the N.E., is another seat of the earl of Wemyss.

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