The
Royal Burgh of
Haddington () is a town in
East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921. It lies about east of
Edinburgh. The name Haddington is
Anglo-Saxon, dating from the 6th or 7th century AD when the area was incorporated into the kingdom of
Bernicia. The town, like the rest of the
Lothian region, was ceded by
King Edgar of England and became part of Scotland in the 10th century. Haddington received
burghal status, one of the earliest to do so, during the reign of
David I (1124–1153), giving it trading rights which encouraged its growth into a
market town.