This evening, my theme is the town of Haddington, which lies about 20 miles from Edinburgh.

Haddington is situated in the midst of the region known as East Lothian which is strong on agriculture.The town once held the biggest grain market in Scotland and today boasts many fine buildings including a working mill as evidence of its past.. Traders concluded deals by the goat shaped Mercat Cross. Criminals were hung from the Nungate Bridge.

The town has been engulfed by various catastrophes including:

• Repeated flooding by the River Tyne which reached a peak in 1948 flooding the town centre to a depth of one foot.
• Devastation caused by English armies which three times burned the town over a span of 200 years.

Famous People: The Protestant reformer, John Knox was born in Haddington and Robert Burns' brother, Gilbert moved to Haddington from his native Ayrshire.

Overall, Haddington impresses and pleasant and prosperous town, although perhaps not somewhere to go for a vacation.

Elsewhere today:

• I have been busy arranging various tours including whisky themed and ancestry themed.
• Posted information to my separate GlasgowAncestry blog on Madden family history which seemed to involve reverse migration in that the deceased were born in the U.S. but died in Glasgow.

Weather here in Glasgow has been relatively dry and cool. It seems a good day is in prospect for tomorrow.

Labels: Haddington

posted by Nigel Cole @ 12:53 PM