East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921.
The shires of Scotland, or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes, from the 17th century they started to be used for local administration purposes as well. The areas used for judicial functions (sheriffdoms) came to diverge from the shires, which ceased to be used for local government purposes after 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
Tranent is a town in East Lothian, in the south-east of Scotland. Tranent lies 6 miles from the boundary of Edinburgh, and 9.1 miles from the city centre. It lies south of the A1 road that runs through the parish splitting it from its associated villages and hamlets Meadowmill and the ports of Cockenzie and Port Seton. The original main post road ran straight through the town until the new A1 was built. Built on a gentle slope, about 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level it is one of the oldest towns in East Lothian. The population of the town is approximately 12,140, an increase of over 4,000 since 2001. Tranent was formerly a major mining town, but now serves as a commuter town for Edinburgh.
Donnchadh was a Gall-Gaidhil prince and Scottish magnate in what is now south-western Scotland, whose career stretched from the last quarter of the 12th century until his death in 1250. His father, Gille-Brighde of Galloway, and his uncle, Uhtred of Galloway, were the two rival sons of Fergus, Prince or Lord of Galloway. As a result of Gille-Brighde's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish monarch William the Lion, Donnchadh became a hostage of King Henry II of England. He probably remained in England for almost a decade before returning north on the death of his father. Although denied succession to all the lands of Galloway, he was granted lordship over Carrick in the north.
Causantín or Constantine of Fife is the first man known for certain to have been Mormaer of Fife.
Máel Bethad of Liberton was a powerful landowner in Lothian in the reign of King David I of Scotland. Although he was a Gael, his estate may have been predominantly Middle English-speaking, as it bears the name "Liberton", which, unless it is an improbable Anglo-Romance compound meaning "book settlement" or "free settlement", is a corruption of early Middle English hlith bere tun, "barley hill settlement". Liberton is about two and a half miles (4.0 km) south of Edinburgh's Old Town, and is now a suburb. Liberton parish consisted of 6,600 acres (27 km2) of land, and it is likely that Máel Bethad owned the upper part of the parish. Máel Bethad's name occurs as a witness on many of King David's charters, where it is rendered in a number of corrupt forms, e.g. "Malbead de Libertona", "Malbet de Libertune", "Malbeth de Libertona", "Makbet de Libertona", "Malbet de Libertone", and perhaps "Macbetber" Two of these names represent a confusion with the name Mac Bethad, whereas the name is certainly Máel Bethad ; "Life" here is an abstract Gaelic religious concept meaning "eternal life" or "christian immortality".
Samson of Brechin is the first known Bishop of Brechin. He appears as a witness in a charter granted by King David I of Scotland to the community of Deer, recorded in the notitiae in the margins of the Book of Deer. The charter dates to some point between the years 1140 and 1153, although it can probably be pinned down to the year 1150. There certainly was a bishopric of Brechin in 1150, as there exists another charter of King David's, this time granted to the bishop (unnamed) and Céli Dé of Brechin. It is known that Samson was still bishop in the reign of King Máel Coluim IV (1153–1165), appearing as a witness as late as 1165 in a charter of Richard, Bishop of St. Andrews.
Léot of Brechin is the first known Abbot of Brechin. He appears in three charters. The first of these is a Scoto-Latin charter recorded in the notitiae on the Book of Deer, a charter which explicitly dates to "the eighth year of the reign of David" (1131) which styles him "Léot ab Brecini". The second of these is a charter of King David I of Scotland, dated by Archibald Lawrie to 1150, granting the lands of "Nithbren" and "Balcristin" to Dunfermline Abbey, where he is called "Leod abbate de Breichin". The third of these is a charter granted by King David to the church of St. Mary of Haddington dating to 1141 mentions a "Leod de Brechin".
Thor Longus or Thor the Long was an early 12th-century Anglo-Saxon noble associated with Roxburghshire, a culturally Northumbrian and Brythonic Cumbric Celtic territory ruled by the Scottish king from the 11th-century onwards. A charter dating between 1107×1113 and 1124 claims that Thor the Long founded Ednam, previously a deserted waste granted to him by King Edgar of Scotland.
The Justiciar of Lothian was an important legal office in the High Medieval Kingdom of Scotland.
Freskin was a Flemish nobleman who settled in Scotland during the reign of King David I, becoming the progenitor of the Murray and Sutherland families, and possibly others.
Hugh de Morville of Appleby in Westmorland, England, hereditary Constable of Scotland, was a Norman knight who made his fortune in the service of David FitzMalcolm (d.1153), Prince of the Cumbrians, later King of Scotland.
Political and military events in Scotland during the reign of David I are the events which took place in Scotland during David I of Scotland's reign as King of Scots, from 1124 to 1153. When his brother Alexander I of Scotland died in 1124, David chose, with the backing of Henry I of England, to take the Kingdom of Alba for himself. David was forced to engage in warfare against his rival and nephew, Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair. Subduing the latter took David ten years, and involved the destruction of Óengus, mormaer of Moray. David's victory allowed him to expand his control over more distant regions theoretically part of the Kingdom. In this he was largely successful, although he failed to bring the Earldom of Orkney into his kingdom.
The Davidian Revolution is a name given by many scholars to the changes which took place in the Kingdom of Scotland during the reign of David I (1124–1153). These included his foundation of burghs, implementation of the ideals of Gregorian Reform, foundation of monasteries, Normanisation of the Scottish government, and the introduction of feudalism through immigrant Norman and Anglo-Norman knights.
The first Hugh de Giffard was an influential feudal baron in Scotland, and one of the hostages for the release of King William the Lion in 1174.
Ada de Warenne was the Anglo-Norman wife of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumbria and Earl of Huntingdon. She was the daughter of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey by Elizabeth of Vermandois, and a great-granddaughter of Henry I of France. She was the mother of Malcolm IV and William I of Scotland.
Ranulf de Soules was a Norman knight who came to Scotland with David I and served as his cupbearer.
Laurence is the first Bishop of Dunblane to be known by name. A document dating to 27 February 1155, had an M. de Dunblan, but no more is known of this man and it is unlikely that M. is a mistake for La..
Scone is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The medieval town of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield. Hence the modern village of Scone, and the medieval village of Old Scone, can often be distinguished.
Gospatric is the first known sheriff of Roxburgh, a burgh in Teviotdale. His father is thought to have been Uhtred son of Ulfkill.
