Ada de Warenne, Mother of Kings, Malcolm IV and William I, was gifted Haddington by David I on her marriage to his son, Henry. Widowed in 1152, she retired to Haddington where she founded the Cistercian Priory of St Mary the Virgin. In 1548, the Treaty of Haddington betrothing Mary Queen of Scots to the Dauphin of France, was signed at the abbey. The only traces of its existence remain in place names such as Abbey Mill and Nungate although St Martins Kirk, gifted to the priory by Alexander de St Martin, survives. ©️ Marie Macpherson 2024
