The Canongate
King David I, who established the Abbey, gave the surrounding area to the Augustinian canons then resident at Edinburgh Castle in the form of a regality.
[4] In 1380, the Canogate, lying outwith the city walls of Edinburgh, was largely destroyed by fire at the hands of the English army under Richard II.
[5] Holyrood Palace was developed from the 14th century onwards as successive monarchs made increasing use of the Abbey for political events such as parliaments and royal councils.
The English Master of Ordnance, Christopher Morris, brought artillery up the Canongate to assault Edinburgh's Netherbow Gate.
The Scots could not retaliate due to heavy small arms fire and archery, during which Morris placed a cannon close to the gate.
Rambouillet was entertained at the Palace by Mary, Queen of Scots in "maskrie and mumschance" during which her ladies were dressed in men's clothes.
When James VI returned to Edinburgh in 1579 after spending his childhood at Stirling Castle, some courtiers including the master of his wine cellar, Jerome Bowie, acquired houses in the Canongate.
[18] The accession of King James VI to the throne of England in 1603 began the long and slow decline of the Canongate.
Carnation striped worsted wool wall hangings for Newbiggin House were woven in the Canongate by James Crommie in 1665.
The North Bridge, finally opened in 1772, provided a new and more convenient route from Edinburgh to the port of Leith effectively bypassing the Canongate which had until then been the main route from Edinburgh to Leith via Easter Road causing even more neglect to the residential area which was gradually taken over by industrial premises including breweries and a large gasworks.
[26] Writing in 1824, Robert Chambers said of the Canongate, "As the main avenue from the palace into the city, it has borne upon its pavements the burden of all that was beautiful, all that was gallant, all that has become historically interesting in Scotland for the last six or seven hundred years".
[28] The area has seen various attempts at improvements and slum clearance, including various schemes by Ebenezer James MacRae in the 1930s and Sir Robert Hurd[29] in the 1950s in traditional style replicating original facades.
Residential redevelopment began on former industrial sites in the 1990s and 2000s with flats, offices and other commercial operations being built south of the main road, reversing the decline in population.
Whilst much of this development has a modern appearance, some attempt has been made in terms of layout to retain the "fishbone" pattern characteristic of the Royal Mile.
As of 2006, the redevelopment of former industrial land to the north of the Canongate, once occupied by Victorian gasworks and a later bus garage, has proved controversial, partly due to the original proposal, now abandoned, to demolish some of the replacement buildings from the 1930s.
As the school is so central to the Canongate community, its pupils are often involved in illustrious events at the Scottish parliament and Edinburgh Castle.
[35] The site is now marked by a maltese cross formed by coloured setts in the road surface near the top of St John's Street (55°57′04″N 3°10′54″W / 55.950975°N 3.181766°W / 55.950975; -3.181766).
[38] It is shown on a map of the 1573 siege of Edinburgh, published in Holinshed's Chronicles in 1577, as an ornamental shaft elevated on a flight of steps and was not demolished until after 1767.
A notable execution took place next to the cross in 1600 when the young and beautiful Jean Kincaid (Lady Warriston) was beheaded by the Maiden for conspiring in the murder of her abusive husband.
