THE Canongate, that section of the Royal Mile adjacent to Holyrood Palace, obtained its name from a religious source. In 1128 David I founded a monastery at Holyrood and granted a charter to the adjacent burgh: the thoroughfare of the Canongate was the canons' way, frequented by them as they passed between the monastery (later an Augustinian abbey), the burgh and the castle.

For centuries the burgh of Canongate was quite independent of Edinburgh. Canongate was regarded as a highly desirable place to live: the reason was that, being outwith the confines of the Edinburgh town wall, life was much more spacious. The Canongate was well known for the generous dimensions of its garden ground and its fruit orchards. The presence of the Scottish court at Holyrood naturally attracted the nobility, many of whom maintained a town house in the Canongate, placing it as near to Holyrood Palace as possible. A number of these interesting dwellings survive today.

Like the Old Town generally, the Canongate sustained a number of social and economic body blows over a lengthy period but especially in the nineteenth century. The result was that large areas were reduced to slums, and it was well into the twentieth century before there was any significant effort in conservation. The impetus for this came from a young architect, the late Robert Hurd, the crucial finance being provided initially by the public-spirited 4th Marquess of Bute. From these modest beginnings, the town itself was encouraged to tread the conservation path. All such work was suspended on the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, but was resumed in the Canongate in 1952 and progressed steadily thereafter.

Near the top of the Canongate, just a little downhill from Cranston Street, is Morocco Land. It can be identified by a stone figure on the wall, above street level. The figure, thought to be that of a Moor, recalls an Edinburgh legend that the original owner of the building had spent some years in Morocco, possibly as the captive of sea pirates, before he returned to Edinburgh with a Moroccan servant and built this property. There are several variations of the legend, some even more romantic than that related here, and all of them unverifiable.

No. 215 - Shoemakers' Land (1677) - is so named because it was built by the Incorporation of Cordiners (i.e. shoemakers).

Chessel's Court

There are indeed few buildings in the Canongate that do not have an interesting story attached to them. Across the street is Chessel's Court, seen through an arcade. At the rear of the court is the attractive building which, in 1788, housed the Excise Office that was the scene of the notorious Deacon Brodie's last and ultimately fatal exploit.

The name of Old Playhouse Close commemorates a theatre where, in the eighteenth century, and periodically opposed by the Church and the Town Council, dramatic performances were given. It was here that John Home's Douglas, hailed at the time as a milestone in the Scottish theatre, had its premire in 1756.

In St John Street can be seen the facade of the house where the Scottish novelist Tobias Smollett (1721-71) lived with his sister in 1766.

Moray House, whose entrance gate is distinguishable by its two slim stone obelisks, was built by the Dowager Countess of Home in 1625. It takes its name from her daughter, who became the Countess of Moray. The property has figured in more than one dramatic episode from Scotland's long story. Oliver Cromwell lodged here on two occasions -- the second in 1650 when the parliamentary army entered Edinburgh and Leith following the Scots' disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dunbar.

There is a sinister story attached to the ornate stone balcony that juts out over the street. In 1650, when the Marquess of Montrose, having been captured by the Covenanters, was passing Moray House on the way to his trial, his bitter political rival, the Marquess of Argyll, looked down on him from this balcony. It was the wedding day of Argyll's son, and it is said that members of the wedding party spat on the doomed Montrose from the balcony. The ironies of history! Some ten years later Argyll, his political fortunes transformed, passed beneath the same balcony, en route to his own trial and execution (1661).

Moray House also had a small part in the drama that surrounded the signing of the Treaty of Union in 1707. The commissioners had evidently arranged to meet and append their signatures in the summer house at Moray House. Such was the public tumult raised by those opposed to union with England, that the commissioners were compelled to seek a safer refuge in the cellar of a building in the High Street.

Moray House is now one of Scotland's colleges for the training of teachers, and the original house, though still there, is somewhat overshadowed by educational buildings more modern and less comely.

On the other side of the street is Bible Land, built in 1677 and so called because above its entrance is an open book, on the pages of which is inscribed the following verse, inspired by Psalm 133:

and, in addition, the message:

It is an honour for men to cease from strife.

Huntly House, which is now the City of Edinburgh museum of local history, is one of the oldest and most interesting buildings in the Royal Mile. It is a fine example of a sixteenth-century town house, and has had a varied career. The property was owned by the Aitchison family from 1517 to 1609. Like many other buildings, it suffered severely when the English sacked Edinburgh in 1544, but rebuilding took place, and then in 1570 a new frontage was added, featuring the distinctive triple gable. In 1647 it was acquired by the Incorporation of Hammer-men of the Canongate, who extended the building and rented out parts of it. By the nineteenth century Huntly House had fallen on hard times. It was inhabited by the poor, was subject to neglect and decay, and it seemed that the life of the venerable building was nearing its end. However, it was acquired by the City of Edinburgh in 1924 and, after extensive restoration, re-opened as the principal city museum in 1932. Huntly House contains a large and varied collection, illustrating many different aspects of the city's history. There are also outstanding examples of local craftsmanship in silver, pottery and glass. In addition, the museum boasts a personalia collection relating to the First World War leader Field Marshal Earl Haig.

Bakehouse Close, entered by a typical pend, is a good example of the domestic architecture of the period.

Immediately adjacent is Acheson House (1633), named after Sir Archibald Acheson, who was secretary of state for Scotland in the reign of Charles I. In the 1930s the declining property was rescued by the 4th Marquess of Bute, who in a number of crucial instances such as this championed the cause of conservation and showed the way to others, including local authorities.

Canongate Tollbooth

The picturesque building with the clock, on the north side of the street, is the Canongate Tolbooth (1591), which was the administrative hub of the Canongate in the days when it was an independent burgh. This was the meeting place of the council, where the law court sat, and the burgh jail. The Tolbooth is now the home of the city's newest museum - The People's Story. This tells of the lives, work and pastimes of Edinburgh citizens from the eighteenth century to the present day. The museum is about those who worked in Edinburgh's industries, trades and services.

Canongate Kirk (1688) is the parish church of the Canongate. As such, its parish includes the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and Her Majesty the Queen and other members of the royal family worship here while in residence at Holyrood. In the churchyard are the graves of many notable Scots, including Lord Provost George Drummond, the man of vision who was the driving force behind the New Town in the eighteenth century; Adam Smith (1723-90), economist and author of The Wealth of Nations; the Scottish philosopher, Professor Dugald Stewart (1753-1828); the young poet Robert Fergusson (1750-74), over whose half forgotten grave Robert Burns erected a headstone; Mrs Agnes MacLehose, Robert Burns' friend, 'Clarinda'; and Professor James Gregory (1753-1821), of the Chair of Medicine at Edinburgh who gave a grateful world Gregory's Powder (a mixture of pulverised rhubarb, ginger and magnesia).

On the north side of the street is a wall plaque marking the site of Golfer's Land. This commemorates a celebrated golfing legend about a shoemaker named John Paterson who about 1679, because of his exceptional skill at the game, was chosen by the Duke of York (later James II) to partner him in a foursome against two English noblemen on Leith Links. The match was won by Paterson and his royal partner, and the story goes that the gratitude of the Duke was so generous that Paterson was able to build the Canongate property with the proceeds.

Whitefoord House, which derives its name from an ancient town house formerly owned by a member of the nobility, is now the title of a complex of buildings that comprises the Scottish Veterans' Residences for ex-servicemen.

Whitehorse Close

The Canongate at this point becomes wider as we approach Abbey Strand and the entrance to Holyrood Palace. Through the arcade and pend on our left lies White Horse Close, a building of picturesque charm, which can be traced back to 1623 but which was extensively restored in the 1960s. This was the spot at which many of the coaches between Edinburgh and London began and ended their journeys. It is thought to have been the inn at which many of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's officers were quartered when his Highland army entered Edinburgh in 1745 prior to the march into England.

The Holyrood Brewery Foundation plans to create a visitor centre which will trace the history of the world on a 10-acre site between Holyrood Road and Holyrood Park.

Abbey Strand was a legal boundary line around Holyrood Abbey, the skeletal remains of which stand immediately north of the palace. Centuries ago, individuals entering the abbey precincts could gain sanctuary from the civil law, and in consequence quite a community of fugitives developed within the precincts. There was even an arrangement for a kind of amnesty from arrest on the Sabbath and, since the sanctuary took in Holyrood Park and a number of taverns, the confinement could not have been too onerous. The most common reason for seeking refuge seems to have been financial, for until about a century ago debtors could be imprisoned. The Abbey Strand is still marked in the roadway (with the letter 'S'), but any surviving power the sanctuary may have has not been tested within living memory.