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The Canongate is a district of Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The name derives from the burgh of Canongate founded by David I of Scotland c.1143. It remained an autonomous burgh under its own administration until its incorporation into the adjacent growing city of Edinburgh, in 1856. The district takes its name from the main street called Canongate (from ) which forms the lower, eastern half of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh's historic Old Town. The eastern end is also sometimes referred to as the Holyrood area of the city. However, whilst Holyrood and Canongate derive their origin from the same source, Holyrood was a regality in its own right, independent of the Canongate.〔John Mackay: History of the Burgh of Canongate (1900) p.209〕 The boundary is broadly analogous with the Holyrood Sanctuary or current precincts of the Palace (Watergate/Horse Wynd), having incorporated houses which once stood there. The Canongate is named after the canons of Holyrood Abbey and the Scots word ''gait'' meaning "way" (echoed in the name of the pub on the street "The Canons' Gait"). As well as the new Scottish Parliament building, which incorporates the historic Queensberry House, the Canongate contains some other notable public buildings, including Huntly House (now the Museum of Edinburgh) and the historic Canongate Tolbooth (now housing the People's Story Museum). In 1691 the Canongate Kirk was opened, replacing Holyrood Abbey as the parish church of the Canongate. The church is still used for Sunday services as well as weekday concerts. ==Early History== The Canongate owes its existence primarily to the establishment of Holyrood Abbey in 1128. 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.〔A Treatise On The History, Law, And Privileges Of The Palace And Sanctuary Of Holyrood House http://ia600504.us.archive.org/18/items/treatiseonhistor00halkiala/treatiseonhistor00halkiala_djvu.txt〕 The King also gave leave to the Canons to establish a burgh and as it was the only burgh within the regality it was given the status of burgh of regality of Canongate.〔A Treatise On The History, Law, And Privileges Of The Palace And Sanctuary Of Holyrood House http://ia600504.us.archive.org/18/items/treatiseonhistor00halkiala/treatiseonhistor00halkiala_djvu.txt〕 The area originally covered by the Canongate included the lands of Broughton, areas around the Pleasance and North Leith, giving the canons access to a port. It is not clear from what point Holyrood and Canongate were established as separate jurisdictions, governed by their own magistrates, clerk, fiscal and other officers, but the evidence suggests some time before 1620.〔A Treatise On The History, Law, And Privileges Of The Palace And Sanctuary Of Holyrood House http://ia600504.us.archive.org/18/items/treatiseonhistor00halkiala/treatiseonhistor00halkiala_djvu.txt〕 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 word "Pallais" appears in a reference to the royal lodgings in the reign of James IV, but they were first converted to palace buildings by James V in 1525.〔J Mackay, History of the Burgh of Canongate, Edinburgh 1886, p.7〕 The burgh of Canongate had a sometimes turbulent relationship with its neighbour, Edinburgh. The main reason for this was the continual battle over their exact boundaries up until their unification in 1856, an event which proved unpopular with the former's townsfolk.〔Susan Varga: Edinburgh Old Town (2006)〕 Because of the early historic connection between the Augustinian canons of Holyrood Abbey and their Church of St. Mary inside Edinburgh Castle, the parish of Canongate includes the Castle, hence a large common grave at the lower end of the churchyard was formerly used for soldiers of its garrison. King James VI of Scotland's accession to the throne of England in 1603 began the long and slow decline of the Canongate. The loss of the royal court from the Palace of Holyroodhouse inevitably had an impact on the wealth of the surrounding area. This was compounded by the union of the parliaments in 1707, as up until then Edinburgh had been the location of the Parliament of Scotland with the Canongate providing a fashionable suburb for the dwellings of the political class. The building of a new western approach to Edinburgh's New Town in the first decades of the 19th century effectively bypassed the area, causing even more neglect to the residential area which was gradually taken over by industrial premises including breweries and a large gasworks. The Canongate was an important district during the Scottish Enlightenment partly because of the presence of the Canongate Theatre (1746-1786), of which one of the proprietors was Lord Monboddo. The philosopher David Hume performed in a play staged there.〔Cloyd, E.L., ''James Burnett, Lord Monboddo'' (1972)〕 Writing in 1823, Robert Chalmers said of the Canongate, "As the main avenue from the palace into the city, it has born 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".〔Hamish Coghill, Edinburgh: The Old Town (1990)〕 Sir Walter Scott writing in 1827 stated; "Sir Sic itur ad Astra; This is the path to heaven. Such is the ancient motto attached to the armorial bearings of the Canongate, and which is inscribed, with greater or less propriety, upon all the public buildings, from the church to the pillory, in the ancient quarter of Edinburgh which bears, or rather once bore, the same relation to the Good Town that Westminster does to London".〔Chronicles of the Canongate|http://www.online-literature.com/walter_scott/chronicles-of-the-canongate/3/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Canongate」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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