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A CELTIC tribe called the Votadini, were the first recorded occupants of the Volcanic rock of Din Eidyn, where Edinburgh Castle stands today. The Romans built a fort nearby at Inveresk to trade with the tribe but after the Roman departure, Din Eidyn fell to the invading Angles. The Angle king, Edwin of Northumbria acquired the Celtic fortress and it is said he renamed it Edwin's Burgh. Edinburgh would shake free of Anglian rule and over the next four centuries the Kingdom of Scotland emerged from an amalgamation of Scots in the west, Picts in the North, Britons in the south west and Angles in the south east. By the eleventh century Scotland was a powerful kingdom and one of its earliest kings, Malcolm Canmore, a nephew of Siward, the Earl of Northumbria, built Edinburgh's first castle. His Queen, Margaret was responsible for building a chapel within the castle, and this is now the oldest building in Edinburgh. In 1128, King David of Scotland built Holyrood Abbey, a mile along the rock from the castle and Edinburgh’s 'Old Town' developed between the two historic buildings along the 'Royal Mile'. The town was conveniently linked to the royal port of Leith just to the north and gradually developed into the capital of Scotland. For centuries the population of Edinburgh increased, but the town still clung to the rock where smelly, overcrowded tenements once earned Edinburgh the title 'Auld Reekie'. By Georgian times, plans were made for a 'New Town' in the level plain beneath the castle to the north. A loch was drained, roughly where Waverley Railway Station stands today and the new town was built. The new town was centred on George Street but this new street was soon outshone by the neighbouring Princes Street, with its beautiful open views of gardens and the famous Edinburgh castle which towers majestically above.
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