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How this pewter object relates to Haddington? 

This pewter item is a communion token, cast in Edinburgh for the Secession Church of Haddington.  It was issued in 1745 when Robert Archibald was minister. His initials and the date appear on the other side.   Church history in Scotland is a tale of splits and further splits.  We were particularly good at falling out with each other on matters of doctrine and church governance.  Within two years of the Secession Church splitting from the Established Church, the Secessionists split over their interpretation of the oath burgesses had to swear on taking office.   Archibald and the Anti-Burghers went off to a malt barn In Newton Port.  Further divisions followed.

More on this in A Short History of Haddington, by W. Forbes Gray and J.H. Jamieson (1944). See East Lothian Antiquarian & Field Naturalists’ Society

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