You have risen from being a simple cattle farmer to a respected burgess in the burgh. You've managed to do this by making shrewd decisions about what you were selling and buying at the local markets and in ports overseas.

One of your best customers are the Cistercian monks who regularly buy the wine that you bring back from Rouen.

Your position in the burgh is confirmed when you are invited to join the Merchant's Guild. Congratulations!

Map showing Edinburgh and trade destinations to Europe 1290-1470. © The Multimedia Team

Changes in Scotland's export trade. Bar chart showing the increase of tax payments made to the Crown by merchants exporting salt from Edinburgh, 1435-1539.

What happens next?

In 1296, during the Wars of Independence, Edward I of England took Berwick, Scotland's wealthiest burgh, by force. It was part his campaign to force the Scots to accept his claims of overlordship.

The Wars finished in 1328 and by that time, the town had passed from Scottish to English hands many times. It never recovered. In the following centuries, Edinburgh and the nearby port of Leith became the richest areas of the country.