During the eighteenth century the Royal Burgh of North Berwick was separate from the West Gate. The Royal Burgh comprised of two streets Quality Street, (named Market Place or Crossgate) and the High Street. While the area known as West Gate stretched westwards from the Clarty Burn which flowed down Kays Wynd (Law Road) and across what is now Market Place to the sea. Westgate ended at School Alley (Church Road) where the buildings there gave way to open fields on the Glebe and West Links. The only building standing in what is now Forth Street was the Dirleton Granary. There was no road to the harbour, access was across the sands.

Beyond Westgate there were two tracks, one leading south to the ruins of the old Abbey (Abbey Road) and the other following what is now Pointgarry Road leading through open ground to Whin Stone Quarry, the remains of which can be traced on the West Links. From this point outside the town boundary, the main road to Edinburgh, maintained each spring by ploughing, rolling and harrowing, cut through the fields of Abbey Farm to Dirleton.

During the 10th century the Earl's of Fife owned the land at North Berwick and David, Earl of Fife established a ferry from North Berwick to Earlsferry and built a hospice for the pilgrims travelling to St Andrews. Duncan, 4th Earl of Fife established a Cistercian nunnery around 1150, but there was no mention of North Berwick in the mid 13th century Gough map. A stone quay was constructed at the harbour but shortly after the Earl's moved away to Threave (Kirkcudbright) and shipping from the port declined. Throughout the 15th century, North Berwick made a useful contribution to Custom's revenue before the port's trade shrunk to almost nothing in 1500, and the Burgh tax revenue was negligible as late as 1535.

In 1434, the land was divided between the prioress and nuns of the North Berwick Abbey and the burgesses of the town. The land granted to the burgesses stretched along the East Links to the Millburn (Glenburn) while the land to the south west was owned by the Abbey. Pont's map of the Lothians in 1600 showed North Berwick as a small line of buildings hugging the coastline. To the west was Ferry Gate and to the east the Rhodes, a rocky outcrop with an anchorage in the bay.

In 1633, Patrick Home sold the estate of North Berwick to Sir William Dick of Braid, a merchant and Provost of Edinburgh (1638-1640). He established a beach fishing station in the town and funded a herring works in 1642. In Tucker's account of the Scottish ports in 1655, no harbour was mentioned at North Berwick. In 1694, the land was purchased by Sir Hew Dalrymple who was created the first Baronet of North Berwick in 1697.

To the south was Berwick Law and the Mains Farm where a stable and byre were built by James Hogg in 1727. The Glebe (Law Road to Nungate) was granted to the Parish Kirk and the revenue was used to provide for the poor and minister's stipend. The hill on the Glebe was mentioned in the 16th century as 'Colles Procorum' (Swine Hills) and there was a waterfall in the area now Brentwood Hill. To the east of the Royal Burgh beyond the Council Chambers lay a warren of farm buildings, herders cottages and byres, ending at a point now School Road. From there the land opened into the town common or Coo's Green where the burgesses grazed their cattle, while the feuars of the property outside the burgh in Westgate were granted the right to graze their animals on the West Links by Sir Hew Dalrymple.

The Dalrymple dynasty was a dominant force in the Scottish legal system during the 18th century. Sir Hew Dalrymple, the 1st. Baronet of North Berwick, was Lord President of the Court of Session from 1698 to 1737 and was the third son of James, 1st. Viscount Stair. His eldest son, Sir Robert Dalrymple of Castleton, was a member of the Town Council in 1727. His younger brother Hew was also a member of the Council and appointed a Judge of the Court of Session in 1726, taking the title of Lord Drummore. Sir James Dalrymple of Hailes, elected MP for the Haddingtonshire Burghs in 1727 was the 2nd. Baronet of Newhailes, near East Linton, his father being the fifth son of Viscount Stair. Sir Hew Dalrymple, the 3rd. Baronet of North Berwick, assumed the name Hamilton on inheriting the Barganay estate (Girvan) from his uncle John Hamilton. The Dalrymples had representatives on the Town Council for over a century, and in the year 1785-6 there were no less than four of them.

Royal Burghs, essentially were privileged communities granted rights by the king to enable them to develop internal and external trade. Within this only the burgesses could carry on any kind of retail trade even in native commodities.

A person could become a burgess by paying a substantial fee to the town council after proving they had served an apprenticeship in the town and was a member of the burgh Trade Society. The burgesses were peasants first, rising to become small merchants or craftsmen with the right to market and the exclusive monopoly of trade and carrying on crafts within the burgh. In the seventeenth century new burgesses were either the sons or the son-in-law of existing burgesses.

Most of the burgesses time was taken up by prosecuting unprivileged men who had been caught retailing foreign wares or sneaking on board a ship with a bribe for the skipper and a parcel of petty goods to be sold overseas. The result of these privileges held by a small clique of interconnected families inevitably lead to corruption. Town Council contracts went to the provosts' friends, the property of the burgh was let at derisory rents to relatives, and burgess rights were sold for private gain.

Some of this exclusiveness the royal burghs had experienced waned after 1660, when fairs and markets began to proliferate where there were no burghs at all, and after 1672 the royal burghs lost practically the whole of their monopoly of foreign commerce. But for a long period after 1690 the Scottish town councils remained notorious for their graft.

The markets were held in Quality Street, where the trone or weights stood. The trade was carried out by stances given off to the merchants by the town council. In a table of customs prior to 1743 these entries appear - Shoemaker is to pay maill (rent) for each daill (board) 3s (Scots); Shopman or merchant's stand is to pay for each daill length 3s (Scots). A board or stand was a table for displaying their wares.

The burgesses had the right to elect new members and magistrates to the town council, but none of this could happen without the silent approval of the laird. During the eighteenth century the Dalrymple family had complete control over all aspects of the day to day life of the community.

The High Street had buildings irregular in appearance, with access to the upper floor by an outside stair jutting on to the street. The 'lums' were also built out from the building. The properties on the north side of the High Street extended to the sea. In 1750, a proprietor on the south side was allowed to enclose a space of ground in front of his property by way of a railing. Thus encroachments were made which explains the narrowness of the street today.

There were two town officers who acted as police, sheriff officers, bellringers, scavengers and labourers. One of the officers, John Dobie was allowed for 'ringing the bell', three pound of candle during the winter season of 1727. The salary for ringing the 'bigg' bell morning and evening was £12 Scots. The officers uniforms were grey coats faced with red, and hats with a cockade. In 1740 a town piper was appointed at a salary of £5 Scots which was paid as his house rent. In 1754 the Council allowed him the privilege of making advertisements and the crying of all roupings and things that were lost. The roupings was an annual auction of certain privileges in the burgh. The highest bidder gained the exclusive right to sell such items as sand from the beach, seaweed, and the removal of dunghills from the streets.

In March 1728 a bond for 1000 merks was granted for the erection of a new Tolbooth. This refers to the present Council Chambers and shop below. The older part of the building was probably erected at the end of the 16th century as the Tolbooth is mentioned as far back as 1638. The contract to build the new Tolbooth was given to Archibald and John Brouns, masons in North Berwick and Patrick Forgan mason at the Heugh. There is an entry in the accounts 'To the masons a quart of ale, 4s' - a custom known as a 'founding pint'. In the older part of the Tolbooth was two prison cells, one on the ground floor entered from the High Street, and lit by a slit in the north wall. The other directly above was accessed by the stair to the Council room. In 1749 the shop below was occupied as a dwelling house.

The earliest surviving Town Council minute book commenced 5th September 1727. The previous minute books from 1639 -1727 are missing. The first of many repairs to the harbour was carried out in 1728 by the Town Council. In 1731 the Treasurer warned the neighbours and burgesses that each house was to send a man able to carry out the clearing of the channel out of the harbour, under penalty of half a merk Scots. The Council wrote to Sir Hew Dalrymple as superior in Westgate, requesting that the inhabitants there should also assist in clearing out sand in the harbour.

In 1728, the bakehouses were thatched and the whins and other fuels stacked close by were causing the neighbours to be 'holden in continual fear and dread of fire'. The Magistrates instructed that all bakehouse roof's should be constructed of slate or tiles and that no stacks of heather, broom, whins and other fuels be kept adjacent to the bakehouse under penalty of £10 Scots. The Council met with the bakers every quarter to settle the price of wheat and each baker was requested to put his name or mark on the bread as there had been complaints of light weight.

An increased number of 'debased persons' were causing a nuisance in 1739 by gathering daily in the street and on the common. In November that year the Council ordered all persons who had cruives or huts towards the street to pull them down. An entry in the burgh accounts refers to at least eight cripples visiting the town in 1742. The Rhodes was a dumping ground for vagrants as there frequently appears -' To carriage of a cripple to the Rhodes 4 pence'. Sometimes they were taken to the Heugh, while another entry reads, 'Carrying a blind woman from ye toun, 2 pence.' The Council ordered that no beggars could pass through the town except on Wednesday (Market Day) and if the rules were disobeyed the officers were to imprison all vagrants. This Act of Council was published through the town by tuck of drum and copies thereof affixed to the Cross and Kirk door. The same procedure was adopted in 1754 and 1773 showing that the nuisance had not abated.

There was only meagre reference to the 1715 and 1745 Jacobite rebellions in the Town Council minutes. But the following note discovered on the flyleaf of an old leather book, chronicled by the Town Clerk at the time of the '15 makes for interesting reading. ' 6th October 1715. The militia went out to Haddington - 40 days pay each man.' '13th October 1715, being Thursday about ane acloach in the morning the Highland men ran a shoar att this harbour, and att Aberlady, Dirleton and Adam (Auldhame) they war reckoned to be about three thousand under the command of Brigadeer Mackointosh, my Lord Nairne, and two of the Duke of Athol's sones was with them; they proclaimed the King here and then went to Haddington and proclaimed him yr. and then went to Seton hous and upon the Saturday went to Leith and upon the Sabbath day cam back to Seton hous and went away upon the Tuesday to the North.'

An entry in the accounts for 1714 -5 reads - 'To spent when Highlanders were here £14.14s (for refreshments). These entries support the inference that the town was on the side of the Old Pretender. The only reference to the 1745 rebellion reads 'Boats coming into the harbour are to be detained.' The accounts mention two pound candles to soldiers keeping guard and billeting some soldiers. Bailie Lauder for ane express to Edinburgh in the late troubles - 3s; for Mr Vetch himself going to Dunbar for news at that time - 7s; To 4 men for watching the approach of the Highlanders - 1s. 6d; and billeting some soldiers - 6d.

In 1779, the Scots born John Paul Jones, founder of the American navy, mounted several raids on Scotland during the American War of Independence. That year, he anchored off North Berwick much to the consternation of the local inhabitants, but a storm blow up and his ship was forced further out into the North Sea.

There were fourteen burgesses admitted between 1785 and 1816. Honorary burgesses were admitted from all parts of Scotland and included, a Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, Lord Advocate Grant of Prestongrange, Sir William Maxwell of Monrieth, Robert Blair, advocate, afterwards Lord President of the Court of Session: merchants from Edinburgh, Leith, Dundee, Aberdeen, Selkirk, Coldingham and one from Liverpool.