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The history of a settlement near modern-day Airdrie may be dated back to AD 577, which was the year of the Battle of Arderyth (Airdrie).

This was a battle between Rydderych The Bountiful, King of Strathclyde, and Aeddam The Perfidious, King of Kintyre.

While few have heard of the main protagonists, amongst Aeddam's contingent was the Celtic bard, Merlin. Merlin's patron, Gwennddolan, was killed during the battle in which Merlin was awarded for his verses recording the battle.

The history of Airdrie between the Battle of Arderyth and AD 1162 is unclear, due to the scarcity of written historical records.
 
Airdrie owes its existence to its location on the "Hogs Back" - the ridge of land running from east to west. One very important aspect of the town’s history were the "monks", hence the name of the area; Monklands.

The monks were farmers and most of the land they used is known today as “Four Isles” (a housing estate named after four Scottish islands; Mull, Islay, Iona and Luing in the Petersburn area of modern Airdrie).

The Monks of Newbattle had numerous establishments throughout the area including a farm grange at Drumpellier, Coatbridge, a Court House at Kipps, a Chapel in the area of Chapelhall and a number of corn mills - one being the original Airdrie Meal mill.

The Monks were also expert in the construction of roads. In the 12th century they established the original Glasgow to Edinburgh road via Airdrie and Bathgate, to link up with their lands in Newbattle in East Lothian.
 
In those days travelling was often dangerous. Horses were still very rare and could only be afforded by the rich. Low lying ground was usually extremely difficult to navigate because of the numerous bogs, forests and burns - not to mention the possibility of ambush by a footpad or robber. Hence, it became much more practical to travel on the high ground (the "High Way") where one could avoid the mud and the robbers. These roads (tracks) became known as the King's Highway.