Inchkeith
Encyclopedia
Inchkeith is an island in the Firth of Forth
, Scotland. It is part of the council area of Fife
.
Inchkeith has had a colourful history as a result of its proximity to Edinburgh
and strategic location for use as home for a lighthouse
and for military purposes defending the Firth of Forth for attack from shipping, and more recently protecting the upstream Forth Road Bridge
, and Rosyth Dockyard
. Inchkeith has, by some accounts, been inhabited (intermittently) for almost 1,800 years.
Inchkeith is approximately half the size of the Isle of May
at the mouth of the Firth, but is higher.
, shale
, coal
and limestone
. The shale contains a great number of fossils. There are several springs on the island.
The island has the lowest average rainfall in Scotland at 550mm (21.75 inches) annually.
The island has an abundance of springs, as noted by James Grant (author)
. James Boswell
noted two wells on the island during his visit, and speculated as to the former existence of a third within the Castle.
, authored by Cormac mac Cuilennáin
, suggests that the word had disappeared from the Gaelic of Ireland by that period, becoming coill; he states "coit coill isin chombric", that is, "coit is Welsh for wood", and explains that the Irish place-name Sailchoit is partly derived from Welsh. Although Scottish Gaelic was closer to Brythonic than Irish was, the Life of St Serf (written before 1180) calls the island Insula Keð, suggesting the possibility that the specific element in Inchkeith was not comprehensible to that hagiography's anonymous author or translator; if we could be sure that the author was Scottish, rather than an English or French incomer, this could be taken to mean that the word was probably not comprehensible even in Fife Gaelic in the 12th century. Since Gaelic had all but disappeared as a language spoken natively in southern Fife by the mid-14th century, there is no continuous Gaelic tradition for the name, but the natural and usual modern form would be and is Innis Cheith.
/Lothian
and Fife
. Like nearby Inchcolm
and the Isle of May
, Inchkeith was attacked repeatedly by English raiders in the 14th century. This was the period when the Scottish Wars of Independence were in full swing, and decisive battles were being fought in the Lothians and in the Stirling
/Bannockburn
region, and so the island was effectively in the route of any supply or raiding vessels.
It is unknown as to who owned Inchkeith from the 8th Century onward, but it is known that it was the property of the Crown until granted to Lord Glamis
, an ancestor of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
, better known in the UK as the Queen Mother.
, a few miles away) used as an isolated refuge for victims of the 'Grandgore
' (sometimes known as "glandgore" in those days), or modern-day syphilis
in Edinburgh
. The 'grandgor' was recognised in the 1497 Minutes of the Town Council of Edinborough (Phil. Trans. XLII. 421) "This contagious sickness callit the Grandgor.". The Grandgore Act was passed in September 1497, causing Inchkeith, as well as other islands in the Firth, such as Inchgarvie
, to be made a place of Compulsory Retirement for people suffering from this disease. They were told to board a ship at Leith
and once there, "there to remain till God provide for their health". It is probable that they all died.
In 1589, history repeated itself, and the island was used to quarantine the passengers of a plague ridden ship. More plague sufferers came here from the mainland in 1609. In 1799, again, Russian sailors who died of an infectious disease were buried here.
in the Renaissance
, Inchkeith was the site of an extraordinary experiment. According to the historian Robert Lyndsay of Pitscottie, James IV directed in 1493 that a dumb
Woman and two infants be transported to the island, in order to ascertain which language the infants would grow up to speak isolated from the rest of the world, thought to be the 'original' language, or language of the God(s). According to these accounts, the infants did not speak. James Grant
quotes Lyndsay on this topic.
garrisoned the island in 1547 after the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
. His force of marines were ordered to reinforce the island, and so they built a large square fort, with corner towers, on the site of the present day lighthouse. His forces, mainly Italian mercenaries, were ejected by a combined Franco-Scottish force under General D’Essé (André de Montalembert
, Sieur de Essé) on June 19 or 29, 1549. On the following day, Mary of Guise
, the regent, visited the island, to see the "three and four hundred of her dead foes still unburied". Since 29 June was Fête Dieu in France
, she renamed the island "L’Île de Dieu". The soldiers also nicknamed it "L’Île des Chevaux" (The island of horses). Neither name stuck. Seven English banners captured on the island were sent to Henri II of France. On 17 July 1549, he gave the soldiers who brought the banners lifetime pensions.
The island was occupied by the French
, under Mary of Guise during the occupation of Leith
during her period as the Regent
of Scotland between 1554 and 1560. The English fortifications were further strengthened by the Scots, who under D’Essé built a larger and stronger fort. Accounts for this rebuilding written in French survive with the names of the Scottish craftsmen and women who worked there in 1555.
In the 1560s, Mary, Queen of Scots, inspected the French garrison here, and a stone from the original gateway with "MR" (i.e. Maria Regina) and the date still exists, built into a wall below the lighthouse. The fort itself was demolished, or ordered to be "raisit" (razed) in 1567, after Mary had been deposed. Her opponents were anti-French, and did not take too kindly to a French garrison so near the capital. It ended up being a prison.
James Grant
lists subsequent owners of Inchkeith - in 1649, he says, the "eccentric and sarcastic" Sir John Scott of Scotstarvit
, going on to be owned by the Buccleuch
family, forming part of the property of the Barony of Royston, near Granton
.
During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
, the island was again taken by the English, and fortified.
(published in 1785) mentions Inchkeith, upon which Boswell
and Dr. Johnson
alighted, noting that the now-uninhabited island had a profusion of luxuriant thistles and nettles, a strongly built fort, and sixteen head of [grazing] black cattle. The fort visited appears to have been built in 1564.
Usually the cynic, Johnson admired the island and said,
and Robert Stevenson
. The light stands 67 metres high, and the lighthouse was first operational by 1804, and is now listed as a building of Architectural/Historic significance.
Inchkeith continued to be fortified in the subsequent years, both from fear of Napoleonic invasion, and later the two World War
s, like the other islands in the inner Firth of Forth. In 1878, the Royal Engineers built batteries on the three corners of the island, designed as separate fortresses.
Construction upon the island's "South Fort" began in spring of 1878, being completed in 1880. Construction on the West and East forts began in summer of 1878, being completed in 1880 and 1881 respectively. These forts are reported to have had four 10" rifled muzzle loader guns, with two in the South Fort and one each in the east and west. In 1891, the East and West guns were replaced with two 6" disappearing gun
s.
In 1899, Inchkeith had a Compressed Air
Foghorn
installed, providing two 3.5 second blasts every 90 seconds during fog. This would remain in place until replaced after the second world war.
From the 1890s until the early 1900s, the fort at Inchkeith underwent a sequence of gun improvements and replacements, with the shore being covered in Barbed Wire
, and the island being made ready in August 1914 for the first world war. It was also augmented with guns taken from other forts - two 4.7" MK1 quick-firing guns from Fort Paull
on the north bank of the Humber (which was disarmed, being deemed to be too close to Hull), and what appears to be a 6" B.L. Mark VII gun from Yaverland Battery
of the antiquated Palmerston Forts
on the Isle of Wight
in February 1915.
During World War I
, the Royal Navy
battleship
, at the time a part of the 3rd Battle Squadron
in the Grand Fleet, ran aground at Inchkeith on 26 January 1915, suffering considerable bottom damage. She was refloated after 36 hours and was repaired and refitted at Devonport Dockyard
.
, the island was further mobilised, and had more Nissen Huts
installed, presumably for equipment and personnel. In that year, during a practice firing of the guns on Inchkeith, a practice shell landed on a building on Salamander Street in Leith
.
In conjunction with the other islands in the forth, Inchgarvie
(foundation for the Forth Rail Bridge, and nearby the Rosyth Dockyard
), and Inchcolm
off Leith, Inchkeith formed an important part of the defence strategy for the Firth of Forth. Further out, 8 miles NE of North Berwick
on the South Coast and 5 miles SE of Anstruther
on the North, the Isle of May
had Induction loops and ASDIC
equipment designed to detect ships and submarines.
From this point on, Inchkeith's defensive capabilities were continually upgraded. In May 1940, the island was issued with 40 "Board of Trade, Rocket Flares, Red", for alerting in the event that an invasion was attempted (or spotted). In late 1941, the island appears to have been chosen as the site for a Radar
installation.
By 1942, the island had one "Major Full Time Battery" of two 6" guns covering the North side of the island, two 6" guns covering the South side and the water between the island and Leith
, a further two 6" guns in the West Fort, and two 9.2" guns, tasked to defend the dockyards further upstream against naval bombardment. The island would go on to have Bren
and Bofors
guns added for anti-aircraft defence. The island appears to have had around 160 troops stationed there, with dozens of buildings, emplacements, fire control centers, and nissen huts, many of which remain in varying states of repair. The island had several bomb shelters for use in the event of aerial attack, one of which within a cave in the cliffs.
. Operation Bodyguard was the overall Allied strategic deception
plan in Europe for 1944, carried out as part of the build-up to the Invasion of Normandy. The major objective of this plan was to lead the Germans to believe that the invasion of northwestern Europe would come later than was actually planned, and to threaten attacks at other locations than the true objective, including the Pas de Calais, the Balkans, southern France, Norway, and Soviet attacks in Bulgaria and northern Norway.
Operation Fortitude North's fictional British Fourth Army
were based in Edinburgh
, and spoof radio traffic and Double agent
s were used as means to disseminate the misinformation. On 3 March 1944, members of a "Special RS (Royal Signals) Unit" from the British Fourth Army
landed on Inchkeith, with a detachment of 22 men and 4 officers, with two radio vans. At the beginning of April, a further 40 men arrived, and proceeded to stage mock attacks of the Inchkeith defences via the cliffs, until their departure in September.
The aim of this ruse, unknown to the participants, was to make German High Command believe that a raid in Norway
or elsewhere was being planned. Although Operation Fortitude
was a great success, Inchkeith appears not to have been overflown by German Reconnaissance planes until October 7. Examination of the footage taken in 1945 appeared to indicate that the plane flew too high to ascertain anything meaningful.
, who performed a variety of renovations on the island from the early 1960s onwards.
The island, like Cramond Island
was worked as a farm, for a number of years. It is now abandoned, and unkempt.
In 1958, an experimental Foghorn was installed, replacing the previous 19th century system. A Diaphone
system providing 4 blasts of 1.5 seconds once every minute was installed on Inchcolm
, operated by radio telephone from Inchkeith. This was replaced with an electrically operated system controlled by an automatic fog detector in 1986.
In 1986 the lightkeepers were withdrawn when the lighthouse was automated and the owners, the Northern Lighthouse Board
, sold the island to the millionaire philanthropist Sir Tom Farmer
, best known for founding Kwik-Fit
. Under current ownership, permission is needed to land at Inchkeith. He himself lives in Barnton
in Edinburgh
.
The existing lighthouse is managed via the PSTN, and powered by Nickel Cadmium
batteries, "charged on a time cycle of three times per week by one of two (12.5 KVA) markon alternators with TS3 Lister diesel engines."
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
, Scotland. It is part of the council area of Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
.
Inchkeith has had a colourful history as a result of its proximity to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and strategic location for use as home for a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
and for military purposes defending the Firth of Forth for attack from shipping, and more recently protecting the upstream Forth Road Bridge
Forth Road Bridge
The Forth Road Bridge is a suspension bridge in east central Scotland. The bridge, opened in 1964, spans the Firth of Forth, connecting the capital city Edinburgh, at South Queensferry, to Fife, at North Queensferry...
, and Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
. Inchkeith has, by some accounts, been inhabited (intermittently) for almost 1,800 years.
Inchkeith is approximately half the size of the Isle of May
Isle of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide...
at the mouth of the Firth, but is higher.
Geography and climate
Although most of the island is of volcanic origin, the island’s geology is surprisingly varied. As well as the igneous rock, there are also some sections of sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
, coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. The shale contains a great number of fossils. There are several springs on the island.
The island has the lowest average rainfall in Scotland at 550mm (21.75 inches) annually.
The island has an abundance of springs, as noted by James Grant (author)
James Grant (author)
James Grant was a Scottish author.Grant was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was a distant relation of Sir Walter Scott. He was a prolific author, writing some 90 books, including many yellow-backs...
. James Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
noted two wells on the island during his visit, and speculated as to the former existence of a third within the Castle.
History
Etymology
The name "Inchkeith" derives from the medieval Scottish Gaelic word Innse Coit, meaning "wooded island". The latter element coit, in Old Welsh coet, is from the Proto-Celtic *cēto-, "wood". The late 9th century Sanas CormaicSanas Cormaic
Sanas Cormaic , also known as Cormac's Glossary, is an early Irish glossary containing etymologies and explanations of over 1,400 Irish words, many of which are difficult or outdated. The shortest and earliest version of the work is ascribed to Cormac mac Cuilennáin , king-bishop of Munster...
, authored by Cormac mac Cuilennáin
Cormac mac Cuilennáin
Cormac mac Cuilennáin was an Irish bishop and was king of Munster from 902 until his death. He was killed fighting in Leinster, probably attempting to restore the fortunes of the kings of Munster by reimposing authority over that province.Cormac was regarded as a saintly figure after his death,...
, suggests that the word had disappeared from the Gaelic of Ireland by that period, becoming coill; he states "coit coill isin chombric", that is, "coit is Welsh for wood", and explains that the Irish place-name Sailchoit is partly derived from Welsh. Although Scottish Gaelic was closer to Brythonic than Irish was, the Life of St Serf (written before 1180) calls the island Insula Keð, suggesting the possibility that the specific element in Inchkeith was not comprehensible to that hagiography's anonymous author or translator; if we could be sure that the author was Scottish, rather than an English or French incomer, this could be taken to mean that the word was probably not comprehensible even in Fife Gaelic in the 12th century. Since Gaelic had all but disappeared as a language spoken natively in southern Fife by the mid-14th century, there is no continuous Gaelic tradition for the name, but the natural and usual modern form would be and is Innis Cheith.
Earliest history
Almost nothing is known about the early history of Inchkeith, and there is no certain reference to the island until the 12th century. In the days when people were compelled to cross the Firth of Forth by boat as opposed to bridge, the island was a great deal less isolated, and on the ferry routes between LeithLeith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
/Lothian
Lothian
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
and Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
. Like nearby Inchcolm
Inchcolm
Inchcolm is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, it was fortified during both World Wars to defend nearby Edinburgh...
and the Isle of May
Isle of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide...
, Inchkeith was attacked repeatedly by English raiders in the 14th century. This was the period when the Scottish Wars of Independence were in full swing, and decisive battles were being fought in the Lothians and in the Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
/Bannockburn
Bannockburn
Bannockburn is a village immediately south of the city of Stirling in Scotland. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a burn running through the village before flowing into the River Forth.-History:...
region, and so the island was effectively in the route of any supply or raiding vessels.
It is unknown as to who owned Inchkeith from the 8th Century onward, but it is known that it was the property of the Crown until granted to Lord Glamis
Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne
The title Earl of Kinghorne was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1606 for Patrick Lyon. In 1677, the designation of the earldom changed to "Strathmore and Kinghorne". A second Earldom was bestowed on the fourteenth Earl in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937, the title being Strathmore...
, an ancestor of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, better known in the UK as the Queen Mother.
Inchkeith as quarantine
In 1497, the island was (along with InchgarvieInchgarvie
Inchgarvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Scottish Gaelic for "rough island"...
, a few miles away) used as an isolated refuge for victims of the 'Grandgore
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
' (sometimes known as "glandgore" in those days), or modern-day syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The 'grandgor' was recognised in the 1497 Minutes of the Town Council of Edinborough (Phil. Trans. XLII. 421) "This contagious sickness callit the Grandgor.". The Grandgore Act was passed in September 1497, causing Inchkeith, as well as other islands in the Firth, such as Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Scottish Gaelic for "rough island"...
, to be made a place of Compulsory Retirement for people suffering from this disease. They were told to board a ship at Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
and once there, "there to remain till God provide for their health". It is probable that they all died.
In 1589, history repeated itself, and the island was used to quarantine the passengers of a plague ridden ship. More plague sufferers came here from the mainland in 1609. In 1799, again, Russian sailors who died of an infectious disease were buried here.
James IV's linguistic experiment
During the reign of King James IVJames IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
in the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, Inchkeith was the site of an extraordinary experiment. According to the historian Robert Lyndsay of Pitscottie, James IV directed in 1493 that a dumb
Muteness
Muteness or mutism is an inability to speak caused by a speech disorder. The term originates from the Latin word mutus, meaning "silent".-Causes:...
Woman and two infants be transported to the island, in order to ascertain which language the infants would grow up to speak isolated from the rest of the world, thought to be the 'original' language, or language of the God(s). According to these accounts, the infants did not speak. James Grant
James Grant
James Grant may refer to:*James Grant , American author, journalist, and publisher of Grant's Interest Rate Observer*James Grant , California painter and sculptor...
quotes Lyndsay on this topic.
16th and 17th centuries
In the 16th century, the island suffered further English depredation. The General Earl of SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
garrisoned the island in 1547 after the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland on 10 September 1547, was part of the War of the Rough Wooing. It was the last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles...
. His force of marines were ordered to reinforce the island, and so they built a large square fort, with corner towers, on the site of the present day lighthouse. His forces, mainly Italian mercenaries, were ejected by a combined Franco-Scottish force under General D’Essé (André de Montalembert
André de Montalembert
André de Montalembert , Seigneur d'Essé, was a French noble man and officer of the 16th century. As a young boy he fought in the Italian Wars...
, Sieur de Essé) on June 19 or 29, 1549. On the following day, Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
, the regent, visited the island, to see the "three and four hundred of her dead foes still unburied". Since 29 June was Fête Dieu in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, she renamed the island "L’Île de Dieu". The soldiers also nicknamed it "L’Île des Chevaux" (The island of horses). Neither name stuck. Seven English banners captured on the island were sent to Henri II of France. On 17 July 1549, he gave the soldiers who brought the banners lifetime pensions.
The island was occupied by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, under Mary of Guise during the occupation of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
during her period as the Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Scotland between 1554 and 1560. The English fortifications were further strengthened by the Scots, who under D’Essé built a larger and stronger fort. Accounts for this rebuilding written in French survive with the names of the Scottish craftsmen and women who worked there in 1555.
In the 1560s, Mary, Queen of Scots, inspected the French garrison here, and a stone from the original gateway with "MR" (i.e. Maria Regina) and the date still exists, built into a wall below the lighthouse. The fort itself was demolished, or ordered to be "raisit" (razed) in 1567, after Mary had been deposed. Her opponents were anti-French, and did not take too kindly to a French garrison so near the capital. It ended up being a prison.
James Grant
James Grant
James Grant may refer to:*James Grant , American author, journalist, and publisher of Grant's Interest Rate Observer*James Grant , California painter and sculptor...
lists subsequent owners of Inchkeith - in 1649, he says, the "eccentric and sarcastic" Sir John Scott of Scotstarvit
Sir John Scott of Scotstarvit
Sir John Scott of Scotstarvet was a minor Scottish noble, known as a lawyer, statesman and author. He was a Director of Chancery who became a Lord of Session...
, going on to be owned by the Buccleuch
Duke of Buccleuch
The title Duke of Buccleuch , formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, who was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of Scotland, England, and Ireland and who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch.Anne...
family, forming part of the property of the Barony of Royston, near Granton
Granton, Edinburgh
Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.-Name:Granton first appears...
.
During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The Wars of the Three Kingdoms formed an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland between 1639 and 1651 after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch...
, the island was again taken by the English, and fortified.
18th century
In the late 18th century, James Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel JohnsonThe Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides
The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. is a travel journal by Scotsman James Boswell first published in 1785. In 1773, Boswell enticed his English friend Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour through the highlands and western islands of Scotland. Johnson was then in...
(published in 1785) mentions Inchkeith, upon which Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
and Dr. Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
alighted, noting that the now-uninhabited island had a profusion of luxuriant thistles and nettles, a strongly built fort, and sixteen head of [grazing] black cattle. The fort visited appears to have been built in 1564.
Usually the cynic, Johnson admired the island and said,
- "I’d have this island; I’d build a house... A rich man of an hospitable turn here, would have many visitors from Edinburgh."
19th century and World War I
In 1803, construction was begun of Inchkeith Lighthouse, designed and built by Thomas SmithThomas Smith (engineer)
Thomas Smith was a Scottish businessman and early lighthouse engineer. Born in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, his father drowned in Dundee harbour when he was young...
and Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)
Robert Stevenson FRSE MInstCE FSAS MWS FGS FRAS FSA was a Scottish civil engineer and famed designer and builder of lighthouses.One of his finest achievements was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse.-Early life:...
. The light stands 67 metres high, and the lighthouse was first operational by 1804, and is now listed as a building of Architectural/Historic significance.
Inchkeith continued to be fortified in the subsequent years, both from fear of Napoleonic invasion, and later the two World War
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s, like the other islands in the inner Firth of Forth. In 1878, the Royal Engineers built batteries on the three corners of the island, designed as separate fortresses.
Construction upon the island's "South Fort" began in spring of 1878, being completed in 1880. Construction on the West and East forts began in summer of 1878, being completed in 1880 and 1881 respectively. These forts are reported to have had four 10" rifled muzzle loader guns, with two in the South Fort and one each in the east and west. In 1891, the East and West guns were replaced with two 6" disappearing gun
Disappearing gun
A disappearing gun is a type of heavy artillery for which the gun carriage enabled the gun to rotate backwards and down into a pit protected by a wall or a bunker after it was fired...
s.
In 1899, Inchkeith had a Compressed Air
Pneumatics
Pneumatics is a branch of technology, which deals with the study and application of use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatic systems are extensively used in industry, where factories are commonly plumbed with compressed air or compressed inert gases...
Foghorn
Foghorn
A foghorn or fog signal or fog bell is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of hazards or boats of the presence of other vehicles in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport...
installed, providing two 3.5 second blasts every 90 seconds during fog. This would remain in place until replaced after the second world war.
From the 1890s until the early 1900s, the fort at Inchkeith underwent a sequence of gun improvements and replacements, with the shore being covered in Barbed Wire
Barbed wire
Barbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
, and the island being made ready in August 1914 for the first world war. It was also augmented with guns taken from other forts - two 4.7" MK1 quick-firing guns from Fort Paull
Fort Paull
Fort Paull is a gun battery situated on the north bank of the Humber, near the village of Paull, downstream from Hull in northern England.Batteries have been built at Paull by Henry VIII, Charles I during the Civil War during the siege of Hull and the Napoleonic Wars...
on the north bank of the Humber (which was disarmed, being deemed to be too close to Hull), and what appears to be a 6" B.L. Mark VII gun from Yaverland Battery
Yaverland Battery
Yaverland Battery is a battery located in Yaverland on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.The battery was completed in 1863 and was one of numerous forts built along the English coastline to protect England from an anticipated French invasion, under direction of Prime Minister Lord Palmerston...
of the antiquated Palmerston Forts
Palmerston Forts, Isle of Wight
The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
in February 1915.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, at the time a part of the 3rd Battle Squadron
3rd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)
The British Royal Navy 3rd Battle Squadron was a naval squadron consisting of battleships and other vessels, active from at least 1914 to 1945. The 3rd Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. During the First World War, the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet...
in the Grand Fleet, ran aground at Inchkeith on 26 January 1915, suffering considerable bottom damage. She was refloated after 36 hours and was repaired and refitted at Devonport Dockyard
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
.
The Second World War
In the 1930s, the fort appears to have undergone another program of replacement and augmentation, culminating in 1937 with the installation of several Lewis Guns and a pair of 12 Pdr QF guns, presumably for anti-aircraft defence. In 1938, following the Munich CrisisMunich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, the island was further mobilised, and had more Nissen Huts
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
installed, presumably for equipment and personnel. In that year, during a practice firing of the guns on Inchkeith, a practice shell landed on a building on Salamander Street in Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
.
In conjunction with the other islands in the forth, Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Scottish Gaelic for "rough island"...
(foundation for the Forth Rail Bridge, and nearby the Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
), and Inchcolm
Inchcolm
Inchcolm is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, it was fortified during both World Wars to defend nearby Edinburgh...
off Leith, Inchkeith formed an important part of the defence strategy for the Firth of Forth. Further out, 8 miles NE of North Berwick
North Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
on the South Coast and 5 miles SE of Anstruther
Anstruther
Anstruther is a small town in Fife, Scotland. The two halves of Anstruther are divided by a small stream called Dreel Burn. Anstruther lies 9 miles south-southeast of St Andrews. It is the largest community on the stretch of north-shore coastline of the Firth of Forth known as the East Neuk,...
on the North, the Isle of May
Isle of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide...
had Induction loops and ASDIC
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
equipment designed to detect ships and submarines.
From this point on, Inchkeith's defensive capabilities were continually upgraded. In May 1940, the island was issued with 40 "Board of Trade, Rocket Flares, Red", for alerting in the event that an invasion was attempted (or spotted). In late 1941, the island appears to have been chosen as the site for a Radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
installation.
By 1942, the island had one "Major Full Time Battery" of two 6" guns covering the North side of the island, two 6" guns covering the South side and the water between the island and Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, a further two 6" guns in the West Fort, and two 9.2" guns, tasked to defend the dockyards further upstream against naval bombardment. The island would go on to have Bren
Bren
The Bren, usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991...
and Bofors
Bofors
The name Bofors has been associated with the iron industry for more than 350 years.Located in Karlskoga, Sweden, the company originates from the hammer mill "Boofors" founded 1646. The modern corporate structure was created in 1873 with the foundation of Aktiebolaget Bofors-Gullspång...
guns added for anti-aircraft defence. The island appears to have had around 160 troops stationed there, with dozens of buildings, emplacements, fire control centers, and nissen huts, many of which remain in varying states of repair. The island had several bomb shelters for use in the event of aerial attack, one of which within a cave in the cliffs.
Operation Fortitude North
Operations Fortitude North and Fortitude South were related to a wider deception plan called Operation BodyguardOperation Bodyguard
Operation Bodyguard was the code name for a World War II military deception employed by the Allied nations during the build up to the 1944 invasion of north-western Europe. The aim of the operation was to mislead the German high command as to the exact date and location of the invasion...
. Operation Bodyguard was the overall Allied strategic deception
Deception
Deception, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, bad faith, and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole truth . Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand. It can employ distraction, camouflage or concealment...
plan in Europe for 1944, carried out as part of the build-up to the Invasion of Normandy. The major objective of this plan was to lead the Germans to believe that the invasion of northwestern Europe would come later than was actually planned, and to threaten attacks at other locations than the true objective, including the Pas de Calais, the Balkans, southern France, Norway, and Soviet attacks in Bulgaria and northern Norway.
Operation Fortitude North's fictional British Fourth Army
British Fourth Army
The Fourth Army was a field army that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916 under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson to carry out the main British contribution to the Battle of the Somme.-History:The Fourth...
were based in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, and spoof radio traffic and Double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
s were used as means to disseminate the misinformation. On 3 March 1944, members of a "Special RS (Royal Signals) Unit" from the British Fourth Army
British Fourth Army
The Fourth Army was a field army that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916 under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson to carry out the main British contribution to the Battle of the Somme.-History:The Fourth...
landed on Inchkeith, with a detachment of 22 men and 4 officers, with two radio vans. At the beginning of April, a further 40 men arrived, and proceeded to stage mock attacks of the Inchkeith defences via the cliffs, until their departure in September.
The aim of this ruse, unknown to the participants, was to make German High Command believe that a raid in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
or elsewhere was being planned. Although Operation Fortitude
Operation Fortitude
Operation Fortitude was the codename for a World War II military deception employed by the Allied nations as part of an overall deception strategy during the build up to the 1944 Normandy Landings...
was a great success, Inchkeith appears not to have been overflown by German Reconnaissance planes until October 7. Examination of the footage taken in 1945 appeared to indicate that the plane flew too high to ascertain anything meaningful.
Post-war era to present day
Post-war, defences were dismantled commencing late 1945. By early January 1946, only a small number of troops with a "nucleus" of coastal guns remained, and finally in 1956/7, all military use of the island ceased, and ownership passed over to the Northern Lighthouse BoardNorthern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
, who performed a variety of renovations on the island from the early 1960s onwards.
The island, like Cramond Island
Cramond Island
Cramond Island is one of several islands that lie in the Firth of Forth in eastern Scotland, near Edinburgh. As its name implies, it lies off Cramond. It is long and covers , and is currently part of the Dalmeny Estate.Strictly speaking it is not a true island at all, but a tidal island being...
was worked as a farm, for a number of years. It is now abandoned, and unkempt.
In 1958, an experimental Foghorn was installed, replacing the previous 19th century system. A Diaphone
Diaphone
For Diaphone, the Noctuid moth species see Diaphone The diaphone was a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: it could produce deep, powerful tones able to carry a long distance...
system providing 4 blasts of 1.5 seconds once every minute was installed on Inchcolm
Inchcolm
Inchcolm is an island in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Repeatedly attacked by English raiders during the Wars of Scottish Independence, it was fortified during both World Wars to defend nearby Edinburgh...
, operated by radio telephone from Inchkeith. This was replaced with an electrically operated system controlled by an automatic fog detector in 1986.
In 1986 the lightkeepers were withdrawn when the lighthouse was automated and the owners, the Northern Lighthouse Board
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
, sold the island to the millionaire philanthropist Sir Tom Farmer
Tom Farmer
Sir Thomas "Tom" Farmer, CVO, CBE, KCSG, FRSE, DL is a Scottish entrepreneur.One of seven siblings in a devoutly Catholic family, in 1964 Farmer founded his own tyre retailing business which he sold in 1969 for £450,000. Farmer "retired" to the United States, but became bored and decided to find a...
, best known for founding Kwik-Fit
Kwik-Fit
Kwik-Fit is a British car servicing and repair company, specialising in tyres, brakes, exhausts, MOT testing, car servicing, air-conditioning recharge, oil changes and windscreen repair. They are the leading fast-fit supplier of tyres in the UK with over 600 Kwik-Fit centres.-History:Sir Tom Farmer...
. Under current ownership, permission is needed to land at Inchkeith. He himself lives in Barnton
Barnton, Edinburgh
Barnton is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, located to the north-west of the city.It is home to the Royal High School of Edinburgh; the Barnton Hotel; Braehead House, a plain Scots Classical house dating from circa 1700; and The Royal Burgess Golfing Society, one of the oldest golf clubs...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
.
The existing lighthouse is managed via the PSTN, and powered by Nickel Cadmium
Nickel-cadmium battery
The nickel–cadmium battery ' is a type of rechargeable battery using nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium as electrodes....
batteries, "charged on a time cycle of three times per week by one of two (12.5 KVA) markon alternators with TS3 Lister diesel engines."