Inchgarvie
Location | |
---|---|
OS grid reference | NT138795 |
Coordinates | 56°02′N 3°14′W / 56.03°N 3.23°W |
Physical geography | |
Island group | Firth of Forth |
Area | 0.83 hectares (89,340 sq ft) |
Highest elevation | 19 metres (62 ft) |
Administration | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | Scotland |
Council area | City of Edinburgh |
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Inchgarvie or Inch Garvie[1] is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. On the rocks around the island sit four caissons that make up the foundations of the Forth Bridge.
Inchgarvie's fortifications pre-date the modern period. In the days when boats were the only way to cross the Firth of Forth, the island was on the main route between North Queensferry in Fife and South Queensferry in Lothian. This made it strategically important. Although now uninhabited, Inchgarvie has been inhabited throughout various periods of history. The first recorded time was in the late 15th century.
Like nearby Inchmickery, its profile and colour makes it look like a small warship from a distance. It was armed with coast defence guns from 1901 until 1906, and again from 1908 until the 1930s.
Etymology
Inchgarvie's name is Gaelic in origin and means either "rough island" (from innis garbh)[2] or "island of the rough place" (from innis gharbhaidh).[3] An older theory links it to the Scots word "garvie", which refers to the sprat.[4][5][6] A commercial sprat fishery took place in the inner Forth until it was prohibited in 1983.[7]
History
Records of Danish attacks on nearby islands, particularly Inchcolm as well as Fife and Lothian may mean that it was used in some capacity by them.[citation needed]
The island was licensed by King James IV to John Dundas of Dundas[note 1] with the power to build a fort on 20 March 1491.[10][11] John Dundas did not build the castle, and James IV himself ordered a strong tower to be built in 1513.[11]
On 8 March 1514 Margaret, the widow of William Dundas of Dundas, undertook to manage the completion of the fortress that James IV and her father-in-law had begun building on her island.[12] From 23 December 1514, Charles Dennison, Captain of Inchgarvie managed and fed a large royal construction team. The master mason was John of Cumbernauld, with his "servitor" John Strathauchin, who directed eight other masons and ten labourers. Margaret, Lady of Dundas gave them two boats. Two 'serpentine' guns and guns from Colstone were placed on the island after a visit by artillery experts in July 1515, and the island was equipped with a "blawing horne." There was also a chapel.[13] The Laird of Dundas was paid £33 for repairing the fortress in March 1533.[14]
The fort was captured by
Prison
Between 1519 and 1671, the castle was used as a prison, and in 1580 Inchkeith and Inchgarvie were made a place of exile for the plague-stricken by order of the Privy Council.[17] On 6 September 1627, the Laird of Dundas was invited to meet the Privy Council at South Queensferry and discuss building a modern fort on the island.[18] Like Inchkeith, Inchgarvie had a quarantine hospital, and a prison. Oliver Cromwell had this demolished.
During the reign of
In 1707 the island is known to have been rented to Archibald Primrose, 1st Earl of Rosebery. In 1779, however, the island's fortifications were renewed once more, in response to the threat posed by John Paul Jones, American Naval Commander, who harassed British ships from a base in the Forth.[19] These fortifications were never used in anger.
During the Napoleonic period, the threat from the sea meant gun batteries were created in 1806.[20]
Forth Bridge
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Forth_Bridge_-_Inchgarvie_cantilever%2C_three-fourths_full_height.jpg/220px-Forth_Bridge_-_Inchgarvie_cantilever%2C_three-fourths_full_height.jpg)
In 1878 the foundations for
Defence operations
The island became of renewed importance to the security of the
The guns may have survived for drill and practice until the beginning of the
Geology
Inchgarvie is of
See also
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ "Inch Garvie". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- ^ MacDonald, Angus (1937). Place-Names of the County of West Lothian (PhD). Edinburgh University. p. 324.
- ^ "Gaelic Place Names F-J" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ^ "Fife and Kinross-shire volume 76". Scotland's Places. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Garvie". Dictionaries of the Scots Language. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ Moule, Thomas (1842). Heraldry of Fish. Notices of the Principal Families Bearing Fish in their Arms. John Van Voorst. p. 162. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Fife Fisheries Development Group Calls Time on Fight for Sprats". Fife Council. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
- ^ "- Person Page 39264". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Burke, J. (1837). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry; Or, Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Etc. - London, Henry Colburn 1837-1838. Henry Colburn. p. 643. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Macleod, Walter (1897). Royal Letters, from the family papers of Dundas of Dundas. Edinburgh. pp. lvii–lix.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b "Inch Garvie Castle". CANMORE. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- ^ Macleod, Walter, Royal Letters, from the papers of Dundas of Dundas (Edinburgh, 1897), lxxiii, citing Acta Dominorum Concillii, 26, f. 43.
- ^ Andrea Thomas, Princelie Majestie: The Court of James V (Edinburgh: John Donald), p. 167: Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1903), 20-26.
- ^ James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1531-1538, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 161.
- ^ David Caldwell, Vicky Oleksy, Bess Rhodes, The Battle of Pinkie, 1547 (Oxbow, 2023), p. 19: Joseph Bain, Hamilton Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1892), p. 366.
- ^ 'Late Expedition in Scotland, 1544', in Tudor Tracts (London, 1903), 44: Letters & Papers, Henry VIII, vol.19 part 1 (London, 1908), no.472.
- ^ Garvie, James, Old and New Edinburgh, (1890), ch.34, p291.
- ^ Macleod, Walter, Royal Letters, papers of Dundas of Dundas (Edinburgh, 1897), no. 56.
- ^ "Scotland from the Roadside - Inchgarvie". ourscotland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ISBN 9789004173606. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ^ Corbet, Niall (1999). Management Statement for Inchmickery SSSI. SNH.
- ^ Watson, Jeremy (8 April 2007). "Revealed: volcanic island beneath the Firth of Forth". The Scotsman. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
- S2CID 129188570.
External links
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