Where was the first Scottish Lighthouse?
The earliest mention of a lighthouse in Scotland is in 1635, when Charles I Granted a patent to James Maxwell of Innerwick and John Cunninghame of Barnes to erect a lighthouse on the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, and collect, at the rate of 1½d. per ton for Scotch vessels and double that rate for foreigners, duties from shipping for its maintenance. This patent was ratified by the Scots Parliament in 1641. The method of lighting was by a coal fire. (In 1814 the Commissioners purchased the Isle of May with the lighthouse thereon and all interests in light dues for the sum of £60,000). The Board established a new lighthouse on the Isle of May in 1816, which was engineered by Robert Stevenson. It was automated in 1989 and it now remotely monitored by the Board’s Headquarters in George Street, Edinburgh. It has a character of flashing (2) White every 15 seconds and a range of 22 miles.
