Ross Russell
Engineers have found a bottle with a 132-year-old message deep in the walls of a sea lighthouse in southern Scotland.
The bottle was found inside Corsewall Lighthouse, at the northernmost point of the Rhins of Galloway peninsula.
Written with pen and ink, the letter dated September 4, 1892 reveals the names of three engineers who installed a new type of light in the 30-meter tower. It also has the names of the three lighthouse keepers.
The 20 cm bottle was found by Ross Russella mechanical engineer with the Northern Lighthouse Board, during an inspection.
Russell found her after removing panels from a closet. The team recovered it using a contraption made with a rope and a broomstick. But they waited until the lighthouse keeper, Barry Miller, arrived. “My God, how grateful I am that they did this,” says Miller.
The bottle has an unusual convex base, which prevents it from standing upright, being made of thick glassfull of small air bubbles. It is believed to have contained oil at some point. The cork plug had expanded over time, stuck to the glass, and the wire holding it in place had rusted and deteriorated.
The men had to to cut the top part of the cork and pierce it very carefully. The bill initially seemed too big to pull out through the neck of the bottle, so they created a tool using two pieces of cable to twist it through the narrow opening.
Miller, 77, told BBC Scotland his hands were shaking when he opened it. “It was so emotional, it was like meet our colleagues from the past. It was really like they were there,” he says.
“It was like touching them. As if they were part of our team. Instead of just four of us being there, we were all there sharing what they had written because it was tangible and it was possible see the style of your handwriting.”
“We knew what they had done. We knew they had hidden it in a place where it wouldn’t be found for a long, long time.”
What does the message say?
“Corsewall Light Station and Fog Signal, 4 September 1892.
This lantern was erected by James Wells, engineer, John Westwood, carpenter, James Brodie, engineer, David Scott, labourer, of the firm of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, during the months of May to September and relit in the evening Thursday, September 15, 1892.
The following were in charge of the station at this time: John Wilson, principal, John B Henderson, 1st assistant, John Lockhart, 2nd assistant.
The lens and machine were supplied by James Dove & Co Engineers, Greenside, Edinburgh, and assembled by William Burness, John Harrower and James Dods, engineers of the company mentioned.”
“I was completely amazed”
Ross Russell, who found the bottle with his colleagues Morgan Dennison and Neil Armstrong, says it was a unbelievable discovery.
“The score was just sensational, I was completely amazed,” says Ross. “Being the first person to touch the bottle after 132 years was simply mind-blowing. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.”
Engineers traveled to the 209-year-old lighthouse for a year-long project aimed at check the bearing upon which the five-ton lens rotates.
They were trying to look under the floor to see if that section would be able to support the lens while it was out of bearing when they found the bottle.
The men who wrote the note in 1892 were at the lighthouse to install a different type of lantern and glazing at the top of the tower.
“It was a strange coincidence find the note while working on the equipment described in the note itself,” said Ross.
The 36-year-old engineer mentioned that they will replace the note and bottle where they were found, in addition to add your own message.
The bottle and note are currently stored at the Northern Lighthouse Board headquarters in Edinburgh.
A descendant of one of the lighthouse keepers says he was delighted with the discovery. Euan Murray, who grew up 10 miles from the lighthouse in Stranraer, is the great-grandson of Robert Murraywho worked alongside John Wilson on Corsewall.
“I find it very interesting to see a bit of family history emerge out of nowhere like this,” he says.
The 32-year-old added: “It’s amazing to think that the work they did back then is still completely relevant todayeven in the age of satellite navigation.”
The Royal Navy’s chief engineer says: “Ships still use these lighthouses for safe navigation on a daily basis.”
