Inchgarvie Fort.

Today's cycle run was to Linlithgow, via South Queensferry where we had the compulsory comfort break. While the others were thus engaged I was on Blip duty and this is the result.

Inchgarvie is a small and uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Gaelic for "rough island." Local tradition has it that the island takes its name from the young herring, or "garvies" which sheltered in large shoals around its shores, however, this doesn't stand up as the word is an English slang term and unlikely to be linked with a Gaelic word.

The Island has been fortified since Roman times and has had a chequered history:
In the 16th century it served as a refuge for suffers from grandgore (syphilis), an exile enforced by The Grandgore Act which was passed in September 1497,
It served as a prison in the 16th and 17th centuries,
While at various times it has served as a retreat for hermits. I can well imagine any hermit living there swimming the few hundred yards to shore of an evening to visit one of the local hostelries.

The fortifications have been "modernised" many times, the last of which was in 1779 in response to the threat posed by John Paul Jones, American Naval Commander, who used a base in the Forth to harass British ships.

In 1878 the foundations for Thomas Bouch's Forth Bridge were laid on Inchgarvie but, after the Tay Bridge Disaster, these plans were abandoned until the west end of the island was extended with a pier and used as the foundation for one of the bridge's supports. The re-roofed castle buildings were used as a construction office for the bridge and accommodation for its workers. Some of the stone from the castle was used to build the caissons of the bridge.

Finally, permanently manned gun emplacements were sited there during the two world wars to defend the rail link and, possibly, the Rosyth ship yard.

I've often wondered about the history of the island, this blip has forced me to research it, though not to any great depth.

I’ve just posted yesterday’s “Cleft Stick.”