Engineers unearthed a bottle with a 132-year-old message deep within the walls of a lighthouse in south Scotland. The bottle was discovered inside the Corsewall Lighthouse, at the northernmost point of the Rhins of Galloway. The "once in a lifetime" discovery is said to be the first message in a bottle found in a Scottish lighthouse. Written in quill and ink on September 4, 1892, the letter reveals the names of three engineers who installed a new type of light in the 100-foot (30-meter) tower. It also lists the names of the three lighthouse keepers.
During an inspection, Ross Russell, a Northern Lighthouse Board mechanical engineer, found the 8-inch (20-cm) bottle. He uncovered it after removing panels from a cupboard, but it was well beyond his reach. The team retrieved it using a rope and a broom handle. They waited until the retained lighthouse keeper, Barry Miller, came before opening it."My goodness am I grateful for them doing that," the comedian said. The bottle has a peculiar convex base and cannot stand upright. It is made of gritty glass with little air bubbles. The bottle stopper was cork, which had swelled over time and adhered to the glass, while the wire that held it in place had rusted away.
The men had to gently drill the cork out after removing the cap. The note appeared too large to fit through the bottle's neck at first, so they devised a tool to twist it through the tight aperture using two pieces of cable. Dr. Miller, 77, told BBC Scotland News that his hands shook when he opened it."It was fantastic; it seemed like we were meeting old colleagues. "It was like they were there," he alleged."It was like touching them. We were all debating what they had written as if they were a member of our team rather than just the four of us, since it was palpable and you could see the style of their handwriting.
What was Written in that letter?
Corsewall Light and Fog Signal Station was established on September 4, 1892.
James Wells Engineer, John Westwood Millwright, James Brodie Engineer, and David Scott Labourer of James Milne & Son Engineers, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, created this lantern between May and September, and it was relighted on Thursday night, September 15, 1892.
The station's keepers at the time were John Wilson, Principal, John B Henderson, First Assistant, and John Lockhart, Second Assistant.
James Dove & Co Engineers of Greenside Edinburgh supplied the lens and machine, which were fitted by William Burness, John Harrower, and James Dods. Engineers from the aforementioned firm.
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