Continuing our brief chronological resumé, we find that, for the better navigation of the noble estuary of the Forth, a lighthouse was erected on the island of Inchkeith—which lies nearly opposite the town of Portobello on the south shore, and Burntisland on the north—in 1805. Its base is 175 feet above the sea, and the building itself measures 45 feet in height. The light is a revolving one.
We now come to a description and historical account of the celebrated lighthouse to which this chapter is more particularly devoted.
Pharos loquitur.
“Far in the bosom of the deep
O’er these wild shelves my watch I keep,
A ruddy gem of changeful light,
Bound on the dusky brow of Night:
The seaman bids my lustre hail,
And scorns to strike his timorous sail.”
Sir Walter Scott.[35]
INCHKEITH LIGHTHOUSE.