e fire was fuelled by coal and worked well,
until the light went out for two whole days in
- It turns out the resident lighthouse
keeper, his wife and five children had died of
suffocation. A baby and two assistant
lighthouse keepers survived. From then,
families looking aer the lighthouse were
required to stay in accommodation away
from the building itself.
e Northern Lighthouse Board acquired
the island in 1815 and replaced the old
lighthouse with a more modern one, designed
by Robert Stevenson. e coal fire was
discontinued and oil-powered lighting began.
e tower is still in use, now with an electric
light in place and the Northern Lighthouse
Board, no longer the island owner, continues
to maintain the facilities.
A signal station was built during the First
World War, warning allies of enemy vessels.
e bird observatory was founded in 1934
and is now the oldest continuously run
establishment of its type in Britain. An
official National Nature Reserve was set up in
1956 and the NLB sold it to the Nature
Conservancy Council (now Scottish Natural
Heritage) in 1989. It continues to attract.
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORER 31
Page 29 Top: Landing-place.
Below: Left - Puffin and Right - the
Stevenson-designed High Light-
house.
Opposite: A gull surveying the
island from a rock.
Above: Isle of May Cliff.
Left: The Low Lighthouse, now a
bird observatory.
The photographs were taken by the
author, Marieke McBean.Further Information
nnr-scotland.org.uk/isle-
of-may