It began when good old Georgie three sat on the throne in London;
beleaguered by his Board of trade to end a national conundrum

Why ships had foundered and were destroyed by rocks that they had hit,
when night obscured the hazard because it was not lit.

Around the coast of Britain were many notable places,
where shipping was lost annually if not on regular basis

It was now becoming costlier to ship things round the coast,
so Government passed law, creating lights where they were needed most.

It was noted, that though Union brought together State and Crown,
the laws in Scotland differed, so too the burden should be bound.

The Commissioners from all coastal shires judiciary were taken,
so too the Lords Provosts of the City’s so as not to be forsaken.

Their task was to establish and there to oversee,
the building of four lighthouses by command of Kings decree.

The first was at Kinnaird Head by Frazerburgh Port;
she was built by adding tower to the pre-existing fort

The second was North Ronaldsay, one of Orcades northern isles;
to mark a safer passage twixt her and the Fairest Isle

The third was on Hebridean Isle that bears the name of Glas,
just south of Harris’s mighty bulk on Minches leeward pass

The fourth was on Kintyre’s land, right at its very tip;
a sentinel for the North Channel and its currents raging grip

Nobly was the effort made and achievements so resounding;
that more lights were then commissioned with buildings more astounding.

They were feats of engineering that tested mortal souls;
none more so than The Bell Rock and the difficulties that it posed.

As Lighthouses grew in number for their stature to improve,
was such a daily burden till a Board it was approved.

The Family Stevenson became the engineers to the Board;
and for generations their craftsmanship has been a sight unto behold.

From the start there was a problem finding men to man the lights,
yet they came from mariners and fishermen accustomed to the plight

One score years plus three has passed since Bicentenary,
but long gone were the Stevensons who made its history

Gone too are the Keepers the last in ninety eight,
their spirits haunt every light-room though silent is their gait

Progress is the Sire of History of that there is no doubt,
one day will come when they are needed not and their lights will all go out.

 

 

 

Barra Head Lighthouse

I’m Barra Head or Berneray what e’r you favour most,
I’m the dot of the exclamation mark
that’s the Hebridean chain from Lewis’s northern coast
My loftiness is not from stature built but height above the seas,
and often fog obscures my feet
like the portly man whose manhood he seldom sees

On clearest nights I join the stars as in the days of old,
Where Norse and Gael’s would navigate by skyward glance
For want of better passage to behold.
I will argue my right to stand, the highest in the realm,
for Old Lundy is shorter by a measure of six fathoms.
And in low cloud he’s overwhelmed

His two companions took his place and left him but a cairn
But in my solitude I stand alone and proud
irreplaceable save for man’s invention.
Where the feet of man once trod and tended to my need
The Barrachs secured a home, where they
Graze a herd of nomad sheep brought here on grass to feed

I am the owner of all I see,
in that there is no doubt,
for if what you see is what you love,
then  as I stand I will want for nowt

 

 

separating Scotia from the Ulster coast;
a strip of land they call the Rhinns
lies prostrate like a maiden
her back towards the west

At her head is Corsewall Point
at her feet the lofty Mull
Iam somewhere in between
where spine opposes Belfast Lough

Towering twins that stand at either end
in slender elegance made sleeker by their solitude,
While I in obscurity-save for the ships that pass
and mt seaward neighbours eastward glance

Imay not shine as brightly
but my worth remains the same
Unless of course you count the time
when Craigantlet crashed into my skirts,
inthat i share no blame

There was no one at the helm you see:
and like Mary Celeste she sailed blindlyon
till water filled the gapping hole
where rocks had stopped her in her track;
a mortal wound that tore at her soul
and broke in twain her back.

She died a death through ignorance
in that she shares no shame
Blind reliance on technology,

obediently plotting Liverpool bound.
A vigilant watch upon her bridge
and she would never have run aground

But such a legacy made be orphaned
by the corpse she left behind
Abandoning me for fear of toxic cargo
that lay strewn around the waterline.
Of course I always had my light and horn

but function better witha human soul.

Time and progress go hand-in-hand
at least thats what they say
Will Craiganlets fate befall me too
when my keepers are withdrawn?

Or will I simply diminish like twilight
to be reploaced by another light at dawn
Till that time I will shine
For whoever needs me most
That ivory tusk, between sibling towers
on the rugged Galloway Coast

 

Holburn Head Lighthouse

I’m the modest kind of lighthouse with not really much to say
I do not have a graceful tower like my sister across the bay
She shows off her shapely figure on promontory stand,
like the catwalk of some modelling house she makes herself so grand

That is not her claim to fame though for in records she’s another
As the most northerly point on the mainland of England Wales and Scotia
In contrast I am rather plain and on no headland stand
Still that could be a blessing because I am so bland
I look more like a folly with whimsical mistakes
That is until my light is lit; then the joking all abates
So I have a useful purpose and one in which I’m proud.
Even if I’m not the brightest light or am not so booming loud
There was a time not so long ago when I was favoured by the best,
When she went to her residence just a few miles up the coast
Her regal daughter on The Royal Yacht was anchored in the bay
Till Mamma left the home she loved, Known to us as Mey
I’m favoured too by Orcadians on ferries homeward bound
They know that when they pass me by they’ll soon be safe and sound
Beauty is not everything just so long as you have use
So tonight I’ll give my sister a friendly flash and call upon a truce