Inchkeitli.; THE FORTIFICATIONS. 293 -
As it was impossible to use carts, donkeys with
panniers were employed for the conveyance of
light materials. The forts are entirely isolated from
the island by a deep ditch, twenty feet broad and
as many deep; and, fortunately, the natural contour
of the ground selected for the fortifications enabled
this to be done with excellent effect; thus each
fort can be held and defended by its garrison, even
though the island should be in possession of an
enemy.
~~
post or old cannon, to form the pivot of the platform
of the gun arming the battery-the platform
to revolve like a railway turn-table, so that the
muzzle of the gun may traverse a very wide area
In rear of the gun-platforms are the magazinesthat
in the north battery being sunk in the solid
rock many feet deep.
From each fort access is given to the bottom of
the ditch by a covered way ; and from the ditch to
the mainland by a flight of steps.
INCHKEITH.
Generally speaking the exterior slopes of the
forts follow the coast lines of the promontories, and
the earth of which they are formed was thoroughly
compact and rammed down previous to being
riveted with sods-stonework never being employed
in the external faces of modem fortifications,
to preclude the dangerous chance of wounds
inflicted by splinters and stone shivers.
The parapet walls are of great thickness, and
rise about four feet six inches above the floor of the
interior of each fort. The interior, in the instance
of the north and west batteries, takes a circular
form, and the floor is composed of a solid mass of
The crest of the west headland was removed, to
permit a solid concrete foundation being laid for the
gun-platform.
By July, 1881, the Inchkeith forts were completed,
and ready for being armed with their guns.
The three forts mount altogether four guns, and
have been constructed at advantageous points, and
there can be no fear of an enemy ever cutting off
the supply oi water, as it gushes plenteously from
the rocks. Each fort covers a space of between
half an acre and an acre of ground, and the points
chosen for them are of the first strategetical
importance.
concrete several feet thick. In the centre of this From the shape of the isle they form the points
concrete is sunk, in an upright position, an iron of an irregular triangle, and each being in sight of
294 OLD AND NEW EDINBURGH. [Inchkeith.
the other, the gamsons could level their united fire
in any given direction. The situation of No. 3,
or the south-east fort, facing Leith, which is the
largest of the whole, and is certainly the strongest,
is on a sloping, turfcovered plateau, above the
peninsula of rock which ruhs southeastward
through the island.
It will mount two r8-ton guns, on Moncrieff
carriages, and be able to bear upon any vessel
coming westward, or attempting to traverse the
south or north channels. A formidable ditch
. separates the corner in which it stands from the
rest of the island, and the summit of the battery is
on a level with the ground, from which it has been
excavated. After a drawbridge has been crossed,
the fort is entered by a strong iron door, leading
into a covered way. Here are situated the only
two barrack-rooms for troops that have as yet been
erected there.
In one of these resides a sergeant of the Coast
Artillery, and in the other the three gunners under
his orders, to superintend the forts in the meanwhile.
The guns are placed on granite platforms, in the
centre of a circle, formed by a bombproof parapet,
and are to be fired ea barbefte over the slope, and
not through embrasures, as they are worked on the
Moncrieff swivel principle, which permits them to
be turned so as to sweep any point within three
fourths of a circle. The parapets, which are very
massively constructed, have each half a dozen bombproof
caseniates, in which the artillerymen who
work the guns may seek protection with ease and
safety.
In a hollow between two of the batteries there
has been constructed a bombproof subterranean
magazine, in which to store shot, live shell, and
cartridges for the service of the guns. The walls
and roof of this magazine have been formed of
brick, with a thick layer of concrete, and such a
deep covering of earth that any attempt from
without to blow it up must prove futile. A long
stair, winding down into the bowels of the earth, as
it were, leads to where the materials of destruction
are stored.
To preclude any accident which might lead to
the explosion of a magazine from within, the subterranean
passages which lead to them, and are quite
dark, are lighted by a very simple plan. Along the
back of the chambers a long passage has been constructed,
communication with which is obtained by
a private staircase. In this passage are a number
of windows, one into each of the chambers, and
whenever the batteries should happen to be engaged
a man would be sent below to place in each of
the windows lighted candles, which would effectually
light up the chambers, while the pane of glass
would prevent all peril of ignition.
The war material is sent up by a lift which opens
into the passage, each end of which leads to a
battery. Close to each of the latter, and somewhat
beneath them, is seen a covered way, facing the
sea, loopholed for musketry, in case of the near
approach of enemy?s boats.
This passage can also be used as a safe cajonnike
from one work to another, and as a place for the
storage of arms.
In short, more perfect batteries of the kind have
not as yet been constructed. The whole of No. 3
is embedded, as it were, in the earth, and so closely
concealed from view that it can only be discovered
by a practised eye.
The other two forts are on the bluff headlands of
the northern end of the island. That to the northwest,
known as No. I Battery, will amply protect
the upper portion of the Forth, as it can cover the
whole channel down as far as Prestonpans. In
construction it is precisely similar to No. 3, but is
smaller than the other, having accommodation only
for one gun of equal weight and calibre.
The third redoubt, which is similar to No. I,
and is named ?(No 2, North-east Battery,? occupies
the north end of the isle, and in conjunction
with the fort on Kinghorn-ness, commands the
entire north channeL
In July, 1881, a detachment of sixty men of the
Royal Artillery was located on the island to
receive and plant the four i8-ton guns in their
places, and found temporary quarters in tents
pitched in a sheltered hollow on the north-west. It
was at first contemplated to erect barracks, for the
accommodation of a gamson, on the grassy slope
at the south side of Inchkeith; plans were propared
for this, and the foundations were actually
dug, but the usual parsimony of Government in
Scottish matters prevailed, and the order was
countermanded.
To complete the defence of the Forth, the construction
of a powerful battery was begun, in
unison with the Inchkeith forts, in 1878, on Kinghorn-
ness, 150 yards long by 50 broad, with a face
to the beach, which at that point runs north-east
and south-west at right angles to the face of the
north emplacement on Inchke5th.
The graves of many Russian seamen, who were
buried on the isle when a plague was on board
their fleet in the Roads were long visible, and are
referred to in the ? Reminiscences ?? of Carlyle.
In 1803 the lighthouse was first built upon Inchkeith.
It was then a stationary one; b<t in
