Inchgarvie

Inchgarvie (occasionally "Inch Garvie") is a small island in the Firth of Forth. Presently uninhabited, Inchgarvie has seen various inhabitants over the years, and is known to have been inhabited at least as early as the late 15th century.

The name comes from "Innis Garbhach" which is Scottish Gaelic for 'Rough Island'. Local tradition has it that the island takes its name from the young herring, or "garvies" which sheltered in large shoals around its shores - this is however folk etymology as the first element is Gaelic.

Like nearby Inchmickery, its profile and colour makes it look very much like a battleship from a distance, and perhaps this is deliberate.

History

Inchgarvie’s fortifications predate the modern period. In the days when boats were the only way to cross the Firth of Forth, the island was on the main route between North Queensferry in Fife and South Queensferry in Lothian. This made it strategically important. It was near Roman forts at Cramond and Bo'ness, at the end of the Antonine Wall.

Records of Danish attacks on nearby islands, particularly Inchcolm as well as Fife and Lothian may mean that it was used in some capacity by them. It may well also have had a Culdee hermit like Inchcolm and Inchmickery. Whatever the case, it has had a castle, or fortification on it, from the Middle Ages to the present day, although it is currently abandoned.

Inchgarvie was the site of a castle built by King James IV circa 1490 [cite web | title=Scottish Gazetteer - Overview of Inchgarvie Island | work=Edinburgh University Geography Dept| url=http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst1302.html | accessdate=2007-04-20] , presumably for defensive purposes.

In 1497, the island was (along with Inchkeith, a few miles away) used as an isolated refuge for victims of the 'Grandgore', (syphilis) in Edinburgh [cite journal
quotes =
last = Pearce
first = J M S
year = 1998
month = April
title = A note on the origins of syphilis
journal = Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
volume = 64
issue = 542
url = http://jnnp.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/64/4/542
accessdate = ] . The 'grandgor' was recognised in the 1497 Minutes of the Town Council of Edinborough ( Phil. Trans. XLII. 421) "This contagious sickness callit the Grandgor.". The Grandgore Act was passed in September 1497, causing Inchgarvie, as well as other islands in the Firth, such as Inchkeith, to be made a place of "Compulsory Retirement" for people suffering from this disease. [A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, pp. 555-84] They were told to board a ship at Leith and, "there to remain till God provide for their health".

Between 1519 and 1671, the island was the site of a prison within the castle, and James Garvie, in his "Old and New Edinburgh", says of Inchgarvie that "In 1580, Inchkeith, with Inchgarvie, was made a place of exile for the plague-stricken by order of the Privy Council" [Old and New Edinburgh, 1890, ch34, p291.] .

In 1547, after the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Inchcolm and Inchkeith were fortified by the English, and held for two years. Possibly Inchgarvie was fortified in this period too. Like Inchkeith, Inchgarvie had a quarantine hospital, and a prison. Oliver Cromwell had this demolished.

During the reign of Charles II as King of Scots, the island was subject to continued maintenance for defensive purposes. The island was inspected by Charles in 1651 before falling into disrepair after he was ousted by Oliver Cromwell following the Battle of Worcester.

In 1707, the island is known to have been rented to Archibald Primrose, 1st Earl of Rosebery. In 1779, however, the island had its fortifications renewed once more, in response to the threat posed by John Paul Jones, American Naval Commander, who harassed British ships from a base in the Forth [cite web | title=Scotland from the Roadside - Inchgarvie | work=ourscotland.co.uk| url=http://www.ourscotland.co.uk/inchgarvie.htm | accessdate=2007-04-20] . These fortifications were never used in anger.

In 1878, the foundations for Thomas Bouch's Forth Rail Bridge were laid on Inchgarvie (and their bricks remain) [http://www.ourscotland.co.uk/forthislands/] , but after the Tay Bridge Disaster, these plans were abandoned, and the island languished until the west end of the island was extended with a pier, and used as the foundation for one of the Forth Bridge's cantilevers. The island, due to its proximity to the bridge, was also used as a construction office for the bridge, as well as accommodation for its workers within the re-roofed castle buildings. Some of the stone from the former castle was used to help build the caissons of the Forth Bridge.

20th & 21st centuries

The island became of renewed importance to the security of the Firth of Forth during the first and second world wars, during which, in combination with fortifications on Inchcolm, and gun emplacements on the mainland to the north (at North Queensferry) and to the south (at Dalmeny), it became a primary defence against air attack and submarine attack for the Forth Rail Bridge and the Rosyth Dockyard.

One Nazi plan had been to sever the Forth Bridge through bombing, and a gun emplacement was permanently manned through World War II.

Trivia

* It featured in the 2000 film version of Iain Banks' book "Complicity" (1993), (directed by Gavin Millar).
* It features occasionally in a riddle, "How many inches is the Forth?", playing on a pun on 'Inch' ("Innis") an old Scottish Gaelic word for island, and inch, the imperial measurement.
* Urban folklore in Fife and Edinburgh alleges the island to be full of oversized rats. The story goes that some Fifers went to the island with dogs to hunt them, but had to leave due to the ferocity of the rats.

ources and references

*cite book
last = Grant
first = James
authorlink = James Grant
title = Old and New Edinburgh
publisher = Cassell & Co, London, Paris, New York
series =
year = 1980
isbn =
* Haswell-Smith, Hamish "The Scottish Islands"

External links

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=T6&xml=/travel/2006/03/25/etisland25.xml The Daily Telegraph - Where seabirds go Forth] (an article on islands in the Firth of Forth)
* [http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/ Online (scanned) version of "Old and New Edinburgh"]