7 August 1868
….the weather still being boisterous, the committee were forced to abandon a visit to the Bell Rock and proceeded to the Isle of May where they landed about 10 o’clock. Here they found everything in good order. The Lightkeeper craved a new Stair Carpet which the Committee think should be granted. He also pointed out an iron plated in the back entrance hall which he said was very dangerous from causing people to fall. He also complained much of the rudeness of excursion parties to the Island which now take place weekly and stated that young men half tipsy frequently landed with guns which was very dangerous both to themselves and others. The Committee submit whether on such occasion guns should not be prohibited from the Isle of May.
21st January 1885
The Secretary reported and read the Minute of Committee appointed on 12th ultimo to consider the plans and Specification by Mr Thomas Stevenson of the Buildings connected with the Electric Light to be established at the Isle of May.
Excerpts from Annual Reports
1886
In May last, Mr Agnew, then Principal Keeper at the Isle of May made the somewhat novel claim for compensation for the loss of a cow while in calf on the allegation that this arose from the faulty and slippery construction of the floor of the building which made her to slip and fall and so caused her death. The Commissioners being of opinion that the accommodation in the Byre proper (which this building was not) was sufficient for the milk supply required for the families at the Station considered that the death of the cow even if due to the cause assigned, was a loss which did not fall on them but on Agnew, and accordingly refused his application.
1886 Annual Report excerpt
The Isle of May Light was on 19th July last changed from a fixed white to a group flashing white light showing 4 flashes in quick succession every half minute and on 1st December last its power was very much intensified by the substitution from that evening of electricity instead of oil as the illuminating agent. The Low Tower at this Station was converted into or fitted up as a dwelling house for the use of the resident Assistant Occasional in anticipation of the discontinuance of this light on the establishment of the North Carr Lightship.
Letter from the Galloway Saloon Steam Packet Company to NLB 15 June 1906
Dear Sir,Will you kindly allow us to put two temporary planks across the gorge where our steamers land passengers at the Isle of May on the west side? This is simply to allow passengers to cross instead of scrambling up the one side of the rocks which is rather dangerous, and would be more expeditious and safer. I shall esteem it a favour to receive your permission.
At your service,
Yours truly,
M. P. Galloway
(Non permanent agreement given)
Isle Of May
Letter from Miss Baxter, Edinburgh to NLB 14th October 1907
Sir,
I wish to apply to the Commissioners of Northern Lights for permission for Miss Rintoul (Lahill Largo) and myself to reside on the Isle of May from the 2nd week of September to the 2nd week of October……..arrange with the wife of one of the light-house keepers to take us as lodgers. The object of the stay would be to observe the autumn migration of birds from such an advantageous station and we would endeavour to give as little trouble as possible.
(Request was agreed.)
Isle of May 1910
CONFIDENTIAL
HM Coastguard and Reserve
54, Queen Street Edinburgh
2nd December 1910
Sir
I have the honour to request the views of the Commissioners of Northern Lights relative to the possibility of their being willing to lease the disused lighthouse on May Island to the Admiralty, for the purpose of a Naval Signal Station, and if this proposition is likely to be favourably received by them, what accommodation would there be in the lighthouse for the Naval ratings employed?
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant
H S Grant
District Captain.
To NLB, Edinburgh
Reply to request:
NLB
Edinburgh
5th December 1910
Sir
I am directed by the Commissioners of Northern Lights to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd inst. enquiring whether the Commissioners are willing to lease the disused lighthouse on May Island to the Admiralty for the purpose of a Naval Signal station etc. – and in reply I am to state that the Commissioners might see their way to lease the tower but no other accommodation could be afforded in the Lighthouse premises as they are required for a member of the Commissioners staff.
If you would be so good as to state if the tower alone would be of use to the Admiralty, the Commissioners will decide the terms on which it might be let.
I am, Sir, Your Obedient Servant,
C Dick Peddie
16th May 1923
The sanction of the Board of Trade was reported to
a) the conversion of the Isle of May light from electric to incandescent oil and the alteration of its character from four white flashes every thirty seconds to one white flash every twenty seconds and b) an expenditure for the work of an estimated sum of Eight thousand pounds, of which four thousand pounds is to be expended during the year 1923 – 24.
From J.M. Crawford, P.L.K. Isle of May comes a fascinating story.
“Light keepers and personnel who have been on the Isle of May”, he writes, “will know the true story of how in 1790 in the old coal-burning lighthouse on the island, (the bottom storey still stands and has the date 1636 above the door) a lightkeeper’s entire family was suffocated by fumes, except for an infant. About twenty years ago my brother in New York sent me a copy of a newspaper article which shed light on what happened to the infant and provides a sequel to the tragic story.”
The inscription on a grave monument in the cemetery at Andes, N.Y., reads, “Our mother Lucy Anderson, “wife of Henry Dowie, born on the Isle of May, Firth of Forth, Scotland …….
‘Where in 1790 her parents and their entire family met an awful death from suffocation. She alone by a special providence was preserved and was found three days after the fatal event, alive and sucking the corpse of her mother. God in his infinite mercy preserved her and in his goodness blessed her with a disposition in which every female virtue shone, pre-eminently a pattern of piety, patience and affection, invaluable as a mother, beloved as a friend, and for the last thirty years of her life was a member of the M.E. Church of which she was an ornament. She breathed her last in full hope of a glorious immortality.