A 132-year-old message in a bottle found in the wall of a lighthouse in Scotland: what it said

Engineers have discovered a bottle with a message dated 132 years ago while working on the Corswall lighthouse in southern Scotland.

The message, written in pen and ink, is dated September 4, 1892 and contains the names of the engineers who installed a new lighting system on the 30-meter tower, as well as the names of the lighthouse keepers. According to the BBC, this is the first such discovery in the history of Scottish lighthouses.

The 20-centimeter bottle, made of rough glass with air bubbles, was discovered by mechanic Ross Russell when he was removing panels in a cabinet. Due to the remote location, it was impossible to get the bottle out immediately, but the team managed to remove it with the help of tools at hand.

The engineers waited for lighthouse keeper Barry Miller to arrive to reveal the discovery. "I'm incredibly grateful to them for this," he said. The bottle had a convex bottom, which made it impossible to stand upright, and probably contained oil in the past. The cork stopper was stuck to the glass, and the wire holding it in place was rusted.

Dr. Miller said that his hands were shaking while opening it: "It was so exciting, like meeting colleagues from the past." He added that the authors' handwriting conveyed a special connection to those people.

The text of the note reads: "Corswall light and fog signal station, September 4, 1892. This lighthouse was installed by engineers James Wells, John Westwood Milwright, James Brodie, David Scott, employees of James Milne & Son Engineers of Edinburgh, from May to September, and was re-lit on September 15, 1892. The keepers at the time were John Wilson and his assistants John B. Henderson and John Lockhart." The list also includes James Dove & Co Engineers, who supplied lenses and equipment.

Russell, who found the bottle along with Morgan Dennison and Neil Armstrong, commented: "It was an amazing discovery, and the note itself is just amazing. To touch it after 132 years was an exciting experience."

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