Eyebroughy


Eyebroughy is a small, rocky islet in the Firth of Forth, 200 m off East Lothian, Scotland.

Location

Eyebroughy sits off the East Lothian coast, to the north northeast of the village of Gullane and west of North Berwick. It is in the parish of Dirleton and sits opposite the western part of Dirleton's East Links, at low tide it may be possible to walk to the island. It formed part of the estate of Archerfield.

Environment

It is an RSPB reserve, and the birds breeding on the island include common eider, great cormorant and herring gull, wintering birds include ruddy turnstone and purple sandpiper. The island is formed from an intrusion of trachytes from the lower Carboniferous. Eyebroughy is part of the Firth of Forth Islands Species Protection Area. It has been described as small and very narrow.

Shipwrecks

Two shipwrecks are noted for Eybroughy. The first was the 94-ton wooden schooner Jane which was stranded on Eyebroughy, with a cargo of alum and a single passenger on its way from Goole to Leith, on 18 December 1892. The second is that of the 310-ton lighter Bertha, which loaded with salvage equipment. This vessel was lost on 21 December 1900 as it driven away from a stranded steamer and ran into Eyebroughy.

Literary references

The Scottish historical novelist Nigel Tranter, who lived in nearby Luffness, mentioned Eyebroughy in at least two of his novels, Drug on the Market and Flowers of Chivalry.