Eyebroughy

Eyebroughy is a small, rocky islet in the Firth of Forth, lying 200 metres off the East Lothian coast. It sits 3.5 kilometres north-east of Gullane and 5 kilometres west of North Berwick, opposite Dirleton’s East Links. At low tide the sea withdraws enough for a walk across to the island. The land was once part of the Archerfield estate. Trachyte rock from the lower Carboniferous underlies its narrow ridge. The island is an RSPB reserve where common eider, great cormorant and herring gull nest each summer. Winter brings ruddy turnstone and purple sandpiper to its shores. It belongs to the Firth of Forth Islands Species Protection Area. Two shipwrecks mark its history: the schooner Jane stranded in 1892 with alum cargo, and the lighter Bertha lost in 1900 while towing salvage gear. Visitors see seabirds circling the trachyte outcrop and the wrecks’ remains on the rocks. The narrow islet offers little ground, yet its position gives wide views across the Forth. Nigel Tranter, the local novelist, wove Eyebroughy into his tales Drug on the Market and Flowers of Chivalry.