{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Scottish island | Image = North Dog and Fidra - geograph.org.uk - 207212.jpg | coordinates = {{coord|56.07|-2.78|region:GB_type:isle|display=inline,title}} | location_map = Scotland East Lothian | GridReference = NT5186 | celtic name = Fiodra | norse name = Fiðrey | meaning of name = Norse for "feather island"<ref>Ryder, N.L. [http://www.envarch.net/publications/circaea/6.2/circaea(6.2-1990).pdf "Displacement of bone waste by seagulls"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927114311/http://www.envarch.net/publications/circaea/6.2/circaea(6.2-1990).pdf |date=2011-09-27 }} (pdf) ''Circaea'': The Bulletin of the Association for Environmental Archaeology. '''6''' No. 2 (1990) University of York. p. 85. Retrieved 19 September 2010.</ref> | area = c. {{convert|10|ha|acre|abbr=on}} | area rank = | highest elevation = c. {{convert|20|m|ft|abbr=on}} | Population = 0 | population rank = | main settlement = | island group = Islands of the Forth | local authority = East Lothian | references = <ref name="Census">General Register Office for Scotland (28 Nov 2003) ''[http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/occasional-paper-10.html Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070525015452/http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/occpapers/occasional-paper-10.html |date=May 25, 2007 }}'' Retrieved 9 July 2007.</ref><ref name="Smith">{{Haswell-Smith}}</ref><ref>http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ Ordnance Survey</ref> }} thumb|270px|Fidra as seen from Yellowcraigs beach thumb|270px|Map of Fidra
'''Fidra''' (archaically '''Fidrey'''<ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43439&strquery=fidrey#s30 |title=Faifley - Fifeshire |work=A Topographical |year=1846 |author=Lewis, Samuel |access-date=2008-06-18}}</ref> or '''Fetheray'''<ref>Skene, W. F. (November 1862) "Of the early Frisian Settlements in Scotland". Antiquaries of Scotland. '''4''' Part 1.</ref>) is a currently uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth, {{convert|4|km|mi|abbr=off|frac=2}} northwest of North Berwick, on the east coast of Scotland. The island is an RSPB Scotland nature reserve.
==Geography== thumb|270px|Fidra Island viewed from Yellowcraig beach|border Like the other islands near North Berwick, Fidra is the result of volcanic activity around 335 million years ago. Fidra consists of three sections; a hill at one end with the lighthouse on it; a low-lying section in the middle, effectively an isthmus; and a rocky stack at the other end.<ref name="ScotGaz" />
==History== The island's name is believed to be Old Norse in origin, referring to the large number of bird feathers found there. Like the nearby Bass Rock, it has a substantial seabird population, and is now an RSPB reserve. The village of Gullane lies to the south-west, and the nature reserve of Yellowcraig and village of Dirleton, to which parish Fidra belongs,<ref name="Martine">Martine, John (1890) ''Fourteen Parishes of the County of Haddington'', Edinburgh, p.50-51</ref> are to the south. Remotely operated cameras on the island send live pictures to the watching visitors at the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick.<ref>[http://www.seabird.org/webcam-fidra.asp Fidra Web Cam] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070813120452/http://www.seabird.org/webcam-fidra.asp |date=2007-08-13 }} Scottish Seabird Centre. Retrieved on 18 June 2008.</ref>
Upon the island are ruins of an old chapel, or ''lazaretto'' for the sick, which was dedicated in 1165 to St Nicholas.<ref name="Martine" /> In the 12th-century, the island formed part of the barony of Dirleton, which was granted to the Anglo-Norman John de Vaux by King David I. The de Vaux family built a stronghold, known as Castle Tarbet, on the island, but in 1220, William de Vaux gifted Fidra to the monks of Dryburgh Abbey, in the Borders. His successor built Dirleton Castle, on the mainland, as a replacement dwelling.<ref>Tabraham, Chris (2007) ''Dirleton Castle'' 2nd edition. Historic Scotland. {{ISBN|978-1-904966-41-8}} pp.21-22</ref>
==Nature and ecology== The number of breeding puffins on the island has increased recently due to the removal of an introduced plant, tree mallow (''Lavatera arborea''). It is likely that it was planted by lighthouse keepers for use as toilet paper, and for its medicinal qualities. The shrub was blocking the entrances to the breeding burrows, and in 1996 the number of occupied burrows had fallen to approximately 400. Following clearance by RSPB Scotland staff and volunteers over 1,000 burrows are occupied in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=RSPB Puffins thriving after herbal toilet paper removal|url=http://www.birdguides.com/webzine/article.asp?a=5723|website=Birdguides|date = 6 June 2016|access-date=7 June 2016}}</ref>
==Cultural references== Robert Louis Stevenson often visited the beaches at the area known today as Yellowcraig and it is said that he based his map of ''Treasure Island'' on the shape of Fidra. (This claim is also made about the island of Unst in Shetland.) He also mentioned Fidra in his novel ''Catriona''.<ref name="ScotGaz">{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst1599.html |title=Fidra |work=Gazetteer for Scotland |access-date=2008-06-18}}</ref>
Fidra Books is a publishing house, named after the island, and which uses Fidra's outline as part of its logo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fidrabooks.co.uk/ |title=Fidra Books |access-date=2008-06-18}}</ref>
The progressive rock band Marillion also briefly mention Fidra in the song, ''Warm Wet Circles'', which contains the line "She nervously undressed in the dancing beams of the Fidra Lighthouse",<ref name="Marillion">{{cite web |url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/marillion-faq/part1/section-36.html |title=What is the Fidra Lighthouse? |work=Marillion Frequently Asked Questions |date=1992–1997 |editor=Schipper, Jeroen |access-date=2008-06-18}}</ref> the coast nearby apparently being a well-known courting spot.<ref name="Marillion" />
==Lighthouse== {{Infobox lighthouse | qid = Q12034940 | shape = cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern<ref>{{Cite rowlett|sctse|accessdate=2016-05-10}}</ref><ref>[http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Lighthouse/Fidra/ Fidra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312212948/http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Lighthouse/Fidra/ |date=12 March 2016 }} Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 10 May 2016</ref> | image = Lighthouse Dark.jpg | image_width = 270px | caption = Lighthouse on duty | module = right|35px|Fidra dome 270px|Fidra band | managingagent = Forth Ports<ref>{{Cite web |title=Northern Lighthouse Board Fidra |url=https://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Lighthouse/Fidra/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605022721/https://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Lighthouse/Fidra/ |archive-date=5 June 2016 |access-date=15 April 2026}}</ref> }}
The lighthouse, which was designed by David Alan Stevenson (as his first work) in 1885 and supervised by his uncle Thomas Stevenson was manned until 1970 and is now automated, as are all Scottish lighthouses. However, Fidra was the first unmanned lighthouse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/79779/fidra-lighthouse|title = Fidra Lighthouse | Canmore}}</ref> It is accessible via a private jetty on the east coast of the island.<ref name="Smith" /> The light flashes 4 times every 30 seconds during hours of darkness.<ref>''Reeds Small Craft Almanac'', London, Adlard Coles Nautical, 2007</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Scottish islands|Scotland|Engineering}} * List of islands in Scotland * List of lighthouses in Scotland * List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses * Trinity House of Leith
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://www.enschrage.nl/index.html The Schottish Lighthouses] ''Lighthouses of Scotland and the Island of Man.'' ** [https://www.enschrage.nl/lh/main/main_ec/fidra.html Fidra Lighthouse] * [http://www.nlb.org.uk/LighthouseLibrary/Main/ Northern Lighthouse Board]
{{stack|}} {{commons category|position=left|Fidra Island}} {{Islands of the Forth}} {{Lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse Board}} {{RSPB sites in Scotland}}
{{Authority control | additional=Q12034940}}
Category:Islands of the Forth Category:Landforms of East Lothian Category:Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserves in Scotland Category:Uninhabited islands of Scotland Category:North Berwick