If you happened to live in Newhaven many years ago, in the dawning light of the morning, you could listen to the fisherlassies softly singing.

As they wound their way along the coast towards Leith and to Mussel Cape Rock when the tides permitted in order to harvest mussels that would be used as bait on the fishing lines of their fathers, brothers and husbands. It was upon this rock that a fortification would be built during the Napoleonic War and still exists to this day.

Mussel Cape Rock was part of the notorious Black Rocks that at the time laid submerged just below the surface some metres off-shore. What was then immersed into the tidal waters of the Forth off Leith is now largely buried in concrete. Half-submerged into the concrete of Leith Docks’ Eastern Breakwater is a round edifice. This is what remains visible of a Martello Tower, one of over 190 built in the estuaries around the coastline of the British Isles during the Napoleonic War. Of those that were built, only three were built in Scotland, this being one of them. The other two are on each side of Longhope Sound in Orkney.

Named after a series of defensive towers in Corsica, these original round forts were built by the Genoese in the early 17th century with the name being taken from one at Martella Point, Corsica. (Ironically Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military leader and Emperor, was born in Corsica.) The Martello Tower may have been its official name but to all the locals in Newhaven and Leith it was universally known as the Tally Toor!

Martello Towers were of simple design of about 40 feet (12 m) high with walls about 8 feet (2.4 m) thick with this one built about 450 yards (411m) out to sea. Entry was by ladder to a door about 10 feet (3.0 m) from the base above which was a slotted platform which allowed for downward fire on attackers. The door that can be seen in the accompanying illustration clearly demonstrates the depth of concrete and rubble that now encases the foot of the tower.

In 1809, construction began on the Leith tower but it was to take about 30 years to be fully completed due, it is said, to unnecessary delays and chicanery by Edinburgh Council. Built to hold a 12-man crew, the stone fortress housed military supplies on the ground floor and garrison quarters on the vaulted first floor. Up on the roof, a platform or barbette allowed a heavy gun to fire over a low parapet.

The cost of building this structure was around £1,7 million in today’s money. The Board of Ordnance funded the cost of the bastion with Edinburgh Council being responsible for its construction. The structure was established as a strategic defence for the newly constructed Leith Docks against anticipated French attacks, a precautionary measure underscored by the naval raids along the Forth coast three decades prior by a small squadron under Scottish-American commander John Paul Jones during the American War of Independence. But for a sudden ferocious storm, he may well have captured Leith!

The tower was manned by artillerymen from Leith Fort until 1869. But by 1850 it was seen that the tower was letting in water in the lower chamber where the munitions were stored. A structural reconstruction of the tower’s interior was undertaken which introduced a trefoil gun emplacement to the platform and reconfigured the internal living quarters. By 1853 the tower was reported as being able to accommodate one officer and 21 soldiers and to be armed with three 32-pdr guns. It was manned by Royal Artillery personnel from Leith Fort. However by 1869, both guns and artillerymen were removed from the fort and it lay largely unused for decades thereafter — that is until the Second World War.

There was only one Zeppelin air raid on Leith and Edinburgh during the Great War when a concerted but abortive effort was made on Rosyth’s Naval Dockyard and the Forth Bridge. The squadron of four Zeppelins were already reduced to two by the time the airships reached the coast of Scotland due to faulty navigation instrumentation but only Luftschiff Zeppelin L14 reached the city to drop its bombs. Thirteen people were killed in the raid with a further 30 injured. The fortification played no significant role during the Great War.

That mistake was not made during the Second World War. At the start of the conflict in 1939 workers placed concrete and cast-iron gun bases on the roof of the Tally Toor to use it as an anti-aircraft battery.

After 130 years, the Tally Toor managed to fulfil its defensive role at last as part of Edinburgh’s comprehensive protective ring.

Gordon Young