Edinburgh Castle

One O'Clock Gun

This signal gun at Edinburgh Castle is fired every day, except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day, at 13.00 hours - hence it is known as the One O'Clock Gun. The first gun was fired on 7th June 1861 after a couple of days where it misfired and has continued uninterrupted ever since – apart from during the two world wars. The only time it was ever fired in anger was during the First World War when its target was a German Zeppelin.

The original gun was a 64-pounder muzzle-loader placed on the Half-Moon Battery in the Upper Ward. It was linked to the time-ball on top of the Nelson Monument on Calton Hill, by a 1237m/4020ft electric cable that weighed 150kg/330lbs and was stretched over the city centre at a height of 73m/240ft. The combination of the gun firing and the ball dropping served as an audio-visual signal for ships at the Port of Leith or on the Firth of Forth.

The present gun, a 105mm field gun, was installed in 2001 and is fired manually by the district gunner who checks the time on a stopwatch set by the Speaking Clock. Staff Sergeant Thomas McKay, MBE, was the longest serving in a long line of district gunners dating back to Master Gunner Findlay in 1861.

Mackay, who was known as Tam the Gun, first fired the gun in July 1979 and continued until he became ill early in 2005. He sadly passed away in November. In 1999 he was awarded the MBE; he wrote a full account of the gun and various anecdotes titled What Time Does Edinburgh's One O'Clock Gun Fire? in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund, which he supported.

Search Site

See our Bookshop in association with Amazon.co.uk!

Accommodation
in the Lothians

Tourist Information