May, Isle of

Uninhabited island at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, in Fife unitary authority, Scotland, 9 km/6 mi southeast of Crail. The island is currently a nature reserve and bird sanctuary. The remains of Scotland's first lighthouse, a coal-fired beacon built in 1636, are on the island, and the ruins of a 12th-century priory lie to the south. Another lighthouse, erected in 1816 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, stands on the southern tip of the island; now automatic, it is still in operation.