A plumber from Scotland, UK was doing some work at Eilidh Stimpson’s Morningside home when he came across a Victorian he had under the floorboards. The plumber was moving the radiator and cutting a random hole to find the pipe when he made this interesting discovery. He quickly ran downstairs to inform the owner. Impressed by the plumber’s interesting find, the owner waited for her children to return from school and smashed the bottle with a hammer to extract the note, according to a BBC report. She even shared the photo on Facebook, which predictably attracted a lot of eyeballs.
“Interesting find by Peter from Wightman Plumbing while lifting the floorboards in our house this morning! A little piece of history,” reads part of the detailed caption posted on Facebook. The message in the bottle reads: “James Ritchie and John Grieve laid this floor, but they drank no whiskey. October 6, 1887. Whoever finds this bottle may think our dust is blowing along the road.’
Since being shared on November 16, the post has received over 300 reactions, several comments and shares. “Interesting is an understatement! This is absolutely amazing! Technically, Eilidh, your message in a bottle is the oldest in the world, beating the previous holder of the title by 3 years (it was 132 years). This will be debated as your message has not gone overboard. But when I look at it I see the message and I see the bottle and the message is in the bottle…,” the individual wrote.
“I don’t think they could have ever predicted when they wrote it that you would be able to take a photo with a device no bigger than your hand and instantly put it on a platform that would reach the entire community in seconds. Incredible. If you post one for another person who knows how it would be discovered and information shared. What a beautiful time period from the past,” commented another. “I love this Eilidh! I hope you made one too and added it for the next person in 100 years!” asked a third.
