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Details of Event: 6 July 1928: Shale Mine Explosion – Fatality At Bathgate - As the result of an explosion which occurred yesterday in No.4 Deans Shale Mine, Seafield, Bathgate, owned by the Scottish Oils (Ltd.), two men were injured and one killed. It appears that Wm. Ellis, Glen Road, Livingston Station, had fired a shot, immediately following which a quantity of gas in the waste became ignited, causing a horrific explosion, the noise of which was heard fully a mile away. Ellis and two other miners - Bernard M'Court, Starlaw Rows, Bathgate, and Thomas Campbell, Main Street, Livingston Station, were hurled a considerable distance. M'Court sustained a fractured skull, and was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he died almost immediately afterwards. Ellis and Campbell were more fortunate. They suffered much from shock and bruises, while they were literally "peppered" with shale dust which penetrated the skin. After receiving medical attention they were removed to their homes. The detonation created a momentary feeling of alarm among the other workers engaged in the mine, but fortunately none of them suffered any ill effects. [Scotsman 7 July 1928] FAI record – Bernard McCourt, 3 Starlaw Rows, by Bathgate, died on 6 July 1928 at the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh, from injuries sustained on the same day in No.4 Shale mine, Deans, after an explosion of firedamp. NAS Reference: SC41/13/1928/15