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Murdo's Fireplace Lantern
Murdo's Fireplace Lantern
Dispatched within 1–2 days
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Murdo's Fireplace Lantern
Built by hand in a granite shed in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, for rooms where a candle isn’t allowed
Murdo Strachan, seventy-six. Forty-seven years building fireplaces, and one small one for his wife’s bedside table. His hands are finished, and 327 lanterns are all that is left.
“A buyer from London offered to take every lantern on the shelf and have them copied in a factory for £199 boutiques. I built the first one for my wife, in a room where she wasn’t allowed a candle. I’d be ashamed to look at her picture if it ended up in a Cotswolds shop window with somebody else’s name on the bottom.”
— Murdo Strachan, stonemason, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire
“Candles start about a thousand house fires a year in this country, and more than a third of them start in a bedroom. December is the worst month, and Christmas Day the worst day of the year. Once you are past sixty-five, you are about twice as likely to be hurt in a house fire. That is why so many care homes ban them. A thing like Murdo’s gives people the part they miss, without the part that used to get me out of bed at two in the morning.”
— Dougie Massie, retired watch commander, North East Scotland
- A little fire, not a light bulb. The glow sits low in the painted cracks between the logs and flickers unevenly, the way coals breathe an hour after the last log went on.
- Cool to the touch, all evening. No flame and no heat, which is why the care home in Inverurie let Elspeth keep the first one on her bedside table.
- Sized for a small room. 18.5 centimetres tall, 20 centimetres wide, 10 centimetres deep. A tabletop fire you can see from the bed, not a mantelpiece fireplace.
- One touch on, one touch off. A single button at the base. Nothing to find in the dark, nothing to set up.
- Yours is a little different. Every set of embers was painted by hand, so no two lanterns glow exactly alike.
- 327 exist and there is no restock. Murdo’s hands are finished and the shed goes with the house before the snow. When the shelf is empty, that is the end of it.
If it doesn’t make the room feel different, send it back within 30 days and get your money back. Nobody has sent one back to Murdo yet. Once it is lit on somebody’s bedside table, they don’t want to give it up.
This is a tabletop lantern, about the height of a hardback book. The photographs are taken close up, so please check the measurements: 18.5 cm tall, 20 cm wide, 10 cm deep. It is made for a bedside table or a shelf, not to stand in front of a hearth.
The fire is light, not flame, and it gives off no heat. The logs are cast resin, patterned on real split oak and painted by hand, not wood. We would rather say so here than let anybody find out later.
It looks its best in a dim room in the evening. In bright daylight it is a quiet little decoration. Switch off the lamps and it becomes a fire.
It takes 3 AA rechargeable batteries, and they are not in the box. You charge them inside the lantern with the USB cable that comes with it. Please use rechargeable AA batteries only – ordinary single-use batteries must never be charged.
| Product | Murdo’s Fireplace Lantern, tabletop fireplace lantern |
| Size | 18.5 cm tall × 20 cm wide × 10 cm deep |
| Frame | Round, matt black |
| Logs | Cast resin, patterned on split oak, embers painted by hand |
| Light | Warm, flickering LED glow behind the logs |
| Heat | None. Cool to the touch |
| Switch | One-touch button at the base |
| Power | Runs on 3 AA rechargeable batteries (not included), charged inside the lantern with the USB cable in the box |
| In the box | Lantern and USB charging cable. Batteries not included |
| Made by | Murdo Strachan, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire. Built 2025–2026 in his granite shed |
| Quantity available | 327 pieces. No restock. |
| Delivery | Dispatched within 1–2 days |
| Guarantee | 30-day money-back guarantee |
The Final Series
The Final Series
Message from the workshop:
After forty-seven years building fireplaces across Aberdeenshire, Murdo Strachan can no longer hold a brush steady. He built these lanterns in his granite shed in Kemnay in the year after he lost his wife Elspeth, most of them before the sun came up, each one painted by hand for rooms where a candle isn’t allowed. 327 were finished. When these are gone, there is no restock and no second run.
Why there is no second batch
Why there is no second batch
Some things are made by one pair of hands, for decades, and then never again.
The Final Series is the last work of craftspeople who are putting down their tools. No factory, no successor, no second batch. Just the final pieces from their workshops, each one shaped by a lifetime of getting it right.
When they're gone, they're gone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Got a question? Here’s how to reach us.
Email us anytime at support@backroad-goods.com. We answer Monday–Friday 9am–5pm and Saturday 10am–3pm (ET) — whether it’s about your order, a gift, or just to say hello.
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Can I return it if it’s not for me?
Of course. 30-day money-back guarantee. Put it on your bedside table, and if it simply isn’t right for you, email support@backroad-goods.com within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.