STV reports that the bottle was found in a box buried inside a column of Ruthven Road Bridge near Kingussie in the Cairngorms.

The rusty metal container, believed to be a time capsule, also held a folded newspaper dated September 22, 1894.

Eric MacCaskill, senior site manager for building contractors Morgan Sindall, said: “One of our workmen found this wee bit of loose stone. When he got it off we discovered there was a box inside it.

“I went over and immediately recognised it as a time capsule. I lifted it out and found it had filled with water over the years, which corroded the box. Inside was a quarter bottle of whisky, a newspaper and two wee wooden things.”

The artefacts were handed over to the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, where they will be looked after.

Curator Rachel Chisholm said: “We got a phone call from one of the engineers working on the bridge saying they had found the capsule in one of the stone pillars and he brought it along to the museum.

“We’ll be holding onto the box for now.”

Pupils from Kingussie Primary School now plan to bury their own time capsule in the same place the metal box was discovered.

Morgan Sindall engineers are replacing the single-track bridge’s structure to make it safer for road users.

The £622,000 scheme, which is expected to be completed this autumn, was green lit after a three-tonne limit was put on the bridge.