Flannan Isles Lighthouse

Flannan Isles Lighthouse is a lighthouse near the high- eastwards to the east landing place, on the south-east cor- est point on Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the ner of the island, thus forming a half-circle, while the Outer off the west coast of . It is best other, slightly shorter, branch curved back to the west to known for the mysterious disappearance of its keepers in serve the west landing, situated in a small inlet on the is- 1900. land’s south coast. The final approaches to the landing stages were extremely steep. The cable was guided round the curves by pulleys set between the rails, and a line of 1 History posts set outside the inner rail prevented it from going too far astray should it jump off the pulleys. The cargo was carried in a small four-wheeled bogie.[4] In 1925, the lighthouse was one of the first Scottish lights to receive communications from the shore by wireless telegraphy.[5] In the 1960s, the island’s transport system was modernised. The railway was removed, leaving be- hind the concrete bed on which it had been laid to serve as a roadway for a “Gnat” - a three-wheeled, rubber- tyred cross-country vehicle powered by a 400cc four- stroke engine, built by Aimers McLean of Galashiels. This had a somewhat shorter working life than the rail- way, becoming redundant in its turn when the helipad was constructed.[6] On 28 September 1971, the lighthouse was automated. A reinforced concrete helipad was constructed at the same time to enable maintenance visits in heavy weather. The The remains of the Flannan lighthouse railway as of 2012. This light is produced by burning acetylene gas and has a range view is looking approximately west-south-west from the light- house. The site of “Clapham Junction” is just visible at left centre. of 17 nautical miles; 20 miles (32 km). It is now moni- tored from the Butt of Lewis[7] and the shore station has [8] The lighthouse was designed by David Alan , been converted into flats. the 23-metre (75 ft) for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), Construction, between 1895 and 1899, was un- dertaken by George Lawson of Rutherglen at a cost of 2 Mystery of 1900 £6,914 inclusive of the building of the landing places, stairs, railway tracks etc. All of the materials used had Other than for its relative isolation, the lighthouse would to be hauled up the 45-metre (148 ft) cliffs directly from be relatively unremarkable, were it not for the events supply boats, no trivial task in the ever-churning At- which took place just over a year after it was commis- lantic. A further £3,526 was spent on the shore station sioned. at Breasclete on the .[3] It was first lit on 7 December 1899. The purpose of the railway tracks was to facilitate the 2.1 Discovery transport of provisions for the keepers and fuel for the light (paraffin, at that date; the light consumed twenty bar- The first hint of anything untoward on the Flannan Isles rels a year) up the steep gradients from the landing places came on 15 December 1900. The steamer Archtor on by means of a cable-hauled railway. This was powered by passage from Philadelphia to Leith passed the islands in a small steam engine in a shed adjoining the lighthouse. poor weather and noted that the light was not operational. A track descended from the lighthouse in a westerly di- This was reported on arrival at Oban, although no imme- rection and then curved round to the south. In the ap- diate action seems to have been taken. The island light- proximate centre of the island it forked by means of a set house was manned by a three-man team (Thomas Mar- of hand-operated points humorously dubbed "Clapham shall, James Ducat, and Donald MacArthur), with a ro- Junction"; one branch continued in its curvature to head tating fourth man spending time on shore. The relief ves-

1 2 2 MYSTERY OF 1900

for clues as to the fate of the keepers. At the east landing everything was intact, but the west landing provided con- siderable evidence of damage caused by recent storms. A box at 33 metres (108 ft) above sea level had been bro- ken and its contents strewn about; iron railings were bent over, the iron railway by the path was wrenched out of its concrete, and a rock weighing more than a ton had been displaced above that. On top of the cliff at more than 60 metres (200 ft) above sea level, turf had been ripped away as far as 10 metres (33 ft) from the cliff edge. The missing keepers had kept their log until 9 a.m. on 15 December, however, and their entries made it clear that Flannan Isles Lighthouse the damage had occurred before the disappearance of the writers.[7][10] sel, the lighthouse tender Hesperus, was unable to set out on a routine visit from Lewis planned for 20 December due to adverse weather and did not arrive until noon on 2.2 Speculations and misconceptions Boxing Day (26 December).[7] On arrival, the crew and relief keeper found that the flagstaff was bare of its flag, No bodies were ever found and the loneliness of the none of the usual provision boxes had been left on the rocky islets may have lent itself to feverish imaginings. Theories abounded and resulted in “fascinated national landing stage for re-stocking, and more ominously, none [11] of the lighthouse keepers were there to welcome them speculation”. Some were simply elaborations on the truth. For example, the events were commemorated in ashore. Jim Harvie, captain of the Hesperus, gave a stri- [12] dent blast on his whistle and set off a distress flare, but no Wilfrid Wilson Gibson's 1912 ballad Flannan Isle. reply was forthcoming. The poem refers erroneously to an uneaten meal laid out on the table, indicating that the keepers had been sud- A boat was launched and Joseph Moore, the relief keeper, denly disturbed. was put ashore alone. He found the entrance gate to the compound and main door both closed, the beds unmade, Yet, as we crowded through the door, and the clock stopped. Returning to the landing stage We only saw a table spread with this grim news, he then went back up to the light- For dinner, meat, and cheese and bread; house with the Hesperus’s second-mate and a seaman. A But, all untouch'd; and no-one there, further search revealed that the lamps were cleaned and As though, when they sat down to eat, refilled. A set of oilskins was found, suggesting that one Ere they could even taste, of the keepers had left the lighthouse without them, which Alarm had come, and they in haste was surprising considering the severity of the weather on Had risen and left the bread and meat, the date of the last entry in the lighthouse log. The only For at the table head a chair sign of anything amiss in the lighthouse was an overturned Lay tumbled on the floor.[1] chair by the kitchen table. Of the keepers there was no sign, neither inside the lighthouse nor anywhere on the 1. ^ Quotation from Nicholson (1995) p. island.[7][9] 178. Moore and three volunteer seamen were left to attend the light and the Hesperus returned to the shore station However, Nicholson (1995) makes it clear that this does at Breasclete. Captain Harvie sent a telegram to the not square with Moore’s recorded observations of the Northern Lighthouse Board dated 26 December 1900, scene, which state that: “The kitchen utensils were all stating: very clean, which is a sign that it must be after dinner some time they left.”[7][13] A dreadful accident has happened at the Other less plausible rumours ensued—that one keeper Flannans. The three keepers, Ducat, Mar- had murdered the other two and then thrown himself into shall and the Occasional have disappeared from the sea in a fit of remorse (which is likely not the case, the Island... The clocks were stopped and simply because the keepers only had to work together for other signs indicated that the accident must short amounts of time, and none of the men reported any have happened about a week ago. Poor fellows psychotic behavior); that a sea serpent (or giant seabird) they must have been blown over the cliffs or had carried the men away; that they had been abducted by drowned trying to secure a crane or something foreign spies; or that they had met their fate through the [7][9] like that. malevolent presence of a boat filled with ghosts—and the baleful influence of the “Phantom of the Seven Hunters” The men remaining on the island scoured every corner was widely suspected locally.[7] 3

2.3 Northern Lighthouse Board investiga- tion

The westernmost of the Flannan Isles: Eilean a' Ghobha and Northern Lighthouse Board Ensign Roareim with Brona Cleit in the distance

On 29 December 1900, Robert Muirhead, a Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) superintendent, arrived to con- of large waves approaching the island, and knowing the duct the official investigation into the incident. likely danger to his colleagues, ran down to warn them, only to suffer the same fate as well.[15] This theory has The explanation offered by Muirhead is more prosaic the advantages of explaining the over-turned chair, and than the fanciful rumours suggested. He examined the the set of oilskins remaining indoors,[7] although perhaps, clothing left behind in the lighthouse and concluded that not the closed door and gate.[16] James Ducat and Thomas Marshall had gone down to the western landing stage, and that Donald MacArthur (the Haswell-Smith (2004) attributes the origins of the the- 'Occasional') had left the lighthouse during heavy rain in ory to Walter Aldebert, a keeper on the Flannans from his shirt sleeves. He noted that whoever left the light last 1953 to 1957. Aldebert believed one man may have been and unattended was in breach of NLB rules.[7] He also washed into the sea, that his companion rushed back to the light for help but that both would-be rescuers also noted that some of the damage to the west landing was [16] “difficult to believe unless actually seen”.[12] were washed away by a second freak wave. The event remains a popular issue of contention among From evidence which I was able to procure those who are interested in paranormal activity. In- I was satisfied that the men had been on duty up evitably perhaps, modern imaginations speculate about till dinner time on Saturday the 15th of Decem- abduction by aliens.[11] A fictional use of this idea is the ber, that they had gone down to secure a box basis for the Doctor Who serial Horror of Fang Rock.[17] in which the mooring ropes, landing ropes etc. The mystery also was the inspiration for the composer were kept, and which was secured in a crevice 's modern chamber opera The in the rock about 110 ft (34 m) above sea level, Lighthouse (1979).[18] The British rock group Genesis and that an extra large sea had rushed up the wrote and recorded “The Mystery of Flannan Isle Light- face of the rock, had gone above them, and house” in 1968 while working on their first album, but coming down with immense force, had swept it was not released until 1998 in Genesis Archive 1967- them completely away.[14] 75.[19] Angela J. Elliott wrote a novel which was pub- lished in 2005 about the disappearance of the lighthouse Whether this explanation brought any comfort to the fam- keepers, it was entitled Some Strange Scent of Death af- ilies of the lost keepers is unknown. The deaths of ter a line from Gibson’s poem.[20] The “haunted” islands Thomas Marshall, James Ducat (who left a widow and and the lighthouse also feature heavily as a hideout for a four children), and Donald MacArthur (who left a widow villain in British author Manda Benson’s novel, Pilgren- and two children) cast a shadow over the lighthouse ser- non’s Beacon.[21] In 2008, the New Zealand band Beltane vice for many years.[12] wrote a song about the lighthouse and its mysterious dis- appearances on the album ...Through Darker Seasons.[22] 2.4 Later theories and interpretations 3 See also Nicholson (1995) offers an alternative idea for the demise of the keepers. The coastline of Eilean Mòr is deeply in- • dented with narrow gullies called geos. The west landing, List of lighthouses in Scotland which is situated in such a geo, terminates in a cave. In • List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses high seas or storms, water would rush into the cave and then explode out again with considerable force. Nichol- • Mary Celeste, a ship whose crew disappeared en- son speculates that McArthur may have seen a series tirely, leading to similar theorizing about the cause. 4 5 EXTERNAL LINKS

• List of publicly unexplained human disappearances [19] “The Mystery Of The Flannan Isle Lighthouse (Demo 1968)". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 8 July 2008. • Draupner wave [20] Elliott, Angela J (2005). Some Strange Scent of Death. Whittles. ISBN 978-1-904445-15-9.

4 References [21] Benson, Manda, (2011) Pilgrennon’s Beacon. Tangen- trine. ISBN 978-0-9566080-2-4. [1] Flannan Islands (Eilean Mor) The Lighthouse Directory. [22] ...Through_Darker_Seasons Encyclopaedia Metallum. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 18 Retrieved 7 September 2011. May 2016

[2] Flannan Islands Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 18 May 2016 5 External links [3] “Flannan Isles Lighthouse " Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 23 March 2008. • Northern Lighthouse Board information about Flan- nan Isles lighthouse [4] Atkinson, Robert (1949). Island Going. Collins. • Northern Lighthouse Board [5] Munro (1979) p. 223.

[6] “A Gnat on the Flannans”. 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2013- 06-24.

[7] Nicholson (1995) pp. 168–79.

[8] Perrot, D. et al. (1995) p. 132.

[9] “Transcripts from documents related to the Flannan Isles mystery. Museum of Scottish Lighthouses/Wayback. Original retrieved 3 September 2008, Wayback version retrieved 7 December 2013.

[10] Munro (1979) pp. 170–71.

[11] Bathhurst (2000) p. 249.

[12] Munro (1979) p. 171.

[13] Haswell-Smith (2004) nonetheless states: “A meal of cold meat, pickles and potatoes was untouched on the kitchen table.”

[14] Munro (1979) pages 170–71, although Nicholson (1995), Bathhurst (2000) and Haswell-Smith (2004) quote the same report using somewhat different language: “After a careful examination of the place.... I am of the opinion that the most likely explanation of the disappearance of the men is that they had all gone down on the afternoon of Saturday, 15 December to the proximity of the west land- ing to secure the box with the mooring ropes etc. and that an unexpectedly large roller had come up on the island, and that a large body of water going up higher than where they were and coming down upon them, swept them away with resistless force.”

[15] Haswell-Smith (2004) suggests these events are “very rare”.

[16] Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Ed- inburgh: Canongate. pp. 329–31. ISBN 978-1-84195- 454-7.

[17] “The Mystery of Flannan Isle” bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2008.

[18] “Opera: 'The Lighthouse' by Davies” New York Times. Retrieved 8 October 2008. 5

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