Flannan Isles
Encyclopedia
Designed by David Alan Stevenson
, the 23 metres (75.5 ft) tower was constructed for the Northern Lighthouse Board
(NLB) between 1895 and 1899 and is located near the highest point on Eilean Mòr. Construction was undertaken by George Lawson of Rutherglen
at a cost of £6,914 inclusive of the building of the landing places, stairs, railway tracks etc. All of the materials used had to be hauled up the 150 ft (45 metre) cliffs directly from supply boats, no trivial task in the ever-churning Atlantic. A further £3,526 was spent on the shore station at Breasclete
on the Isle of Lewis. It was first lit on 7 December 1899. In 1925 it was one of the first Scottish lights to receive communications from the shore by wireless telegraphy
. On 28 September 1971, it was automated. A reinforced concrete helipad
was constructed at the same time to enable maintenance visits in heavy weather. The light is produced by burning acetylene
gas and has a range of 20 miles (32 kilometres). It is now monitored from the Butt of Lewis
and the shore station has been converted into flats. Other than its relative isolation it would be a relatively unremarkable light, were it not for the events which took place just over a year after it was commissioned.
passed the islands in poor weather and noted that the light was not operational. This was reported on arrival at Oban
although no immediate action seems to have been taken. The island lighthouse was manned by a three man team (Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald Macarthur), with a rotating fourth man spending time on shore. The relief vessel, 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 Boxing Day
(26 December). On arrival the crew and relief keeper found that the flagstaff was bare of its flag, none of the usual provision boxes had been left on the landing stage for re-stocking and, more ominously, none of the lighthouse keepers were there to welcome them ashore. Jim Harvie, captain of the Hesperus, gave a strident blast on his whistle and set off a distress flare, but no reply was forthcoming.
A boat was launched and Joseph Moore, the relief keeper, was put ashore alone. He found the entrance gate to the compound and main door both closed, the beds unmade and the clock stopped. Returning to the landing stage with this grim news, he then went back up to the lighthouse with the Hesperus's second-mate and a seaman. A further search revealed that the lamps were cleaned and refilled. A set of oilskin
s was found, suggesting that one of the keepers had left the lighthouse without them, which was surprising considering the severity of the weather. The only sign of anything amiss in the lighthouse was an overturned chair by the kitchen table. Of the keepers there was no sign, either inside the lighthouse or anywhere on the island.
Moore and three volunteer seamen were left to attend the light and the Hesperus returned to the shore station at Breasclete
. Captain Harvie sent a telegram to the Northern Lighthouse Board
dated 26 December 1900 stating:
The men remaining on the island scoured every corner for clues as to the fate of the keepers. At the east landing everything was intact, but the west landing provided considerable evidence of damage caused by recent storms. A box at 33 metres (108.3 ft) above sea level had been broken 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 over a ton had been displaced above that. On top of the cliff at over 60 metres (196.9 ft) above sea level turf
had been ripped away over 10 metres (32.8 ft) from the cliff edge. However, the keepers had kept their log until 9 a.m. on 15 December and this made it clear the damage had occurred before the writers' disappearance.
1912 ballad, Flannan Isle
. The poem refers to a uneaten meal laid out on the table, indicating that the keepers had been suddenly disturbed.
However, Nicholson (1995) makes it clear that this does not square with Moore's recorded observations of the scene which states that: "The kitchen utensils were all very clean, which is a sign that it must be after dinner some time they left."
Other rumours—that one keeper had murdered the other two and then thrown himself into the sea in a fit of remorse; that a sea serpent (or giant sea bird) had carried the men away; that they had been abducted by foreign spies; or that they had met their fate through the malevolent presence of a boat filled with ghosts—were less plausible. The baleful influence of the "Phantom of the Seven Hunters" was widely suspected locally.
On 29 December, Robert Muirhead, an NLB superintendent, arrived to conduct the official investigation into the incident.
The explanation offered by Muirhead is more prosaic than the fanciful rumours suggested. He examined the clothing left behind in the lighthouse and concluded that James Ducat and Thomas Marshall had gone down to the western landing stage, and that Donald Macarthur (the 'Occasional') had left the lighthouse in heavy rain in his shirt sleeves. (Whoever left the light last and unattended was in breach of NLB rules). He also noted that some of the damage to the west landing was “difficult to believe unless actually seen”.
Whether this explanation brought any comfort to the families is unknown. The deaths of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat (who left a widow and four children) and Donald McArthur (who left a widow and two children) cast a shadow over the lighthouse service for many years.
. The west landing, which is situated in such a geo, terminates in a cave. In high seas or storms, water would rush into the cave and then explode out again with considerable force. Nicholson speculates that Macarthur may have seen a series of large waves approaching the island, and knowing the likely danger to his colleagues, ran down to warn them, only to succumb himself as well. This theory has the advantages of explaining the over-turned chair, and the set of oilskins remaining indoors, although not perhaps the closed door and gate.
Haswell-Smith (2004) attributes the origins of the theory to Walter Aldebert, a keeper on the Flannans from 1953–1957. Aldebert believed one man may have been washed into the sea, that his companion rushed back to the light for help but that both would-be rescuers were themselves washed away by a second freak wave
.
The event remains a popular issue of contention among those who are interested in paranormal
activity. Inevitably perhaps, modern imaginations speculate about abduction by aliens
. A fictional use of this idea is the basis for the Doctor Who
episode Horror of Fang Rock
. The mystery was also the inspiration for the composer
Peter Maxwell Davies
's modern chamber opera
The Lighthouse
(1979). The British rock group Genesis
wrote and recorded "The Mystery of Flannan Isle Lighthouse" in 1968 while working on their first album, but it was not released until 1998 in Genesis Archive 1967-75
. Angela J. Elliott wrote a novel about the disappearance of the lighthouse keepers. Published in 2005 it is called Some Strange Scent of Death, after a line from Gibson's poem. The "haunted" islands and the lighthouse also feature heavily as a hideout for a villain in British author Manda Benson's novel Pilgrennon's Beacon.. In 2008 the New Zealand band Beltane wrote a song about the lighthouse and its mysterious disappearances on the album ...Through Darker Seasons.
David Alan Stevenson
David Alan Stevenson was a lighthouse engineer who built twenty six lighthouses in and around Scotland.Born into the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers, son of David Stevenson, brother of Charles Stevenson, and nephew of Thomas Stevenson, he was educated at Edinburgh University...
, the 23 metres (75.5 ft) tower was constructed for the Northern Lighthouse Board
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
(NLB) between 1895 and 1899 and is located near the highest point on Eilean Mòr. Construction was undertaken by George Lawson of Rutherglen
Rutherglen
Rutherglen is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In 1975, it lost its own local council and administratively became a component of the City of Glasgow. In 1996 Rutherglen was reallocated to the South Lanarkshire council area.-History:...
at a cost of £6,914 inclusive of the building of the landing places, stairs, railway tracks etc. All of the materials used had to be hauled up the 150 ft (45 metre) cliffs directly from supply boats, no trivial task in the ever-churning Atlantic. A further £3,526 was spent on the shore station at Breasclete
Breasclete
Breasclete is a village and community on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland.One of the main services in the village is Breasclete Primary School, which has a current total of 27 students...
on the Isle of Lewis. It was first lit on 7 December 1899. In 1925 it was one of the first Scottish lights to receive communications from the shore by wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy is a historical term used today to apply to early radio telegraph communications techniques and practices, particularly those used during the first three decades of radio before the term radio came into use....
. On 28 September 1971, it was automated. A reinforced concrete helipad
Helipad
Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...
was constructed at the same time to enable maintenance visits in heavy weather. The light is produced by burning acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
gas and has a range of 20 miles (32 kilometres). It is now monitored from the Butt of Lewis
Butt of Lewis
The Butt of Lewis is the most northerly point of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The headland, which lies in the North Atlantic, is frequently battered by heavy swells and storms.-Lighthouse:...
and the shore station has been converted into flats. Other than its relative isolation it would be a relatively unremarkable light, were it not for the events which took place just over a year after it was commissioned.
Discovery
The first hint of anything untoward on the Flannan Isles came on 15 December 1900. The steamer Archtor on passage from Philadelphia to LeithLeith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
passed the islands in poor weather and noted that the light was not operational. This was reported on arrival at Oban
Oban
Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...
although no immediate action seems to have been taken. The island lighthouse was manned by a three man team (Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald Macarthur), with a rotating fourth man spending time on shore. The relief vessel, the lighthouse tender Hesperus, was unable to set out on a routine visit from Lewis
Lewis
Lewis is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The total area of Lewis is ....
planned for 20 December due to adverse weather and did not arrive until noon on Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
(26 December). On arrival the crew and relief keeper found that the flagstaff was bare of its flag, none of the usual provision boxes had been left on the landing stage for re-stocking and, more ominously, none of the lighthouse keepers were there to welcome them ashore. Jim Harvie, captain of the Hesperus, gave a strident blast on his whistle and set off a distress flare, but no reply was forthcoming.
A boat was launched and Joseph Moore, the relief keeper, was put ashore alone. He found the entrance gate to the compound and main door both closed, the beds unmade and the clock stopped. Returning to the landing stage with this grim news, he then went back up to the lighthouse with the Hesperus's second-mate and a seaman. A further search revealed that the lamps were cleaned and refilled. A set of oilskin
Oilskin
Oilskin can mean:*A type of fabric: canvas with a skin of oil applied to it as waterproofing, often linseed oil. Old types of oilskin included:-**Heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with linseed oil.**Sailcloth waterproofed with a thin layer of tar....
s was found, suggesting that one of the keepers had left the lighthouse without them, which was surprising considering the severity of the weather. The only sign of anything amiss in the lighthouse was an overturned chair by the kitchen table. Of the keepers there was no sign, either inside the lighthouse or anywhere on the island.
Moore and three volunteer seamen were left to attend the light and the Hesperus returned to the shore station at Breasclete
Breasclete
Breasclete is a village and community on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland.One of the main services in the village is Breasclete Primary School, which has a current total of 27 students...
. Captain Harvie sent a telegram to the Northern Lighthouse Board
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
dated 26 December 1900 stating:
A dreadful accident has happened at the Flannans. The three keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the Occasional have disappeared from the Island. The clocks were stopped and other signs indicated that the accident must have happened about a week ago. Poor fellows must have been blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to rescue a crane or something like that.
The men remaining on the island scoured every corner for clues as to the fate of the keepers. At the east landing everything was intact, but the west landing provided considerable evidence of damage caused by recent storms. A box at 33 metres (108.3 ft) above sea level had been broken 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 over a ton had been displaced above that. On top of the cliff at over 60 metres (196.9 ft) above sea level turf
Sod
Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...
had been ripped away over 10 metres (32.8 ft) from the cliff edge. However, the keepers had kept their log until 9 a.m. on 15 December and this made it clear the damage had occurred before the writers' disappearance.
Speculations and misconceptions
No bodies were ever found and the loneliness of the rocky islets may have lent itself to feverish imaginings. Theories abounded and resulted in "fascinated national speculation". Some were simply elaborations on the truth. For example, the events were commemorated in Wilfrid Wilson Gibson'sWilfrid Wilson Gibson
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson was a British Georgian poet, associated with World War I but also the author of much later work.-Early work:...
1912 ballad, Flannan Isle
Flannan Isle
Flannan Isle is a famous English poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, first published in 1912. It refers to a mysterious incident that occurred on the Flannan Isles in 1900, when three lighthouse-keepers disappeared without explanation.-In popular culture:...
. The poem refers to a uneaten meal laid out on the table, indicating that the keepers had been suddenly disturbed.
- Yet, as we crowded through the door,
- We only saw a table spread
- For dinner, meat, and cheese and bread;
- But, all untouched; and no-one there,
- As though, when they sat down to eat,
- Ere they could even taste,
- Alarm had come, and they in haste
- Had risen and left the bread and meat,
- For at the table head a chair
- Lay tumbled on the floor.
However, Nicholson (1995) makes it clear that this does not square with Moore's recorded observations of the scene which states that: "The kitchen utensils were all very clean, which is a sign that it must be after dinner some time they left."
Other rumours—that one keeper had murdered the other two and then thrown himself into the sea in a fit of remorse; that a sea serpent (or giant sea bird) had carried the men away; that they had been abducted by foreign spies; or that they had met their fate through the malevolent presence of a boat filled with ghosts—were less plausible. The baleful influence of the "Phantom of the Seven Hunters" was widely suspected locally.
Northern Lighthouse Board investigation
The explanation offered by Muirhead is more prosaic than the fanciful rumours suggested. He examined the clothing left behind in the lighthouse and concluded that James Ducat and Thomas Marshall had gone down to the western landing stage, and that Donald Macarthur (the 'Occasional') had left the lighthouse in heavy rain in his shirt sleeves. (Whoever left the light last and unattended was in breach of NLB rules). He also noted that some of the damage to the west landing was “difficult to believe unless actually seen”.
From evidence which I was able to procure I was satisfied that the men had been on duty up till dinner time on Saturday the 15th of December, that they had gone down to secure a box in which the mooring ropes, landing ropes etc. were kept, and which was secured in a crevice in the rock about 110 ft (33.5 m) above sea level, and that an extra large sea had rushed up the face of the rock, had gone above them, and coming down with immense force, had swept them completely away.
Whether this explanation brought any comfort to the families is unknown. The deaths of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat (who left a widow and four children) and Donald McArthur (who left a widow and two children) cast a shadow over the lighthouse service for many years.
Later theories and interpretations
Nicholson (1995) offers an alternative idea for the demise of the keepers. The coastline of Eilean Mòr is deeply indented with narrow gullies called geosGeo (landscape)
A geo or gio is an inlet, a gully or a narrow and deep cleft in the face of a cliff. Geos are common on the coastline of the Shetland and Orkney islands. They are created by the wave driven erosion of cliffs along faults and bedding planes in the rock. Geos may have sea caves at their heads...
. The west landing, which is situated in such a geo, terminates in a cave. In high seas or storms, water would rush into the cave and then explode out again with considerable force. Nicholson speculates that Macarthur may have seen a series of large waves approaching the island, and knowing the likely danger to his colleagues, ran down to warn them, only to succumb himself as well. This theory has the advantages of explaining the over-turned chair, and the set of oilskins remaining indoors, although not perhaps the closed door and gate.
Haswell-Smith (2004) attributes the origins of the theory to Walter Aldebert, a keeper on the Flannans from 1953–1957. Aldebert believed one man may have been washed into the sea, that his companion rushed back to the light for help but that both would-be rescuers were themselves washed away by a second freak wave
Freak wave
Rogue waves are relatively large and spontaneous ocean surface waves that occur far out in sea, and are a threat even to large ships and ocean liners...
.
The event remains a popular issue of contention among those who are interested in paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
activity. Inevitably perhaps, modern imaginations speculate about abduction by aliens
Abduction phenomenon
The terms alien abduction or abduction phenomenon describe "subjectively real memories of being taken secretly against one’s will by apparently nonhuman entities and subjected to complex physical and psychological procedures." People claiming to have been abducted are usually called "abductees" or...
. A fictional use of this idea is the basis for the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock
Horror of Fang Rock is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 3 September to 24 September 1977.-Synopsis:...
. The mystery was also the inspiration for the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
's modern chamber opera
Chamber opera
Chamber opera is a designation for operas written to be performed with a chamber ensemble rather than a full orchestra.The term and form were invented by Benjamin Britten in the 1940s, when the English Opera Group needed works that could easily be taken on tour and performed in a variety of small...
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse (opera)
The Lighthouse is a chamber opera with words and music by Peter Maxwell Davies.The scenario was inspired by a true story. In December 1900 a lighthouse supply ship called the Hesperus, based in Stromness, Orkney, went on its routine tour of duty to the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland...
(1979). The British rock group Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
wrote and recorded "The Mystery of Flannan Isle Lighthouse" in 1968 while working on their first album, but it was not released until 1998 in Genesis Archive 1967-75
Genesis Archive 1967-75
Genesis Archive 1967–75 is a 1998 boxed set by progressive rock band Genesis.This set features live recordings and rarities from the band's classic years when Peter Gabriel was lead singer. The first two of the four discs consist of a previously unreleased live recording of The Lamb Lies Down on...
. Angela J. Elliott wrote a novel about the disappearance of the lighthouse keepers. Published in 2005 it is called Some Strange Scent of Death, after a line from Gibson's poem. The "haunted" islands and the lighthouse also feature heavily as a hideout for a villain in British author Manda Benson's novel Pilgrennon's Beacon.. In 2008 the New Zealand band Beltane wrote a song about the lighthouse and its mysterious disappearances on the album ...Through Darker Seasons.
See also
- Outer HebridesOuter HebridesThe Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
- Wilfrid Wilson GibsonWilfrid Wilson GibsonWilfrid Wilson Gibson was a British Georgian poet, associated with World War I but also the author of much later work.-Early work:...
- Peter Maxwell DaviesPeter Maxwell DaviesSir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
- Mary CelesteMary CelesteThe Mary Celeste was an American brigantine merchant ship famous for having been discovered on 4 December 1872, in the Atlantic Ocean unmanned and apparently abandoned , despite the fact that the weather was fine and her crew had been experienced and able...
- Missing personMissing personA missing person is a person who has disappeared for usually unknown reasons.Missing persons' photographs may be posted on bulletin boards, milk cartons, postcards, and websites, along with a phone number to be contacted if a sighting has been made....
s - List of people who have mysteriously disappeared
- Rogue wave
- Draupner waveDraupner waveThe Draupner wave or New Year's wave was the first rogue wave to be detected by a measuring instrument, occurring at the Draupner platform in the North Sea off the coast of Norway on January 1, 1995...
- Neil M. GunnNeil M. GunnNeil Miller Gunn was a prolific novelist, critic, and dramatist who emerged as one of the leading lights of the Scottish Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s...
- an episode in his novel The Silver Darlings takes place on Eilean Mòr
External links
- Northern Lighthouse Board information about Flannan Isles lighthouse
- Northern Lighthouse Board information about the disappearance of the keepers
- The Vanishing Lighthousemen of Eilean Mór Investigative paper based on primary sources