Flannan Isles Lighthouse
| Flannan Isles Lighthouse | ||
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| Place: | Eilean Mòr | |
| Location: | Outer Hebrides , Scotland , United Kingdom | |
| Geographical location: | 58 ° 17 '17.2 " N , 7 ° 35' 16.4" W | |
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| Construction time: | 1895 to 1899 | |
The Flannan Isles Lighthouse , English Flannan Isles Lighthouse , is located near the highest point of Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of mainland Scotland . He is known for the mysterious disappearance of his guards in 1900.
history
The 23 meter high lighthouse was designed by David Alan Stevenson for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) . Construction was carried out by George Lawson of Rutherglen between 1895 and 1899 at a cost of £ 6,914 (that would be around £ 780,000 in 2020) including construction of the landing pads, stairs, rails, etc. All materials used had to be brought to the cliff-rich island by supply boats, which was difficult because of the choppy sea in the Atlantic. An additional £ 3,526 was spent on the coast station ( 58 ° 12 ′ 59 ″ N, 6 ° 45 ′ 23 ″ W ) at Breasclete on the Isle of Lewis . The beacon was first lit on December 7, 1899.
The purpose of the rails was to facilitate the transport of food for the guards and fuel for the light (paraffin at the time; the light used twenty barrels a year) via a wire rope up the steep slopes from the landing sites. The winch was powered by a small steam engine in a shed next to the lighthouse. A path descended west from the lighthouse and then turned south. In about the middle of the island, it forked over a series of hand-operated switches, humorously referred to as Clapham Junction. One branch led further east to the eastern landing site at the southeast corner of the island, thus forming a semicircle, while the other, somewhat shorter branch led back west to connect the western landing point in a small bay on the south coast of the island. The landing stages were extremely steep. The wire rope was looped around the turns by pulleys between the rails, and a series of posts outside the inner rail prevented it from causing damage if it jumped off the pulleys. The cargo was carried in a small, four-wheeled cart.
In 1925, the lighthouse was one of the first Scottish beacons to be controlled by radio telegraph from the mainland. In the 1960s, the island's transportation system was modernized. The rails were removed and all that remained was the concrete bed on which they were laid. This was now used as a roadway for a so-called "Gnat", a simple, three-wheeled, rubber-tyred off-road cart that was driven by a 400 m³ four-stroke engine. The Gnat was built by Aimers McLean from Galashiels and was in turn superfluous when the helipad was built.
On September 28, 1971, the lighthouse was finally automated. At the same time, a reinforced concrete helipad was built to allow maintenance visits in bad weather. Since then, the light has been generated by burning acetylene gas. It is now monitored from the Butt of Lewis and the coast station has been converted into apartments.
The mysterious disappearance of the guards in 1900
discovery
The first report that something unusual was happening on the Flannan Islands comes from December 15, 1900, when the steamer Archtor noted in its logbook on a passage from Philadelphia to Leith that the light was not functional in bad weather conditions. When the ship docked in Leith on December 18, 1900, this was reported to the Northern Lighthouse Board. However, the auxiliary ship, the lighthouse tender Hesperus , could not leave Breasclete on Lewis as planned on December 20 due to bad weather . It did not reach the island until noon on December 26th. The lighthouse was manned by three men: James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur, with a rotating fourth man serving on land.
On arrival, the ship's crew and the substitute found that the flagpole was not carrying a flag and that the food boxes had been left on the landing site. What was even more worrying was that none of the lighthouse keepers was there to greet them ashore. Jim Harvie, the captain of the Hesperus , tried to reach them by blowing the ship's whistle and firing a torch, but was unsuccessful. Joseph Moore, the substitute, was brought ashore by boat alone. He found the entrance gate to the compound and the main door closed, the beds unmade and the clock stopped. With this news he returned to the landing site and then went back to the lighthouse with the second officer and a sailor from the Hesperus . Another search revealed that the lamps had been cleaned and refilled. An oil suit was found, suggesting that one of the guards left the lighthouse without it. None of the guards could be seen, either in the lighthouse or anywhere on the island.
Moore and three volunteer sailors were left on the island to continue operating the beacon, and the Hesperus returned to Lewis. Captain Harvie sent a telegram to the Northern Lighthouse Board on December 26, 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 they must have been blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to secure a crane. "
“A terrible accident happened with the Flannans. The three guards Ducat, Marshall and the third man have disappeared from the island ... The clocks stopped and other signs indicated that the accident happened about a week ago. The poor guys must have been dragged over the cliff or they drowned securing a crane. "
Everywhere on Eilean Mòr the men searched for clues as to the fate of the guards. They found that everything was intact at the landing site in the east of the island, while the landing site in the west had suffered significant damage due to recent storms. A box was broken and its contents scattered; Iron railings had been bent over, the tracks along the way torn from their concrete, and a stone weighing more than a ton was moved. At the top of the cliff the grass had been torn off up to ten meters from the edge.
Bodies were never found, but there were some mysterious aspects that led to "fascinating national speculation" in newspapers and magazines of the time. Many implausible stories emerged, such as that a sea serpent (or a giant sea bird) had carried the men away or that they themselves had a ship carried them away to begin a new life. It was also alleged that they were abducted by foreign spies or perished in the malicious presence of a ghost-filled boat (the evil influence of the "Phantom of the Seven Hunters" was widely suspected locally). More than ten years later, the events were still firmly entrenched in memory and preoccupied. The 1912 ballad Flannan Isle by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson incorrectly refers to an overturned chair and an uneaten meal on the table, referring to the guards being suddenly disturbed.
“Yet, as we crowded through the door, We only saw a table spread For dinner, meat, and cheese and bread; But, all untouch'd; 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. "
“But when we pushed our way through the door, we only saw one table that was set with meat, cheese and bread for dinner. But everything was untouched; and no one there, as if they were about to sit down to eat, but before they could try it, an alarm had come and they had got up in a hurry and left supper, because at the end of the table a chair lay overturned on the floor. "
However, Moore, the substitute, stated in his report: "The kitchen utensils were all very clean, which is a sign that they must have disappeared some time after dinner."
Investigation by the Northern Lighthouse Board
On December 29, 1900, Robert Muirhead, a Northern Lighthouse Board inspector , arrived to conduct the formal investigation into the incident. Muirhead had originally recruited all three missing men and knew them personally.
He examined the items of clothing left in the lighthouse and concluded that James Ducat and Thomas Marshall had gone down to the western landing site and that Donald McArthur (the third man) had left the lighthouse without a jacket in heavy rain. He noted that anyone who was the last to leave the lighthouse unattended was breaking NLB rules. He also noted that some of the damage at the western landing site was "hard to believe if you haven't seen it with your own eyes".
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 (34 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.
" Based on the evidence I was able to gather, I believe the men were on duty until dinner on Saturday, December 15, and had come down to secure a box containing the fortifications, landing ropes, etc. and that it was secured in a crevice about 110 feet (34 meters) above sea level, and that a particularly large wave that had rushed up the rock face fell over it and carried it away with immense force . "
The deaths of Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, who left a widow and four children, and Donald MacArthur, who left a widow and two children, cast a shadow over the lighthouse service for many years.
Later inquiries and speculations
In the course of time a story has developed about the existence of unusual log entries. Allegedly Thomas Marshall said on December 12th that there were "strong winds such as I have never seen in twenty years." He is also reported to have reported that James Ducat was "very quiet" and that Donald MacArthur cried. MacArthur was a seasoned seafarer with a reputation for having fights, so it would be strange if he cried in response to a storm. Log entries on December 13 reportedly indicated that the storm was still raging and that all three men had prayed. This was puzzling too, as all three men were skilled lighthouse keepers who knew they were in a secure structure 150 feet above sea level and were safe inside the tower. Additionally, no storms were reported in the area on December 12th, 13th and 14th. The last entry in the logbook is said to have been made on December 15th and says: “Storm ended, calm sea. God is above all. ”However, a research by Mike Dash for the Fortean Times found that the logbooks were later inventions that were not based on fact.
Later researchers took into account the geography of the islands. The coast of Eilean Mòr is deeply indented with narrow gorges called geos . The western landing site, which is located in such a geo, ends in a cave. In heavy seas or storms, water flows into the cave and then explodes out of it again with considerable force. It is possible that MacArthur saw a series of large waves approaching the island. Since he knew about the danger for his colleagues, he wanted to warn them, but was then carried away by the waves.
Recent research by James Love found that Marshall had previously been fined five shillings for his equipment being washed away in a storm. In order to avoid another fine, he and Ducat probably tried to secure their equipment during a storm and were killed as a result. MacArthur's death can possibly also be traced back to it, although he should have stayed behind in the lighthouse in order not to leave it unmanned. Love speculates that MacArthur likely tried to warn or help his coworkers and got carried away in the process. That theory would explain the oilskin that was left in the lighthouse and MacArthur's cloak still on its hook, but not necessarily the closed door and entrance gate.
Another theory is based on the experience of Walter Aldebert, a guardian of the Flannans from 1953 to 1957. He believed that one of the men had been washed into the sea, whereupon his companions tried to save him, but were eventually killed by another wave of monsters.
Another suggestion is based on the guards' psychology. Supposedly, MacArthur was a fleeting character; This could have resulted in a battle near the cliffs by West Landing that left all three men dead. Another theory is that one of the men went mad, murdered the other two, tossed their bodies into the sea, and then jumped into his own death. Add to this the theories associated with paranormal activities such as alien abduction.
Artistic references
The incidents were picked up in the episode Horror of Fang Rock of the Doctor Who series . The event also inspired the composer Peter Maxwell Davies to write the modern chamber opera The Lighthouse (1979). British band Genesis recorded The Mystery of Flannan Isle Lighthouse in 1968 while working on their first album. However, it was not published until 1998 in Genesis Archive 1967-75 . The 2018 film The Vanishing is also based on the story. The 2019 film The Light house (director Robert Eggers ) makes a faint reference to the tragedy.
Remarks
- ↑ Munro (1979, pp. 170-171), Nicholson (1995), Bathhurst (2000) and Haswell-Smith (2004) cite the same report with slightly different wording: "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, December 15 to the proximity of the west landing 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. "
- ↑ Haswell-Smith (2004) points out that such phenomena are very rare.
See also
literature
- RW Munro: Scottish Lighthouses . Thule Press, Stornoway 1979, ISBN 0-906191-32-7 .
- Keith McCloskey: The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers . History Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7509-5365-8 ( full text in Google Book Search).
- Christopher P. Nicholsen: Flannan Isles. The Marie Celeste lighthouse . In: Rock Lighthouses of Britain: The End of an Era? Whittles Publishing, 2000, ISBN 1-870325-41-9 , chap. 14 , p. 168–179 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
Web links
- Flannan Isles ( December 26, 2014 memento on the Internet Archive ), Northern Lighthouse Board
- Flannan Islands , Northern Lighthouse Board
- Curse of Flannan Lighthouse and Aleshenka: Russian Mummy. The Unexplained Files Season 2 Episode 4 in theInternet Movie Database(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Il mistero del faro delle Isole Flannan - Eilan More. In: Bottega Mistero. March 20, 2015, accessed July 1, 2019 (Italian).
- ↑ Flannan Islands ( Memento from December 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Northern Lighthouse Board.
- ^ Robert Atkinson: Island Going . Collins, 1949.
- ↑ A Gnat on the Flannans. June 29, 2011, accessed June 24, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Christopher P. Nicholsen: Flannan Isles. The Marie Celeste lighthouse . In: Rock Lighthouses of Britain: The End of an Era? Whittles Publishing, 2000, ISBN 1-870325-41-9 , chap. 14 , p. 168–179 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- ↑ D. Perrot et al., 1995, p. 132.
- ↑ entry to Archtor in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ a b Transcripts from documents related to the Flannan Isles mystery ( Memento August 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Museum of Scottish Lighthouses.
- ↑ a b Bathhurst, 2000, p 249th
- ↑ a b c Munro, 1979, p. 171
- ↑ a b Ben Johnson: The mysterious disappearance of the Eilean Mor lighthouse keepers. In: Historic UK. Retrieved March 7, 2020 .
- ^ Northern Lighthouse Board - Report by Superintendent. In: www.nlb.org.uk. Retrieved July 15, 2020 .
- ↑ a b When Three isn't a Crowd: The Mystery of Eilean Mor - ASPire. Sentinel63.wordpress.com, June 10, 2016, accessed March 7, 2020 .
- ↑ Mike Dash: True Strange Stories? In: Fortean Times. Retrieved March 7, 2020 .
- ↑ Curse of Flannan Lighthouse and Aleshenka: Russian Mummy In: The Unexplained Files , The Science Channel , Season 2, Episode 4, aired August 19, 2014
- ^ A b Haswell-Smith: The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate , Hamish, 2004, pp. 329-331, ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7 .329-31
- ↑ Keith McCloskey: The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Keepers . History Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-7509-5365-8 .