Flannan Isles

Flannan Isles

Scottish Gaelic name	na h-Eileanan Flannach
Old Norse name	Unknown
Meaning of name	Flannan Isles
Location
OS grid reference	NA725469
Physical geography
Island group	Lewis and Harris
Area	50 ha over more than a dozen islands
Area rank	0
Highest elevation	88 m on Eilean Mòr
Administration
Council area	Na h-Eileanan Siar
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Demographics
Population	0
Population rank	0
Largest settlement	Flannan Isles Lighthouse is the only habitable structure
References

The Flannan Isles (Scottish Gaelic: na h-Eileanan Flannach) are a small island group in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, lying approximately 20 miles west of the Isle of Lewis (58°17′0″N 07°35′0″W). They may take their name from St. Flannan, the 7th century Irish preacher and Abbot. The islands have been devoid of permanent residents since the automation of the lighthouse in 1971. They are the location of an enduring mystery which occurred there in December 1900 when all three lighthouse keepers vanished without trace.

Geography

The islands are split into three groups. The main cluster of rocks, which lie to the north-east, include the two principal islands of Eilean Mòr (English:Big Isle), and Eilean Tighe (House Isle). To the south lie Soray (Eastward Isle) and Sgeir Tomain, while the main western outcrops are Eilean a' Gobha (Isle of the Blacksmith), Roaireim (which has a natural rock arch) and Bròna Cleit (Sad Sunk Rock). The total land area amounts to approximately 50 hectares and the highest point is 88 metres above sea level on Eilean Mòr.

The geology is comprised of a dark breccia of gabbros and dolerites intruding Archaen gneiss. In pre-historic times the area was covered by ice sheets which spread from Scotland out into the Atlantic Ocean. After the last retreat of the ice circa 20,000 years BP, sea levels were up to 400 feet lower than at present and it is likely that the existing islands were part of a much larger land mass, although still separated from the Outer Hebrides by many miles of open water. Steadily rising sea levels would then have reduced the land remaining above sea level to its present extent.

There are two possible landing places to the east and west for yachts visiting Eilean Mòr, although this can be hazardous given the regular heavy swells.

History

The lighthouse on Eilean Mor. The Chapel of St. Flannan can be seen on the slope to the right of the lighthouse.

As the name implies, Eilean Tighe hosts a ruined stone shelter. Eilean Mòr is home to the lighthouse and a ruined chapel dedicated to St. Flannan, which the lighthouse keepers refer to as the 'dog kennel' because of its very small size. These ruined bothies were collectively described by the Ancient Monuments Commission as The Bothies of the Clan McPhail or Bothain Chlann ‘ic Phaill. It is not entirely clear which St. Flannan the chapel honours. It is likely that he was either the 7th century Abbot of Killaloe in County Clare or alternatively the half brother of the 8th century St. Ronan who gave his name to the nearby island of North Rona. There was also a certain Flann, son of an Abbot of Iona called Maol-duine who died in 890, and who may have loaned his name to these isolated isles.

The archipelago is also known as 'The Seven Hunters', and in the Middle Ages they may also have been called the 'Seven Haley (Holy) Isles'. Martin Martin (1703) lists a number of unusual customs associated with regular pilgrimages to Eilean Mòr such as removing one's hat and making a sunwise turn when reaching the plateau. It is possible that the saint or his acolytes lived on Eilean Mòr and perhaps Eilean Tighe as well. However, it is unlikely that there were permanent residents on the islands once the Celtic Church fell into decline in the Hebrides (as a result of 9th century Viking invasions), until the construction of the lighthouse and its occupation very shortly before the dawn of the 20th century.

Wildlife

Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) in flight.

The isles provide nesting for a population of seabirds, including Atlantic Puffins, Northern Fulmars, European Storm-petrels, Leach's Petrels, Common Shag and Kittiwakes. There is a gannetry on Roaireim. From the late Middle Ages on that Lewismen regularly raided these nests for eggs, birds and feathers. There is a population of Arctic Hares, brought to the islands by the lighthouse keepers, and crofters from Bernera graze sheep on the most fertile islands. Minke and Pilot Whales, as well as Risso's and other species of dolphin are commonly observed in the vicinity.

The islands became a Site of Special Scientific Interest in December 1983.

Lighthouse

Designed by David Alan Stevenson, the 23 metre 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 50 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, by 1925 it was one of the first Scottish lights to receive communications from the shore by wireless telegraphy and then automated on 28 September 1971. 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. 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 only just over a year after it was commissioned.

Mystery of 1900

Flannan Isles Lighthouse

Location	Eilean Mòr 20 miles west of Lewis, Western Isles, Scotland
Tower height	23 m (75 ft)
Characteristics	Two White Flashes every 30 seconds
Description	White circular tower
Date established	1899
Date of present tower	1899
Date automated	1971
Current use	Active aid to navigation
Engineer	David Stevenson
Open to the public	Grounds only. Landings by sea may be difficult.

The Discovery

The first hint of anything untoward on the Flannan Isles came on 15 December 1900. The steamer Archtor on passage from Philadelphia to Leith 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 four man team, with a rotating fourth man spending time on shore. The relief vessel 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. On arrival the crew and relief keeper found a melancholy scene. 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 oilskins were 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 on 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 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 110 feet 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 200 feet above sea level turf had been ripped away over 30 feet 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' unscheduled disappearance.

Speculations and misconceptions

No bodies were ever found and the loneliness of the rocky islets may have leant 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's 1912 ballad, Flannan Isle. The poem refers to a half-eaten meal 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, such as 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 seabird) 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

Northern Lighthouse Board Ensign

On December 29 Robert Muirhead, an NLB superintendent, arrived to conduct the official investigation into the incident.

The explanation offered by Muirhead is more prosaic than the more 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 landing stage, and that Donald McArthur (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 15 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 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 Marshal, 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 to come.

Later theories and interpretations

The westernmost of the Flannan Isles: Eilean a' Ghobha and Roareim with Brona Cleit in the distance.

Nicholson (1995) offers an alternative idea for the demise of the keepers. The coastline of Eilean Mor is deeply indented with narrow gullies called geos. 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 McArthur 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.

Smith (2004) attributes the origins of the theory to Walter Aldebert, a keeper on the Flannans from 1953-57. 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 huge 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.

On a more positive note, the mystery was the inspiration for the composer Peter Maxwell Davies's modern chamber opera The Lighthouse (1979).

See also

• The Outer Hebrides of Scotland
• Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
• Peter Maxwell Davies
• Marie Celeste
• Missing persons
• List of people who have disappeared

External links

• Guide to the Flannan Isles
• Northern Lighthouse Board information about Flannan Isles lighthouse
• Northern Lighthouse Board information about the disappearance of the keepers