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We seemed to stand for an endless while, though still no word was said, Three men alive on flannan
isle, Who thought, on three men dead. The poem is from an 1912 Ballet written by the british poet
wilfrid wilson gibson, written a hundred years ago is still able to send shivers down the spine of
every generation of sea men. The poem refers to a tragedy that happened at the early stream of light
in the 20th century; a tragedy that started one of the most unsettling mysteries at the time.
The flannan isles or the �’seven hunters�’ are a group of small islands situated in the outer
hebrides of scotland, around 20miles west of the isle of lewis, They were named after the
7th century saint Flannán mac Toirrdelbaig, The first case of abnormality on the flannan isles
was on the15th of december 1900 when the the captain of an american steamer noticed that the
lighthouse was dark just before midnight which was abnormal for an operational rock station,
the american steamer Archtor was making its way from philadelphia to Leith a port area
in the north of edinburgh, Three days later the ship docked in Leith and passed the sighting to
the northern lighthouse board. On the 20th of december 1900, A small ship was on its way to
the flannan islands specifically the lighthouse near the highest point of Eilean Mor, The 75ft
lighthouse was designed by david alan stevenson, construction was between 1895 and 1899 in a
remote island where there’s no inhabitants apart from it’s three lighthouse keepers James Ducat,
Thomas Marshall, and William MacArthur, with a rotating fourth man spending time on shore.
The ship was carrying captain james harvey that was in charge of the ship and joseph
moore a replacement lighthouse keeper, The relief vessel was unable to sail from Breasclete, Lewis,
as planned on 20 December due to rough weather, it did not reach the island until noon on 26 December
When the ship was near by the landing platform The crew and relief keeper found that the flagstaff
had no flag, all 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, The captain
blew the ship’s horn and fired a flare in an attempt to reach them, but was unsuccessful.
A small boat was launched with Joseph Moore rowing ashore, once arriving he found that
the entrance gate to the compound and the main door both closed, the beds unmade,
and the clock stopped and in the entrance hall two of the three oil skinned coats were missing,
He continued walking to the kitchen where he found a half eaten meal and
overturned chair as if someone had jumped from their seat running away from something. Moore
ran back to the ship where he reported that he had suffered some kind of an overwhelming
sense of foreboding during his long walk uphill and to inform captain Harvey thus he ordered a
search for the missing men but unfortunately no trace of a living soul was found. The captain
responded by sending a telegram to the mainland which in turn was forwarded to the Northern
Lighthouse Board Headquarters in Edinburgh writing �’A dreadful accident has happened at Flannans.
The three Keepers, Ducat, Marshall and the occasional have disappeared from the island. On
our arrival there this afternoon no sign of life was to be seen on the Island.Fired a rocket but,
as no response was made, managed to land Moore, who went up to the Station but found no Keepers
there. The clocks were stopped and other signs indicated that the accident must have happened
about a week ago. Poor fellows must’ve been blown over the cliffs or drowned trying to secure a
crane or something like that. Night coming on, we could not wait to make something as to their fate.
I have left Moore, MacDonald, Buoymaster and two Seamen on the island to keep the light burning
until you make other arrangements. Will not return to Oban until I hear from you. I have repeated
this wire to Muirhead in case you are not at home. I will remain at the telegraph office tonight
until it closes, if you wish to wire me. There were rumors by the locals from nearby
lands that the island was haunted by spirits and small creatures with magical powers,
also a sort of gigantic birds passing by the island, shepherds that used to take their
livestock to the island to graze would never spend the night there fearing spirits believed
to haunt that isolated part of the world. What was the secret of three ocean and weather
experienced lighthouse keepers disappearing ?Could it be some sort of paranormal activity or just
an extreme rough ocean day where waves sometimes reach the top of a lighthouse ? Speculations ran
up to the roof. Were they sea creatures ? A government conspiracy ? Was it
aliens or foreign spies ? A case of total madness That’s what we’re going to find out.
A further investigation followed the report by Robert Muirhead the the board’s supernatant who
both recruited and knew all three men personally, They departed to the island to investigate the
disappearances. The investigation resulted in nothing more than what Moore had already reported.
Except for the light house’s log. Muirhead instantly noticed the eeriness
in the last few days of entries, On the 12th december, the second assistant Thomas Marshal,
wrote of ‘severe winds the likes of which he have never seen before in twenty years’. He also noticed
that James Ducat, the Principal Keeper, had been ‘very quiet’ and that the third assistant,
William McArthur, had been crying. The strange thing about this final remark is why would an
experienced man like William Mcarthur who was also known on the scotish mainland as a tough
brawler cry about a storm ? Log entries on 13th Dec noted that the storm was still raging and
continued through the night. The wind shifted west by north. Ducat quiet. MacArthur praying. 12 noon.
Grey daylight. Me, Ducat, and McArthur prayed. Why would three experienced tough men who are
safely situated 150 Feet above sea level in a brand new light house back then pray for a storm
to stop? They are the safest out there ! The strangest thing about this note from the
log is that there were no reports of storms in the area on the 12th,
13th and 14th of December, Instead the weather was calm and the storm didn’t hit until December 17th.
The oddest and final log entry that carries a striking catharsis after what these poor
terrorized guys were experiencing was made on the 15th December. It simply read
‘Storm ended, sea calm. God is over all’. What was meant by ‘God is over all’?
After reading the logs Muirhead's turned his attention to the oil skinned coat that
had been left hanging in the entrance, why would one of the men expose himself to the
frozen and bitter winter venturing outside ? Why did all of the three men leave their posts
at once while it’s strictly prohibited ? Looking at the landing platform of the isle
things started to make a little bit of sense. Here muirhead noticed ropes strewn all over the rocks,
ropes which were usually held in a brown crate 70 feet above the platform on a supply crane.
There’s a hypothesis that the crate was displaced and knocked down, and in an attempt by the
lighthouse keepers to get them back a sudden wave came and washed them out to the raging sea ? This
was the earliest and most plausible theory and the one that muirhead included in his official report
to the Northern Lighthouse Board. Subsequent researchers have taken into account the geography
of the islands. The coastline of Eilean Mòr 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. It was possible
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 be washed away as well in the violent
swell. Recent research by James Love discovered that Marshall was previously fined five shillings
when his equipment was washed away during a huge gale. It is likely, in seeking to avoid
another fine, that he and Ducat tried to secure their equipment during a storm and were swept
away as a result. The fate of MacArthur, although required to stay behind to manage the lighthouse,
can be guessed to be the same. Love speculates that MacArthur probably tried to warn or help his
colleagues and was swept away too. This theory also has the advantages of explaining the set
of oilskins remaining indoors and MacArthur's coat remaining on its peg,although perhaps not
the closed door and gate. Another theory is based on the first-hand experiences of Walter Aldebert,
a keeper on the Flannans from 1953 to 1957. He believed one man may have been washed into the sea
but then his companions, who were trying to rescue him, were washed away by more freak waves.
A british newspaper wrote �’Intimation has been received at the northern lighthouse board
edinburgh, of the loss of the light house staff at the flannan islands lighthouse. The station
was established last year and was staffed by four men, Three taking duty and the other having
relied. When the board’s steamer yesterday went to the islands to land the relieving keeper,
it was found that the three men last on duty had disappeared, leaving no trace behind. They
are the principal keeper James ducat, and thomas marshall and donald mcArthur. The latter was an
occasional keeper on duty in place of a sick member of the regular staff. It is surmised that
they were swept away during the storm of last week, either when attempting to save a crane or
when trying to render assistance to some vessel in distress. The relieving keeper and three other
men have been temporarily left on the island. No such incident has ever happened in the history of
the lighthouse board, and it is provident that it did not result in disaster to any passing vessel.�’
The explanation seems not that convincing to some people in the Northern Lighthouse Board,
There were questions like why none of the bodies were washed ashore? The same question once again
why one of the men left without taking his coat especially in December in the outer
hebrides ? How can three experienced lighthouse keepers have been taken unaware by a wave? The
question that raises above any other question is around the weather conditions described that day
the ocean should have been calm and quiet! They were sure of this since the lighthouse could be
seen from the nearby Isle of Lewis, and any bad weather would have obscured it from the view.
The Lighthouse currently has an array of thirty-six 38 Watt photovoltaic panels,
The lens is electrically rotated on a pelangi gearless pedestal,
The condition of the light, batteries, generating set and AIS is remotely monitored by northern
lighthouse board staff via telemetry For decades following lighthouse keepers
at Eilean moor have reported strange voices coming with the wind calling out the names
of the three dead men, Theories about pirates kidnapping the three men, alien kidnapping,
Whatever the reason of them three strong men vanishing into the void, A 100 years ago
something or someone erased those three men from the rock of Eilean Mor on that winter day.