Never Found

Flannan Isles Lighthouse is a lighthouse near the highest point on Eilean Mòr, one of the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland. It’s biggest claim to fame was in 1900, when its three keepers disappeared in mysterious circumstances. The men were never found.

The first sign that something was wrong on the Flannan Isles came on December 15, 1900, when the steamer Archtor, traveling from Philadelphia to Leith, logged that the lighthouse light wasn’t working during bad weather. The lighthouse was essential to the shipping industry, as it protected the ships from crashing into the shore on the island. When the ship arrived in Leith on December 18th, the report was passed to the Northern Lighthouse Board for investigation. The relief vessel, the lighthouse tender Hesperus, couldn’t leave Breasclete, Lewis, as planned on December 20th, because of rough weather, so it didn’t reach the island until midday on December 26th. The lighthouse was staffed by three men…James Ducat, Thomas Marshall, and Donald McArthur…while a fourth man rotated time ashore.

When they arrived, the crew of the Hesperus and the relief keeper found that the flagpole was bare, the usual provision boxes for restocking were missing from the landing stage, and no lighthouse keepers were there to greet them. Captain Jim Harvie tried to make contact by sounding the ship’s whistle and firing a flare, but he got no response. A boat was sent out, and Joseph Moore, the relief keeper, went ashore alone…something I don’t think I would want to do. He found the compound’s entrance gate and the main door both shut, the beds unmade, and the clock unwound. After returning to the landing stage with this news, he headed back to the lighthouse with Hesperus’s second mate and a seaman. Their search showed the lamps had been cleaned and refilled, and a set of oilskins was left behind, hinting that one keeper had gone out without them. There was no trace of the keepers anywhere, inside the lighthouse or on the island.

At that time, Moore and three volunteer seamen were left on the island to attend the light and Hesperus returned to Lewis. Captain Harvie sent a telegram to the Northern Lighthouse Board dated 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.” Of course, this was not what might be considered an “official” cause of death, as there never really was an official cause of death, since there were no bodies found.

On Eilean Mòr, the men searched every inch of the island for clues about the keepers’ fate. While the east landing was untouched, the west landing showed clear signs of storm damage. A box 108 feet above sea level was broken open with its contents scattered. Also, iron railings were bent, the iron railway along the path had been torn from its concrete, and a rock weighing over a ton had been shifted. At the cliff’s top, more than 200 feet above sea level, turf had been ripped away up to 33 feet from the edge.

On December 29, 1900, Robert Muirhead, superintendent for the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB), arrived to investigate the incident. Having personally recruited the three missing men, he knew them well. After inspecting the clothing left behind, he concluded that Ducat and Marshall had gone to the western landing stage, while McArthur, the “Occasional,” had stepped out into heavy rain wearing only his shirt sleeves. He noted that leaving the light unattended was a clear violation of NLB rules and remarked that some of the damage to the west landing was “hard to believe unless you saw it yourself.”

“From the evidence I gathered, I was convinced the men had been on duty until dinner time on Saturday, December 15th. They had gone down to secure a box containing mooring ropes, landing ropes, and other gear, stored in a crevice in the rock about 110 feet above sea level. Then, an unusually large wave surged up the face of the rock, rose above them, and came crashing down with such immense force that it swept them away entirely. Ducat left a wife and four children, while McArthur a wife and two children. The disappearances tarnished the lighthouse’s reputation for many years after the incident.”

No bodies were ever found, but strange sightings sparked “fascinated national speculation” in newspapers and magazines of the time. Outlandish theories followed…perhaps a sea serpent carried the men away, they secretly boarded a ship to start new lives, they were kidnapped by foreign spies, or they fell victim to a ghostly vessel known locally as the “Phantom of the Seven Hunters.” Even more than a decade later, the mystery was still being remembered and embellished. Some suggest that there were signs of a struggle and meals left uneaten or interrupted, but neither was the case. In a first-hand account, Moore, the relief keeper, mentioned, “The kitchen utensils were all very clean, suggesting they must have left sometime after dinner.” Speculation continues to this day.