1900 - 3 men disappeared from Scottish lighthouse

[grassisjeweled]

Apologies for the Fail link:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9078503/The-enduring-mystery-missing-Victorian-lighthouse-keepers.html

Does anyone know about this? First time I've heard of it. Surprised it's never been mentioned on here

Why would it be mentioned?

The poem is quite famous -
www.potw.org/archive/potw230.html

The overturned chair always got to me as a child

Yes it's well known. There was a film called The Vanishing based on it.

Thanks for the poem! I would have thought it would have been mentioned on the 'unsolved mysteries' threads we see a lot of on here.

I'll look into the film, thanks! Sounds creepy

Hmm which ones oilskin was left behind? He didn’t need it for some reason

Flannan Isle? There’s a poem about it. We studied it in school but I can’t remember if it was primary or secondary. I was in Scottish state system 1960s & 70s and it was, I think, not just us.

I see it’s even got its own Wikipedia page.

There’s a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode about it (available on Prime as well as via the YouTube link I gave)...

Yes ... it’s famous - Flannan Isles Mystery...
I’m in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 too .

Creepy!!

I knew s as out this, I’m Scottish too. Kind is similar to the Marie Celeste.

Odd, I was literally just researching this 10 mins ago!

I found out about this through a Scottish history podcast last year. I watched the film The Vanishing afterwards that a PP mentioned. I was on the edge of my seat whole way through - totally recommend.

It's a well known story in Scotland. It's widely assumed that they were swept away by waves in the storm though. I think it has been built up to be more of a mystery that it actually was due to the famous poem

And the vanishing may have used it as a starting point, but has a totally different (and ridiculous) storyline

That's spooky
Never heard of it before
Would have to have been a freak wave surely?

@Florabella

And the vanishing may have used it as a starting point, but has a totally different (and ridiculous) storyline

Ah, shame ... haven't seen it although know it exists. I saw The Lighthouse and the vanishing was mentioned as being in similar theme but very different film.

Yes i've heard of this - the film The Lighthouse with dafoe and robert pattinson is likely a (dark) nod to it and another film is coming out soon

The islands bear the brunt of the Atlantic with huge waves and severe weather. I think the most likely scenario is that one keeper went out to check something (or they argued and he stormed off- three men on a remote light for a long period arguing would be pretty common, especially if alcohol was involved) and didn't return so the others went to check.
The island the light is on has large cliffs, that's where I think they went.

Weirdest to me is the lighthouse built in 1899, the disappearance in 1900, a year later. According to the poem, ten others had died there already.

As noted at the bottom of the article, a Doctor Who fan from the Tom Baker era (for example, me ) would instantly recognise the tale in the story “The Horror of Fang Rock”: the keepers were killed by a pulsating luminescent green shape-shifting creature called a Rutan, which fell to Earth on the rock. The Rutans are the mortal enemies of the Sontarans, so Madame Vastra’s henchman Strax would have taken a keen interest in this tale

I love unresolved mysteries so I’ve heard of it before.

Swept out to sea, sadly. Mystery solved, case closed. Just call me Sherlock

Yep, relatively well known in Scotland, in the news again last year when the new film was underway.

My guess is one got into difficulties, other two tried to help and all three were pulled into the sea.

I love lighthouse stories. I don't know if it's this story, but I did read a story about lighthouses and that (when they were manned) that changed to needing 3 men not 2 because of the risks involved from arguments etc. But this story is fascinating.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-40875034

Creepy tale OP. I read the Daily M comments. One was interesting. They said they were in the island in the 70s with their children. Standing by lighthouse when a voice told them to leave immediately. They grabbed the children and returned to the car. Looked back and saw a huge wave come over where they had been standing.
Could this be true? I wonder if cars can travel to the island , is there a ferry?
Love spooky tales.

@Florencemattell I'm afraid that's not true, no cars, no roads, no ferries. Its highly unlikely a 'tourist' could be there, now days the only people on those islands are the lighthouse engineers or the rspb.