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

You are right just been googling the island. No tourists in a car , wish people wouldn’t make stuff up.

[quote SwedishEdith]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[/quote]
I think there was something from the 1800s, where one dies by accident & the other kept the body for fear of being accused of murder as they were known to argue.

It obviously affected him badly.

3 does seem sensible in case of accident or illness though-especially if some were so remote they weren't visited until changing keepers!

The most obvious explanation is usually the answer - they were swept out to sea and drowned.

Ooh I love this one (well, love maybe isn’t the right word here, but I’ve alway found it very intriguing)
In my head the two Chewing The Fat lighthouse keepers ended up like Flannan Isle. It all got too much for Greg Hemphill.

There's an exhibition and memorial on the main island nearby; Princess Anne went there in 2019 - she's famously interested in lighthouses.

www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/islands/1823824/princess-royal-to-visit-flannan-isles-lighthouse/

pics of visit and memorial here:

armycadets.com/county/1st-battalion-the-highlanders-acf/media-gallery/princess-visit-royal-to-the-flannan-isles-memorial/

The one I was thinking of is Smalls Lighthouse.

Originally stood on 9 oak pillars so that the sea passed underneath

Very well known story. Not just in Scotland. I think the official enquiry held that one got onto difficulties (possibly swept off a landing stage) and the other two died trying to save him.

@PetertheWalrus

Very well known story. Not just in Scotland. I think the official enquiry held that one got onto difficulties (possibly swept off a landing stage) and the other two died trying to save him.

That's probably the most likely, isn't it?

I think maybe the more dramatic explanations are due to one oilskin still being there?

Why would one go out without theirs in presumably bad weather?

I read somewhere ( so it must be true !) that one of the men never wore an oilskin, always wore another coat.

@FippertyGibbett

I read somewhere ( so it must be true !) that one of the men never wore an oilskin, always wore another coat.

Well there we are-the most likely explanation!

I was thinking that perhaps one had another jacket of some kind & then wondering if so-why the fuss about an oilskin being there?

Or maybe there wasn't a fuss, it was just a stated fact.

Wonder if the men owned their own oilskins?

There used to be a programme on I think National Geographic about unsolved mysteries, and this story was one of the episodes. I swear it was one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen, it really spooked me and I don’t spook easily!

Yeah, I've heard of this. On an unsolved mysteries chat thread on MN which led me to look into the background of it.

Like a lot of mysteries they've been, ahem, embroidered over the years. However, it's the diary entries that intrigue me. Even though, apparently, they were faked. Really ?

As a PP said, it's like the mystery of the Marie Celeste.

I remember being told about a whole village that disappeared over night.
It was a coastal fishing village somewhere like Cornwall or the Isle of Man and everyone just disappeared. They didn’t take any belongings.
I seem to remember that it was thought that they were gathered up one night and taken away for slaves.

@Rae34 could you tell me what podcast that is please? I've been listening to Time Travels with Susan Morrison which is fab.

I remember reading about this as a child. I think it was in one of the reading books.