Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
little space for a struggle to take place once the lightkeepers had gone any way down
thesteps.However,thetwomencouldhavebeentakencompletelybysurpriseanddur-
ing a struggle all three may have fallen down the cliff and into the water. There were
railings for safety but there is no way of knowing if these had been torn away by the
force ofthe water (as stated inMuirhead'sreport) at the time anypossible struggle may
have taken place, or whether this happened afterwards.
The balance of probability is that it is most unlikely ergot-tainted bread had been in-
volved. All the evidence seems to point to the supposition that whatever happened to
themen,itoccurredinthecourseoftheirwork.Thetidyappearanceofthestation,with
everythinginorder,plusthedonningofseabootsandoilskinsbytwoofthemenshows
they were paying attention to their surroundings. In the absence of any other evidence
to support it, this theory can be largely discounted.
To a modern-day researcher, it would seem that one of the oddest aspects of the
tragedy is that basically only one man investigated what had happened, meaning that
only one official was tasked with the responsibility in any official capacity.
Ducat, Marshall and Macarthur were essentially public servants who disappeared
while on duty and presumed dead. Yet there was absolutely no police involvement and
not one policeman set foot on the island; it is inconceivable that three men would dis-
appear at work today without the police investigating it. It can be argued that the police
know nothing about lightkeeping or the workings of a lighthouse. The likelihood that
oneofthemenmurderedtheothertwoandthendidawaywithhimselfisslim;yetthere
was some possibility of foul play and the police appear to have been content for the
NLB to investigate the incident themselves nonetheless. It would seem that no working
party or committee of relevant individuals who could give some input in the investiag-
tion-suchasamastermariner,apoliceman,aseniorindividualfromTrinityHouseand
aseniormemberofthelegalprofession-wasformed.Thewholeincident,fromstartto
finish, was left to Robert Muirhead to investigate and report on. There is no doubt that
Muirheaddidhisverybestandthathewouldhavedevotedsomeconsiderable timeand
effort to investigating the tragedy. However, he was still acting as superintendent and
expected to get on with his normal job at the same time, for instance seeing that NLB
Secretary James Murdoch's instructions were carried out for the immediate restarting
of the Eilean Mor Light. He does not appear to have been able to step back from his
normal function and solely concentrate on the investigation, although in fairness, there
is no doubt that his attention would have been focused on what had happened on the
Flannansfromthedayofthediscoveryon26December1900throughtotheproduction
of his report on the 8 January 1901.
Equally, the legal profession appear to have been content to take a hands-off ap-
proach. Members of the Scottish legal profession have regularly served as NLB com-
