Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
neverforgottenwaswewouldgetfishonaFriday:Weekone-OK,Weektwo-nottoo
bad, Week three - you could eat it, Week four - forget it, I'll just have beans and chips!
That would be the same in 1900 as you would not get any more food until the next re-
lief. I thought that when I went ashore I would get some flour to make some bread. The
bread went off after week two so I had to soak it in water and dry it off on the range
and by week four I had to cut the fungus off. Well when I went back onto the rock the
principal went mad and he said that he did not tell me to get any flour so I had to pay
for it myself. That was the way it was, you only did as you were told as it would have
been in 1900.
This is very important, the Northern Lighthouse Board did not know what was going
onatthelightaslongasthestationwascleanandthelightwasingoodorder,theywere
happy. We would have a visit from the district superintendent, he and two artificers
would arrive to maintain all the machinery. The superintendent would ask the principal
if things were alright, 'Oh Yes' he would say as he and the keepers would not say a
word as they were too frightened to tell the super and that is the way it was. The office
were [sic] God and it would be the same in 1900 if not more so.
Now for the landings, we had two landings, one at the east and one at the west. The
eastlandingwasthebestoneasithadsomeshelterandwedidmostofthereliefsatthat
landing. It had a steel crane with an engine, but if the weather was bad we had to use
the west landing and it was the very same as it was in 1900, the only difference was we
hadasteelcranebutithadhandlesonit.Thekeepersin1900wouldhavehadawooden
derrick. The crane was 70ft above the west landing and the sea in bad weather would
come around the corner of the west landing and solid water would crash into the land-
ing. There would be up to 100ft of solid water and the power of the sea was frightening
as it would take all in its path. I was talking to an old man in Lewis and he said that the
keepers on the Flannans had lost the wooden derrick as the sea at the west landing had
the wooden derrick and the keepers would be told to put more ropes on the derrick in
bad weather. Now in the light if the keepers were having a meal or sitting at the table,
they would be looking out of the window, they could not see the west landing but there
wasablowholeandiftheseawasrough,theseawouldcomeupthroughtheblowhole
up to 100ft in the air [and] that would tell the keepers that the west landing was getting
a hammering by the sea. I was once told by an old seaman that in a rough sea, every
seventh wave was a big one. If it was daylight I would think that all the keepers would
go down to the landing to see what was going on. Keepers don't like to miss things, I
am the same today. If the keepers went down to put more rope on the derrick and if a
big wave came around the corner they would have had no chance with that power and
that weight of water, they would have no hope of getting out of that, they would be just
