THE NLB AND THE LIFE OF A LIGHTHOUSEMAN - The Lighthouse - page 10

only occupy the Pole Star for thirty hours in favourable weather. With this in mind he
had surveyed three sites for the Flannan lightkeepers' cottages at Stromness. 10
Despite his earlier preference for the establishment of the lighthouse keepers' shore
accommodation tobeatStromness, StevensonwentontowritethatBreasclete, withits
good anchorage, would probably offer the most advantage in serving the Flannans.
On 9 February 1899 Stevenson wrote a letter 11 to the board of the Commissioners of
Northern Lighthouses in which he gave the details of four quotations for hauling appli-
ances to be used on Eilean Mor. He recommended Carrick & Sons as being the lowest.
The four tenders were as follows:

Carrick & Sons £242

Chaplin & Company, Glasgow £378

West End Engineering Works, Edinburgh £268

Messrs MacLellan, Glasgow £270

Additionally, a specification 12 for an invitation to tender was given, dated 22 August
1899, for the furnishing and fittings including communication bells between the light-
room and living room. Bells were also provided between the bedrooms and the living
room(thebellswere3'and4'respectively).Stevensoninvolvedhimselfintheminutest
of detail, for example, specifying that the bells in the bedrooms were to be mounted on
varnished pitch pine with the word 'Lightroom' to be engraved on them and the light-
roomwastohaveboardsofvarnishedpitchpinewiththewords'Principal','1stAssist-
ant' and '2nd Assistant' engraved on each one. Even when it came to the wiring, which
may have been expected to be left to an assistant to stipulate, Stevenson specified the
typeofwiringrequiredandthatitwastobetaperedandtarred.Hethendescribedwhere
the wire was to be laid, when it was to be placed in tin tubes and when it was to be left
exposed.Contractorscouldsubmitasampleofthewiretheyproposedtousealongwith
their tenders for the work. The specification also stated that the length of wire required
could be obtained from the NLB headquarters at 84 George Street, Edinburgh. After
then stating the requirements for batteries and spare parts, Stevenson finished with the
prices and wages stipulations and the proviso that he expected all of it to be tried and
properly tested and to be of the very best quality and finished to the entire satisfaction
of the engineer (i.e. David Alan Stevenson himself) within one month from the date of
acceptance of the offer. It is an exacting document and one that his grandfather would
have been proud of. The Stevenson mania for hard work and the constant desire to plan
and control the smallest detail of the work had passed down through the generations.
On the subject of the building work itself, Stevenson stated 13 that the total area to be
used for buildings, paths and tramways came to 43,950sq. ft or 1.0009 acres. In setting
out his proposals for the layout, Stevenson said that certain rights would have to be in-