AFTERMATH - The Lighthouse - page 57

the station, John McLachlan was working on the light tower when he slipped and fell
to his death. It was tragic that the lighthouse on Eilean Mor had claimed the life of yet
another NLB keeper within four years of the first tragedy. Nevertheless, McLachlan's
death was viewed as just an unfortunate accident, which it was. Of the original arrivals
after the tragedy on 15 December 1900, Assistant Lightkeeper David Ross and Princip-
al William Beggs were still stationed on the Flannans at the time of McLachlan falling
from the light tower. Angus McEachern had left three months earlier for Hyskeir on 18
May 1904. The sad death of McLachlan, coming not so long after the disappearances
of Ducat, Marshall and Macarthur, must have had a sobering effect on both Ross and
Beggs. Both men could have been forgiven for thinking that they had landed on a sta-
tion cursed with such ill luck.
With the loss of men who died in the course of their work, the issue of gratuities and
pensions inevitably arose. All ofthe keepers had families and other dependents whore-
lied on the lightkeepers' salaries as their sole source of income. Superintendent Robert
Muirhead took on the responsibility of attending to the dependents and families of the
missing men, which cannot have been an enviable task.
James Ducat was the most senior with the longest service and also had the largest
family. The second man in line of seniority on the Eilean Mor Lighthouse was Thomas
Marshall. He was born on 11 April 1871 and had entered the service of the NLB as an
ALK on 27 April 1896. At the time of his disappearance on 15 December 1900, he was
twenty-nine years old and had been an ALK for four years and nine months.
On15December1900,thethirdlightkeeper whoshouldhavebeenpresentonEilean
MorwasAssistantLightkeeperWilliamRoss.However,ashehadbeentakenill,hehad
been replaced by an Occasional Lightkeeper, Donald Macarthur. Macarthur, as stated
previously, had only been in the service of the NLB for less than a year, having joined
as an occasional on 29 January 1900 and undergone twenty-six nights' training from
that date. Whilst Macarthur acted as OLK, his pay was at the rate of 5 s per day and
night with victualling, when he was present on the rock.
The situation regarding the dependents of Macarthur was somewhat different as
he was an OLK rather than a full-time ALK. Mrs Macarthur's circumstances were
poignantly put in a letter dated 14 January 1901. 5 It was written by William Ross, who
knewthefamilywellandforwhomDonaldMacarthurwascoveringwhilehewasillin
Breasclete. The letter is addressed to the Secretary (James Murdoch) at NLB headquar-
ters, 84 George Street, Edinburgh and reads:
Sir,
Inreplytoyourletterof10thInst.requestingmetogivealltheinformationIcanobtain
about Mrs Macarthur widow of the late Occ & Keeper. I beg to say that Mrs Macar-