Unravelling the Eilean Mor Lighthouse Mystery
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- The Eilean Mor lighthouse mystery involves the unexplained disappearance of three lighthouse keepers-Thomas Marshall, James Ducat, and Donald McArthur-in December 1900. When a relief vessel arrived, the lighthouse was deserted, with no sign of the men. Later a magazine claimed the lighthouse log contained strange entries, mentioning severe storms (not recorded elsewhere) and the men's growing fear. The final log entry stated, "Storm ended, sea calm. God is over all."
Theories about the disappearance range from a rogue wave sweeping them away to paranormal activity, but no definitive explanation has ever been found, leaving their disappearance one of Scotland's enduring mysteries.
Become a Channel Member ► / @wellinever
Facebook ► / wellineverofficial
Twitter ► / wellinevershow
Patreon ► / wellinever
Thank you for watching! It's really appreciated.
If you'd like to check out our other channels you can find them here> Well, I Never Stars - www.youtube.com/@wellineverstars History Engine - ruclips.net/channel/UCIhlbVxNVOfsdeSag2t3I4gvideos
Ok ! Thank you very much Sir❤
Thank you! Keep it up!
Thanks for posting this. Yt's terrible search function didn't give me the right results.
This story is local to me, being born and living on Lewis and my father having been a fisherman. I believe that MacArthur saw the wave coming and went out to warn the others before being washed away with them. I think the details about the door and gate being closed were embellishments after the fact that gained traction from Wilfred Owens's telling of the tale. The weather up here is a law unto itself! Great presentation as ever.
Agreed.
@rodmorrison47 this story gets me for the same reason-my family all came over from Lewis in 1888 with a lot of other families and settled together here in Canada. I have lots of Morrison cousins here, but I wonder if you’re one, there??lol
I’ve heard about this before. I don’t dare to speculate what happened to those poor souls, but I do know that weather is unpredictable and it changes all the time. Paul, great job at presenting this mystery of which we’ll never know the real truth. Blessings to you and your staff! 🙏❤️😊
I grew up on Great Bernera which is one of the closest islands to the Flannan Isles, and on a clear day you can just about see them on the horizon. The remoteness of these islands cannot be overstated, there is nothing but the open sea out there and you are completely at the mercy of nature. Even when I was young it was still a mystery that was talked about and everyone knew of the lighthouse keepers that lost their lives on Eilean Mor.
Thank you for covering this piece of history that was part of my childhood.
I miss my grandad telling me stories, he loved history. Thank you for your videos :)
Mine too
@@susanabyad4396 ❤️
My dad told us stories about WWII and the Ancient Egyptians. We are still fascinated by history
I absolutely love history stories like this. My grandfather was ex merchant marine, later Royal Navy. He used to sail around the Cape of Good Hope in sailing ships. He was also at Nova Scotia / Halifax when that dreadful explosion occurred where he was decorated for saving a number of men from a sunken trawler.
Just finishing a book about the Nova Scotia explosion. Until I saw another RUclips channel cover it, I'd ever heard of it. Astounding story. Glad your grandfather was safe. It had to be traumatic.
@@PennyHays44 Yes he made it through WW1 then he was in the Australian Army in WW2, surviving swell. I was told by my father that my grandfather could almost swim 2 lengths of an olympic underwater. Not bad for a smoke I guess. Unfortunately he died before I was born.
I was a schoolboy way back in the 60s on Lewis. The grandson of one of the keepers MacArthur, taught me at that time. He told us in around 1965/6 that his grandfather and 2 other keepers were swept away in a great storm that befell the island on that night/morning. The North Atlantic is a , or can be, a very violent place weather wise, as many seamen can attest to. I prefer to consider that, a rogue wave caught them by surprise.
The Atlantic is the most storm ravaged area of ocean in the world. The reason the Pacific is so named is because of it's much less turbulent nature.
If a Scotsman won't live there, it's got to be some serious supernatural forces going on.
This, as always, will be good👏
Cobblers!
@@resnonverba137 shut it bawheid
@@jmunro-graham1568 Have you always shown so much intelligence or has the level just increased as you've aged?
the natural is more than enough: that place is out to kill anyone there
Lack of whisky,more like 👍
I have always been fascinated by this creepy mystery! I really enjoyed your take on it, Paul.. 👍
I believe Marshall and Ducat were washed away by an abnormal wave and that McArthur met the same fate when he went out to search for his colleagues when they failed to return to the lighthouse..
Must admit though, it's extra creepy and intriguing to consider the supernatural theories! 💀🏴
Good Hypothesis. My take also.
It's also possible he didn't wear his gear as he was just going to a point where he could look down and see what maybe going on and realized they were in trouble and hurried down just as another wave hit
@@Hensler19 Yes, this makes sense too and would explain why he left his coat and oilskins behind.. McArthur, from his position in the lighthouse, maybe saw some very abnormal waves approaching and ran out quickly to try and warn Marshall and Ducat, only to meet the very same fate.. 🤦🏻♀️
MacArthur wouldn't have gone out on a search without his oikskins.
@@rameyzamora1018 He might have if it was to quickly warn his colleagues of a danger..
That is undoubtedly the best telling of this happening. Well done; yet again.
What speaks to me is that many hypotheses center on them looking out for one another - yes don't abandon the light, but still rushing to warn their colleagues or trying to keep someone from hurting themselves
2 men working in oilskins and the 3rd rushing out to warn them of huge incoming waves seems the most plausible….
Just on my way home from work can't wait to watch this when I get in, with a nice cuppa 🎉❤ xx
No better story teller than yourself Mr. Brodie. Thank you for sharing 😊🇨🇦
You...
@@resnonverba137 ???
@@angelabrothers The word is, 'you', not, 'yourself'.
@@resnonverba137 Thank you kindly, grammar police.
@@angelabrothers Pleasure. Sorry you've previously been failed.
I think rogue waves are scarier than any supernatural phenomenon, and would even say they used to be one. The only reason there is survivor's testimony of them in the modern era is because ships are strong enough to survive them. Even without the geological conditions of the cove, a wave would be more than enough to explain what happened.
I wonder how far back in time that science can accurately predict the tides and wind, before the invention of instruments that have been used to record it?
Rogue waves are more than capable of sinking a modern ship under certain conditions and certainly causing some serious damage. I was at sea for twenty years, never saw a rogue wave nor did I ever wish to do so. I certainly wouldn't want to be in an exposed position on land if one hit either.
I liked that you gave different scenarios of ‘why’ their demise. I didn’t realize the waves there could get THAT high, so I had previously dismissed that to be a possibility. Now I believe that to be the most likely reason they’re gone. Thank you for taking the time to research this event and presenting the video so well. ❤😊
The 2016 film The Lighthouse and the 2018 film The Vanishing are both based on this story.
Loved this! Great job, Well I Never and team
Good to know thanks
@@lindajackson1735 👍 Both worth a watch, Linda
The Lighthouse is actually based the infamous Smalls Island Incident of 1801, 'The Lighthouse' follows Thomas Howell and Thomas Griffith's disastrous posting to Smalls Island Lighthouse to 'keep the light' 25 miles from land and surrounded by the deadly Irish sea.
@@secondchance6603 Sorry, you are right - my mistake! 🤦🏻♀️
As was the Foctor Who serial "The Horror of Fang Rock".
"THE WORLD IS ONLY BIG ENOUGH FOR US WATSON, NO GHOSTS NEED APPLY". I believe the best explanation is the two men out then an emergency befell them. Following the rules with one man left behind. One of the two went over, possibly just out of reach for one man to recover him. He runs back for help, the third man rushes out abandoning the light and his oil skins. Shutting the door and gate out of habit, which is not unheard of habit taking over in high stress situations. What man would not risk his job to save a friend or co-worker? Thoughts of a retired Police Detective, for what it is worth.
As has been stated before, this is by far, the best telling of this story, sir. Always love your content and look forward to every upload!
Thank you, Paul! Love ❤️ listening to you speak, and tell stories!
What's more plausible? Three men washed away to sea or some supernatural phenomena ... Hmm. Occam's Razor. Love the way you tell the story.
I'm not say it was Aliens but ...
Ah the oft Misquoted Occam’s Razor, if you consider that it was an instant dismissal and anathema for a keeper to leave the lighthouse unattended a part of the job they took all to serious as the consequences of a full ship and all souls on board being lost out weighed the lose of two souls, then Occam’s razor would suggest the washed away theory to be the weakest reason.
@@jmunro-graham1568other way around: it’s the strongest reason as it has the most evidence to support it, whereas supernatural only has the beliefs of the individual…thus they died through natural causes due to severe weather
@@jmunro-graham1568One of the lads had previously been disciplined for leaving his lighthouse unmanned, so it clearly wasn’t a case for instant dismissal. I believe they would have gone out in an emergency. If you’re on a remote island and your mates disappear, what are you going to do?
Anyway, nothing supernatural occurred, no aliens were involved, so they must all, individually or as a body, have left the premises of their own free will. And they all ended up in the sea … somehow.
Glad you’re back, Paul . . . missed you! ❤
That was spooky, absolutely love it. Thank you Paul
Were they too remote for people to be able to witness and report any huge ass storms in the area? You tell a story so well and I always learn so much. It sounds tough, but I think I'd like being a lighthouse keeper as long as I could have my cat and dog along.
I think communication devices weren't all that great back then.. Also totally with you I'd go myself if I could take my pets and perhaps a year's supply of reeces pieces 😅 xx
In 1900 Galveston, TX was demolished by a hurricane that no naked eye saw coming.
There was no real weather forecasting technology in 1900. (EDIT) They did have binoculars and semataphore, which was developed in the 1790s.
Mainlands absolutely had telegraph and telephone long-distance communications, but they required wires.
Yes.
There was no communication to the island, and the only communication out from the island were signal flags, that an observer on shore was supposed to watch for with a telescope in good weather.
@@One.DeSanctis. Good points, but I was thinking after the event people would have an idea of what happened. Maybe When Pauls says remote he really means it and no one could know the weather on the island from I guess a very great distance.
“ I’m not superstitious. I’m just a little-stitious.” -Michael Scott
😅
Stupendous mystery !
I reckon they all fell into the sea doing something and succumbed to severe gusts of wind. Tragic !
It's always educational and very very interesting. Thank you Paul.❤
They must have been incredibly desperate for money to live so isolated from society, and always, always, always keeping an eye out for the light! Thank you Paul for another fascinating tale! 😊
Desperate, defiant freedom riders ! 🤪
Perhaps they had betrothed themselves to hags best left alone?
Och, my ancestors come from the Orkney Islands. I barely knew my great grandfather who immigrated to Canada. Such stories of living remotely on farms, and their gruff personalities, my own father was one of the types I imagine happily living as a lighthouse keeper, with his books, and spare lifestyle. He did sail the great lakes but met my mother who wouldn't stand him being g gone 9 months a year. So I do think therexare those who are content on their own, with breaks to civilization for a bit.
Actually, that last theory, that the two - in their oilskins - went to secure the landing and the third, from his vantage point of the lighthouse saw a monster wave approaching from afar and ran to warn them - no time to grab his own oilskins - and was swept away with them sounds the most plausible. Never all leaving the light may be one 'commandment' - but saving the lives of your only company on the island probably trumps that.
he hastened his attempt to save them by closing the door and latching the gate, that error could have cost him his life even if he was too late to save them in the first place
This tale is one I've heard before but this re-telling is my favorite. Something about the accent, perhaps. Looking forward to whatever you choose to cover next & cheers from North Texas!
Oh good-- honestly I hadn't seen a new Well, I Never video pop up in a while and had been waiting with bated breath. I look forward to this channel's content more than any other.
Great to hear you tell the story of this mystery. Thank you!🏆👍🏻
Thank you for taking us into this story.
I appreciate all you do. It's so odd to listen, feel a sense of calm all the while, and hearing chilling true stories that are far from calm.
xx
Paul is a fantastic narrator and writer! 😊
I was so happy to see a new video! Paul, you are fabulous ❤
One of my favorite missing people mysteries and Paul. My night is complete
This is actually one of my all time favorite unsolved mysteries. I think mainly because I didn't realise how many of my favorite works of sci-fi and horror/mystery are actually inspired by this disappearance. Like it even inspired part of Lovecraft's second or third most famous anthologies; The Dream Cycle (not to be confused with the Cthulhu Cycle).
I think the short story is just called The White Ship; but he took inspiration from this case. In the story it's a 3rd generation lighthouse keeper somewhere in the North Sea. He ends up boarding a White Ship he's been seeing every full moon all his life, and it takes him on voyage into the dream worlds "beyond our spheres." He spends lifetimes in the dream world sailing with the ship but eventually the ship is destroyed and he reappears at his lighthouse to find he had only been gone 3 days, it ends with him going to the shore and finding a piece of the white ship and a blue bird they had been following to their doom vanishing in the surf. It's one of the many short stories Lovecraft used to world build the dream world that his self insert character William Randolph Carter would regularly journey to, the White Ship set (or retroactively set) up why Carter never tried to go beyond the Basalt Pillars... because it's the "edge" of the Ocean of Dreams and the "start" of the "outer worlds" where the White Ship was destroyed.
Hello Mr Brody. Thanks 4 the diversion and divergent rabbit hole of history
Yay! I enjoy you & your channel so much, Sir Paul! Hope all is well. 💛 Thank you for all you do.
So glad y'all are back ...
This is one of my favorite mysteries because ironically the date of the last log in the book is the same date and month as my birthday. I really wonder what happened to the 3 men
"And as we listened in the gloom, of that forsaken living room..." Close to 50 years ago I remember our fourth-grade teacher reading the poem, Flannan Isle, to us and those lines have stuck with me ever since.
Hello Paul, I have heard of this case before. The disappearance of the keepers is strangely disturbing. A rogue wave could perhaps account for the loss, but the interior was undisturbed. The men were outside. In any case, it is a terrible loss.
Why would the interior be disturbed if it were due to a rogue wave?
@resnonverba137 Those cheeky bastard waves always raid the cupboards.
@@chrisrowberry4731 Ah! That would explain it.
@@resnonverba137broken windows would be expected if a rogue wave had struck the lighthouse.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 No-one has suggested that a wave struck the lighthouse.
I always give you a thumbs up before even watching the videos. They’re always worth it !
Wow what a great story ❤❤
I kinda want to go there and see the sight...
Thank you for the story, Paul. I'd heard this before but not with near the detail you provided. Still a mystery...
I think the Well I Never videos are excellent, they're about real people and real events, fascinating. ❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks for the upload, Paul.
Probably a reasonable explanation, if we only knew! What a hard job to be a keeper there and dying off the rocks a miserable end. 😢
Fantastic video Paul, another head scratcher, and spine tingling tale
I recommend the film The Lighthouse (2019) with William Dafoe
Was it inspired by this story ?
@NinjaZXRR I don't think so but it is as eerie as the Eilean Mor story.
I love this Paul you and your crew never disappoint point your subscribers this is very interesting love it
I blame the Rutans.
In all seriousness, this was one of your best videos yet! Very eerie. It's lovely to have you back!
Likely Mother Nature was the culprit here. (Fascinating tale!)
Awesome video! Thanks so much!
Always loved this story, facinating
Thanks for including the study of the waves. While many tellings of this story mention the size of the waves, they usually don't consider that a wave crashing against an island with force can spray upwards incredibly high. If you've ever been on a rocky coast you know that even seemingly harmless waves reveal their force when they strike against an obstacle.
Thankyou for this account of a fascinating mystery. "Eilean Mor" just means "Big Island". There are many places in the Highlands and Islands that have reputations for being haunted or having a "presence". Perhaps this is due to the turbulent history of Scotland (my adopted Country), combined with sudden mists and storms. I love backpacking and camping in remote areas, they can be very atmospheric. "Islay" is pronounced "Eye-lur".
Love listening to you telling stories
Hi Paul im glad you covered this story ...I've heard of it before.but not by your voice....love your voice ❤❤❤❤
I recently learned about this because there's a indie horror game, based on this story. All of the explanations (supernatural or real) feel wrong, somehow. I think the doors being closed and latched could be what's throwing me off. But it just doesn't add up that these 3, very experienced keepers, would all just perish from a rouge wave at the same time with absolutely no trace.
Nothing supernatural about it. If my mates were in trouble I definitely would go help. There was no doubt in my mind that it was an unpredictable storm.
Brilliantly told as always Paul. Thanks 😊
Wonderful presentation. Allowing for supernatural and natural explanation. The photos are beautiful and your delivery charming. Cheers from the Midwest USA.
Well told. I enjoyed listening. Whatever the truth, a terrible tragedy and loss. RIP.
I'm glad that you mentioned the rogue wave theory. I think that's the only plausible explanation. I think the same thing happened to the 3 men who disappeared from the Maiden Rock Lighthouse. I do wonder if anyone checked the dates for earthquakes or volcanic eruptions? Lovely presentation. Thank you.
Brilliantly done sir.
The problem with supernatural explanations is they require far, far more extraordinary things to be true than natural forces such as wind and waves.
I read and wrote on the poem about this while a senior at school … their disappearance and the 3 Shags that watched the investigators arriving - while it’s a better story - plays with your mind - it’s clearly just that thank you for this
The answer is blowing in the wind, nice story.
I have always felt there was more to this story than what was reported. I don't know what the truth is, but we know more about the younger dryus event than what really happened here, and that is more telling than anything else!
One of my favourite tales!
Excellent video. Thank you for sharing.
That was a very interesting and factual retelling. Thank you.✨️💛✨️
Going somewhere and finding a stopped clock is always eerie to me.
Lighthouses are well known for eerie, ghostly sounds. The scientific answer has something to do with the strength and direction of the wind + the height and diameter of the structure.
The supernatural answer has something to do with it being a beacon of light for the souls that died in wrecks. 🤷🏻♀️
I like the version where the one guy raced out to warn the others. Having to repeatedly open/close the doors would have become a habit, preformed by muscle memory.
Or it was pirates. Sheep pirates. 🏴☠️🐑
Paul your presentation today was better than ever
That was an excellent tale,which sets you thinking,thanks Paul🎉
I’ve read theories about a rouge wave striking the island which cases the damage.
This subject has been covered a lot on RUclips, or, RUclips knows me well. lol. anyhow, it’s been done a lot, but in my opinion “well, I never” does it the best!
what a superb story teller you are.
Thank you! Greetings from Italy
A brilliant story and very well told. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Mr brodie for another wonderful informative video your voice is like velvet xx
A well told story! Creepy yet very sad. I'd never heard the giant wave version before and l certainly don't think it's laughable or impossible. This is the OCEAN for heaven's sake!- where NO man is ever in control!
Hope you are well, nice threads as usual!👍🐾🌈☮️🇨🇦
If I remember correctly, among other books that featured this Valentyne Dyall included it in his book "Unsolved Mysteries".
I can’t imagine a more desolate and depressing job to have. The amount of toll and labor in a lighthouse is staggering. Exhaustion and depression must be the norm, and bless those poor souls that perished. ❤
Thanks!
Thank you, Dana 🙏😊
the poem Flannan Isle piqued my interest in this story several years ago
They made a movie about this story. It starred Robert Pattinson & Willem Defoe..
Always good.
Wondering if he'd consider doing the 1858 Bradford Humbugs poisoning.
Thank you very much
Well I never, another well delivered account of a bygone era.
Thank you ❤
Lighthouse keeper and fire tower watcher would be good jobs for introverts.
It's pretty obvious to what happened. It was a calm day, the two lighthouse keepers went down to secure the box, dressed in their oilskins because they would be going down near the water's edge, but because it was a calm day, the third man went down to observe from further up as the other two performed their tasks.... It was then, on a calm and completely unremarkable day, the one ton rock finally fell and swept all three of them to their deaths.
If we got messy playing out, my mum used to say we looked like "The Wreck of the Hesperis."
Their awesome and huge mustaches caught a strong gust and lifted them airborne out to sea.
As a man born less than five minutes walk from the sea, and living with it most my adult life. I've a very healthy respect for the sea. Having had huge wave smash me to the ground, then back wash me into the sea wall. At the tender age of eight. Much to older brother's delight.
A Great Presentation as usual 👋
Mahalo Mr Brody, such an interesting story with the best narrator in the whole wide world, be blessed my friend ~ warmest alohas Diana 🌸🤙🏽🌈
Another fascinating, atompheric tale. Was it just me who kept thinking of Fraser from Dad's Army though ? We're doooooooomed !!!!