CHAPTER II.PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS AND WORKS, INCLUDING SURVEY OF THE ROCKS, AND OPENING OF QUARRIES, FROM 1834 to 1837.

In this chapter I shall very briefly notice those preliminary arrangements which may be said to have been in a great measure preparatory to the commencement of the work itself. It has been already stated, that the erection of the Lighthouse was provided for in the Act of 1814; but so formidable did this work appear, that although it was repeatedly under consideration, it was not until the General Meeting of the Board, on the 8th July 1834, that any measures were taken to carry into effect the provisions of the Act. On that occasion it was moved by the late MrMaconochie, Sheriff of Orkney and Zetland, that the Engineer should be instructed to make theSurvey of the Skerryvore Rocks.necessary survey, and to report as to the expense of erecting the Lighthouse. In terms of this remit, the survey of the Rocks was commenced in the autumn of 1834; but from the broken state of the weather, little was effected at that time beyond making the triangulation; and it was not until the summer of 1835 that the survey was completed from which the Chart,Plate No. II.was constructed. This survey was attended with much more labour than its extent would lead one to suppose, in consequence of its embracing the entire range of operations required in a more extensive nautical survey, and combining with the ordinary details required for a Chart, the minute accuracy in regard to surface and levels, which are always necessary for the purposes of the Engineer.

The first step was the measurement of a base line in the low lands of the adjoining Island of Tyree, which, owing to the distance and disadvantageous position of that island, could not be satisfactorily extended to the Rock without fixing stations in some of the more distant islands; and in the course of the work not fewer than twenty land triangles were measured. The calculations of the distances founded on this triangulation agreed with those afterwards obtained from the data of the Trigonometrical Survey, which were kindly furnished to me by Captain Yolland of the Royal Engineers, in 1843. For the purpose of making the soundings and laying down the sunken rocks, an entirely separate triangulation, based upon and connected with that which has already been noticed, became necessary, as the land objects were too distant, and their relative positions were such as to render it difficult by observations from them alone to determine any stations on the sea. Buoys were therefore moored at convenient points, and their positions determined by a subsidiary triangulation, so as to form a net-work of triangles between the shore and the Skerryvore Rock. The distances between these buoys were afterwards used as the bases of imaginary triangles, having points of sounding or shoals in their apex; and the angles subtended by those distances being measured by the sextant, the positions of the shoals or soundings were thence easily deduced and protracted on theChart.[4]In connection also with the soundings whose positions were determined in the way above described, a complete set of tide observations was made, extending over a period of about six weeks. Those tide observations were connected in point of time, with the soundings, and were employed as the means of correcting the observed depths taken with the sounding-line, so as to give the true depth in reference to the high or low water of a given tide. Accurate measurements, and minute sections, were also made of the rocks in reference to the tide-level, and more especially of the main rock, on whichalone it was obvious, from the first inspection, that the Lighthouse Tower could be erected. In the course of this survey, the positions of upwards of 140 rocks were determined, and laid down on theChart, and 500 soundings were taken, and their positions protracted. An interesting fact was also noticed regarding the mean level of all the tides which had been watched during the period of about six weeks, as above noticed, viz., that the point half way between the high and low water of every tide is onone and the same level. This fact regarding the tides was, it is believed, first detected by my Father, in the course of some tidal observations which he made in the Dornoch Frith in 1830, and has since been observed in the Frith of Forth in 1833, and again on the shores of the Isle of Man, and at Liverpool. The agreement of so many observations by various persons at places on the opposite shores of the Kingdom, seems to imply the universality of this phenomenon in the British Seas; and the position of Skerryvore would lead to the belief, that it is not confined to narrow seas, but that it exists in the ocean. I cannot dismiss the subject of the survey, without mentioning the late Mr James Ritson, who acted as principal assistant surveyor, and to whose zeal and intelligence so much of its accuracy is to be attributed. The deep gulley which intersects the main Rock from N.E. to S.W., and across which he one day sprang while it was filled with a breaking wave, bears his name, as a memorial of his activity and perseverance. At the close of the survey in 1835, the station-pole was left wedged and batted into one of the fissures or crevices of the Rock, and a cask of water was firmlylashedto ring-bolts in a cleft of the highest part of the Rock, in the hope that it might possibly prove useful to some shipwrecked seamen.

[4]VideStevenson’s Marine Surveying and Hydrometry. Edinburgh, 1842, p. 144.

For the purposes of navigation generally, a survey merely indicating the position and extent of the foul ground would have been sufficient. But in connection with the work which was about to be commenced, it was particularly desirable to have exact details of the depths, rocks, and shallows of the surrounding sea, with thenature of the bottom, accurately laid down; and our experience during the course of the work, more than once shewed how essential was the possession of minute topographic information to the safety of the shipping attending the works; more especially as some of the vessels lay very near the rocks, and were frequently driven, by a sudden change of wind, to seek shelter, during the darkest nights, among the neighbouring islands.

Until this time the greatest ignorance prevailed amongst seamen as to the extent of the Reef, which had never before been minutely surveyed. Of this some proofs occurred even during the progress of the survey; for several vessels came so near the Rocks as to cause, in the minds of the surveyors, who witnessed their temerity, serious fears for their safety. On one occasion, in particular, a large vessel belonging to Yarmouth, with a cargo of timber, was actually boarded between Mackenzie’s Rock and the main Rock of Skerryvore by the surveyors, who warned the master of his danger in having so nearly approached these rocks, of the existence of which his chart gave no indication. On another occasion, a vessel belonging to Newcastle was boarded while passing between Bo-Rhua and the main Rock; and so little, indeed, had the master (whose chart terminated with the main Rock, and shewed nothing of Bo-Rhua) been dreaming of danger, or fancying that he was within a cable’s length of the reef, that he was found lying at ease on the companion, enjoying his pipe, with his wife sitting beside him knitting stockings.

Much preliminary investigation was necessarily occasioned by the difficulties and disadvantages arising from the remote situation of the island in which a great part of the works was to be carried on. Not only is the Rock itself often inaccessible and dangerous, being surrounded by numerous shoals, and visited by the heaviest seas of the Atlantic; but what gave rise to no small part of the difficulties which attended this work, was the nature of the neighbouring Island of Tyree.Disadvantages of Tyree.This island is unhappily destitute of anyshelter for shipping, a fact which was noticed as a hinderance to its improvement, upwards of 140 years ago, by Martin, in his well-known description of the Western Islands.[5]Nor is its interior more attractive; for although some parts of the soil when cultivated are excellent, the greater part of its surface is composed of sand. It was therefore obvious, at a glance, that Tyree was one of those places to which every thing must be brought; and this is not much to be wondered at, as the population, who, on a surface not exceeding 27 square miles, amounted in 1841 to 4687 souls, labour under all the disadvantages of remoteness from markets, inaccessible shores and stormy seas, and the oft-recurring toil of seeking fuel (of which Tyree itself is destitute) from the Island of Mull, nearly 30 miles distant, through a stormy sea. It is said that this total absence of fuel in Tyree is the result of the reckless manner in which it was wasted, in former days, in the preparation of whisky; but, however this may be, certain it is that the want of fuel greatly depresses the condition of the people. For our works, therefore, craftsmen of every sort were to be transported, houses were to be built for their reception, provisions and fuel were to be imported, and tools and implements of every kind were to be made.

[5]A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, &c., by M. Martin, Gent. London, 1703.Vide2d Edition of 1716, p. 267.

In the course of the survey, much attention had been bestowed upon the selection of a convenient place for a workyard in Tyree for the preparation of materials, and in examining its rugged shores in quest of the best site for a Harbour, for the shipment of the building materials for the Rock, and for the all-important purpose of enabling the future attending vessel to lie in safety within sight of signals from the Rock, when the Light should come to be exhibited to the public. The point chosen for this establishment wasPier and workyard at Hynish Tyree.Hynish, which, though twelve miles distant, is, nevertheless, the nearest creek to the Skerryvore Rock, and which,however exposed it may be, if compared with creeks elsewhere dignified with the name of Harbour, certainly affords as good prospect of shelter as any other part of the Island of Tyree, and is, in this respect, greatly to be preferred to any other place within sight of the Rock. A deputation of the Commissioners visited the Skerryvore in the month of July 1836, and concurred with the Engineer in regard to his choice of Hynish as a site for the Harbour and establishment.

Another most important point of inquiry was regarding the materials for building the Lighthouse; and on this subject the suggestions in a Report by the Engineer, of the 31st December 1835, were followed, which proposed the opening of quarries among the gneiss rocks aroundQuarries at Hynish.Hynish. Much facility was afforded by the liberality of the late Duke of Argyll, the proprietor of Tyree, who granted to the Commissioners free permission “to quarry materials for the purpose of the Lighthouse, on any part of the Argyll estates.” This freedom was generously continued by the present Duke, who has all along taken a lively interest in the success of the works. In terms, therefore, of the Engineer’s recommendations contained in the above noticed Report, Mr James Scott and fourteen quarriers were employed, during the summers of 1836 and 1837, in opening quarries, with very promising appearances of final success, among the gneiss rocks near Hynish Point. In the summer of 1837, Mr Scott and his party turned out about 3800 cubic feet of rock, capable of being applied to the purposes of squared masonry, and a very large quantity of stones fit for rubble work. This produce, although small, if contrasted with that of established quarries, is by no means despicable, when theforceemployed and all the disadvantages of the situation are considered; and if the nature of the material, which is full of rents and fissures (technically calleddriesandcutters), the frequent deceptions attending the opening of new quarries, the excessive hardness and unworkable nature of the rock, the quality and size of the blocks required to entitle them to claim a place in a marine tower, and the greatloss of time, caused by the badness of the weather, be considered, it will not appear that Mr Scott and his party had been eating the bread of idleness.

In the mean time, measures had been taken for obtaining from his Grace the Duke of Argyll a feu of fifteen acres of ground at Hynish, for carrying on the works, with a view to its being finally occupied as an establishment for the crew of the vessel which was to attend the Lighthouse, and the families of the four lightkeepers, as well as for the site of the harbour. To this was added a lease of thirty acres, for the various purposes connected with a workyard, and such an establishment as seemed necessary for carrying on the work. A subject of anxious deliberation with the Board, was the construction of the harbour at Hynish for the vessels engaged in the service of the work; and the Commissioners, on the 24th May 1837, authorized the Engineer to make arrangements for commencing the formation of the Pier. The work was, accordingly, undertaken, in terms of his Reports of the 31st December 1835, and 27th February 1836; and the summer of 1837 was chiefly occupied in preparing a wharf, mostly composed ofpierres-perdues,[6]and in the opening of the quarry already noticed. Such may serve as a brief and somewhat desultory notice of the work during the seasons of 1836 and 1837, after which it appeared to the Board that the operations must soon assume such an aspect as to require the superintendence of a committee of their number, as well as that of an Engineer specially entrusted with the management of the work.

[6]Blocks rough from the quarry, which are dropt or thrown promiscuously into the sea.

At the meeting of the Board, on the 8th December 1837, a Committee of their number was accordingly named, to superintend the erection of the Lighthouse.Skerryvore Committee appointed.This Committee consisted of—Robert Bruce, Esq., Sheriff of Argyllshire;Andrew Murray,Esq., Sheriff of Aberdeenshire;Robert Thomson, Esq., Sheriff of Caithness; and the lateJames Maconochie, Esq., Sheriff of Orkney and Zetland; and, shortly after its appointment, the Committee, on the motion of MrBruce, the Chairman, appointed me Engineer for the work.

Among the first matters which engaged the attention of this Committee, was a Report from the Engineer, dated the 30th January 1838, in which the necessity of erecting a wooden barrack, as a place of shelter for the workmen on the Rock, was pointed out; the general arrangements for carrying on the operations were described; and the building of a steam-tender, to act as a towing vessel for the stone lighters between the workyard in Tyree and the Rock, was also recommended. The Report was accompanied by a detailed requisition or estimate for the operations of the ensuing season, amounting to L.15,000 : 3 : 3; of which sum it was proposed to expend about one-third in building a steam-tender, and the rest in erecting the wooden barrack on the Rock, and in providing tools and materials for the work, as well as in the wages of men to be employed in preparing the foundation of the Lighthouse Tower, and in building the Pier, and dressing stones at Hynish.

The Committee, after considerable deliberation, sanctioned the various items of the estimate, but hesitated to embark in the expense of building a steamer, until a fruitless correspondence with various ports of the kingdom, with the view of purchasing an old vessel, satisfied them of the necessity of building a tender expressly for the purpose.

Offers were immediately received from various parties at Greenock for the preparation of the wooden barrack, which was soon afterwards commenced by the late Mr John Fleming, house-carpenter, who was the successful competitor.

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