History of the Inch-Cape or Bell-Rock Lighthouse as a Type of the Northern Lighthouses—Position and Dangerous Character of the Bell Rock—Ballad of Sir Ralph the Rover—Proposal to erect a Lighthouse—Mr. Robert Stevenson selected as Engineer—Survey of the Rock—Exhibition of a Floating Light—Preparations for the Lighthouse—First Season on the Rock—Alarming Situation of the Engineer and Men—Effects of the Stormy Sea on the Rock—Erection of Beacon—Winter Employment—The Second Season—A new Tender employed—Praam-boats and Stone-lighters—Progress of the Work—Remarkable appearance of the Rock—Foundation Stone laid—First continuous Course of Masonry—Its Contents—Third Season—Progress of the Work—Winter Operations—Fourth Season—The Beacon used as a Dwelling—Its Interior described—The Engineer’s Cabin—The Lighthouse nearly finished—Mr. Smeaton’s Daughter visits the Works—Last Stone laid—Light advertized—Lighthouse described—Action of the Sea and of Stormy Weather upon the Lighthouse—Internal Economy of the Lighthouse—Arrangements on Shore—Signals—Curious Accident—The Carr Rock Beacon.
‘Pharos loquitur.‘Far in the bosom of the deepO’er these wild shelves my watch I keep,A ruddy gem of changeful light,Bound in the dusky brow of night.The seaman bids my lustre hail,And scorns to strike his timorous sail’[5].
‘Pharos loquitur.
‘Far in the bosom of the deepO’er these wild shelves my watch I keep,A ruddy gem of changeful light,Bound in the dusky brow of night.The seaman bids my lustre hail,And scorns to strike his timorous sail’[5].
Themost celebrated lighthouse in Scotland is that situated on the dangerous reef called the Inch Capeor Bell Rock. This lighthouse may fairly aspire to the title of the Eddystone of Scotland, whether we regard its high importance to navigation, the danger and difficulty of its erection, the beauty of its form, or its interesting history.
The Inch Cape or Bell Rock is situated on the northern side of the entrance of the Frith of Forth at a distance of eleven miles from the promontory called the Red Head, in Forfarshire. The dimensions of the north-eastern or higher compartment of the rock where the lighthouse is built are about four hundred and twenty-seven feet in length and two hundred and thirty feet in breadth. Besides these dimensions, the south-western reef extends about one thousand feet from the main rock. The greatest length of the rock, which may be said to be dangerous to shipping, is about one thousand four hundred and twenty-seven feet, and its greatest breadth about three hundred feet. It is about twelve feet under water at the ordinary height or perpendicular rise of spring tides. In point of situation, this rock is one of the most dangerous on the coast of Great Britain; for while it lies in one of the most frequented estuaries, it is much lower in the water than any rock on which lighthouses are usually erected; and hence the mariner had formerly no warning of his danger when in its vicinity. Indeed, in fine weather the sea is often so smooth, that the place of the rock could not be pointed out from the appearance of the surface. The Bell Rock was therefore considered for ages as the chief obstruction to the navigation of the Frith of Forth, and the want of some mark to point out its position was long lamented. Tradition says, that the abbots of the ancient monastery of Aberbrothock succeeded in fixing a bell upon it in such a way as to be rung by the agitation of the waves. It is further stated, that a band of pirates having carried off the bell, were in a subsequent voyage all lost on the Bell Rock. This legend is beautifully told by Mr. Southey in the following ballad.
SIR RALPH THE ROVER.No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,The ship was still as she could be;Her sails from heaven received no motion,Her keel was steady in the ocean.Without either sign or sound of their shock,The waves flow’d over the Inchcape Rock;So little they rose, so little they fell,They did not move the Inchcape bell.The abbot of AberbrothokHad placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,And over the waves its warning rung.When the rock was hid by the surge’s swell,The mariners heard the warning bell;And then they knew the perilous rock,And blest the abbot of Aberbrothok.The sun in heaven was shining gay,All things were joyful on that day;The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round,And there was joyaunce in their sound.The buoy of the Inchcape bell was seen,A darker speck on the ocean green;Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,And he fix’d his eye on the darker speck.He felt the cheering power of spring,It made him whistle, it made him sing;His heart was mirthful to excess,But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.His eye was on the Inchcape float,Quoth he, ‘My men, put out the boat,And row me to the Inchcape Rock,And I’ll plague the abbot of Aberbrothok.’The boat is lower’d, the boatmen row,And to the Inchcape Rock they go;Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.Down sunk the bell with a gurgling sound,The bubbles rose and burst around;Quoth Sir Ralph, ‘The next who comes to the rockWon’t bless the abbot of Aberbrothok.’Sir Ralph the Rover sail’d away,He scour’d the seas for many a day;And now grown rich with plunder’d store,He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky,They cannot see the sun on high;And the wind hath blown a gale all day,At evening it hath died away.On the deck the Rover takes his stand,So dark it is they see no land:Quoth Sir Ralph, ‘It will be lighter soon,For there is the dawn of the rising moon.’‘Canst hear,’ said one, ‘the breakers roar?For methinks we should be near the shore;’‘Now where we are I cannot tell,But I wish we could hear the Inchcape bell!’They hear no sound, the swell is strong,Though the wind hath fallen they drift along,Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,‘Oh Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock.’Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,He curst himself in his despair;The waves rush in on every side,The ship is sinking beneath the tide.But even in his dying fearOne dreadful sound could the Rover hear,A sound as if with the Inchcape bell,The devil below was ringing his knell.
SIR RALPH THE ROVER.
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,The ship was still as she could be;Her sails from heaven received no motion,Her keel was steady in the ocean.
Without either sign or sound of their shock,The waves flow’d over the Inchcape Rock;So little they rose, so little they fell,They did not move the Inchcape bell.
The abbot of AberbrothokHad placed that bell on the Inchcape Rock;On a buoy in the storm it floated and swung,And over the waves its warning rung.
When the rock was hid by the surge’s swell,The mariners heard the warning bell;And then they knew the perilous rock,And blest the abbot of Aberbrothok.
The sun in heaven was shining gay,All things were joyful on that day;The sea-birds scream’d as they wheel’d round,And there was joyaunce in their sound.
The buoy of the Inchcape bell was seen,A darker speck on the ocean green;Sir Ralph the Rover walk’d his deck,And he fix’d his eye on the darker speck.
He felt the cheering power of spring,It made him whistle, it made him sing;His heart was mirthful to excess,But the Rover’s mirth was wickedness.
His eye was on the Inchcape float,Quoth he, ‘My men, put out the boat,And row me to the Inchcape Rock,And I’ll plague the abbot of Aberbrothok.’
The boat is lower’d, the boatmen row,And to the Inchcape Rock they go;Sir Ralph bent over from the boat,And he cut the bell from the Inchcape float.
Down sunk the bell with a gurgling sound,The bubbles rose and burst around;Quoth Sir Ralph, ‘The next who comes to the rockWon’t bless the abbot of Aberbrothok.’
Sir Ralph the Rover sail’d away,He scour’d the seas for many a day;And now grown rich with plunder’d store,He steers his course for Scotland’s shore.
So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky,They cannot see the sun on high;And the wind hath blown a gale all day,At evening it hath died away.
On the deck the Rover takes his stand,So dark it is they see no land:Quoth Sir Ralph, ‘It will be lighter soon,For there is the dawn of the rising moon.’
‘Canst hear,’ said one, ‘the breakers roar?For methinks we should be near the shore;’‘Now where we are I cannot tell,But I wish we could hear the Inchcape bell!’
They hear no sound, the swell is strong,Though the wind hath fallen they drift along,Till the vessel strikes with a shivering shock,‘Oh Christ! it is the Inchcape Rock.’
Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair,He curst himself in his despair;The waves rush in on every side,The ship is sinking beneath the tide.
But even in his dying fearOne dreadful sound could the Rover hear,A sound as if with the Inchcape bell,The devil below was ringing his knell.
But whatever may be the truth of these traditions, it is certain that for a long period, perhaps centuries, no permanent distinguishing mark was attached to the rock until the building of the present lighthouse, whose history we have now briefly to state.
On the appointment of a board for the erection of lighthouses in Scotland, the public anxiously expected that some means would be taken to guard the mariner from this fatal rock; but the difficulties of the undertaking, the great expense, and the inadequate funds of the board, all contributed to promote delay. In the winter of 1799 the northern coast of Great Britain was visited with a dreadful storm, and no less than seventy vessels were wrecked upon the coast of Scotland. This calamity excited so strong a sensation that the attention of the board was at once directed to this object; and in 1802 application was made to Parliament to enable the commissioners of the northern lighthouses to levy certain additional duties, and empower them to borrow a sum of money for this work. The Act was not obtained until 1806; but when obtained, this highly important work was immediately undertaken.
A variety of plans were submitted to the consideration of the lighthouse board. The beacons of sparswhich had been erected on the rock had been washed away, and many persons feared that a more solid structure would share the same fate. Considering that the rock was frequently under water to the depth of twelve feet, some proposed to erect a building which should stand on pillars of cast-iron or of stone. The commissioners, however, wisely referred the matter to Mr. Robert Stevenson the engineer, who was to survey the rock, and report upon the practicability of erecting a lighthouse upon it. The survey was accordingly made; and during its progress, many instances were discovered of the extent of loss which this reef had occasioned, and many articles of ships’ furnishings were found, as well as various coins, a bayonet, a silver shoe-buckle, and many other small objects. The result of this survey was a report from Mr. Stevenson to the effect, that a work of stone similar to that of the Eddystone lighthouse was practicable; and having sent in his plans, the commissioners submitted them to Mr. Rennie, who gave them his cordial concurrence; and the work was accordingly proceeded with.
The time that remained after the passing of the Act in 1806 was employed in making the necessary preparations for the summer of the next year; and the commissioners being authorized to collect duties on the exhibition of a floating light, a vessel was employed to serve the double purpose of a floating light, and a tender for the workmen employed in the building. Accordingly in July a Dutch fishing vessel was moored off the Bell Rock, at the distance of about two miles, in a depth of about twenty fathoms water; her crew consisting of a master, eight able seamen, and a boy. This strong crew was necessary, in case the vessel should accidentally drift from her station, and to enable them to light or lift their moorings after every gale of wind. The vessel was rigged with three masts, on each of which a lantern was so placed that the light could be seen in all directions.
The stones and machinery were prepared in a work-yard provided for the purpose at Arbroath, the nearestharbour on the adjacent coast. In this place barracks were erected for the workmen, that they might at all times be ready night or day to go off to the Bell Rock. A sloop, named the ‘Smeaton,’ (in honour of the great engineer who had left so splendid a pattern for the present structure,) had been built expressly for the Bell-Rock service, to be employed as a tender for the floating light, and as a stone-lighter for the use of the work: it served also to convey the workmen to and from the rock.
On the 17th August 1807 the work on the rock was begun. The first employment was to bore a sufficient number of holes for receiving the ends of beams, for the support of a wooden beacon or workshop and temporary residence for the workmen. But this was no easy task. The hard compact nature of the sand-stone of which the rock is composed soon blunted the tools, and rendered necessary the constant employment of a smith with his forge. But the operations of this useful artificer were even more difficult than those of the stone-cutters. It often happened that after the flood-tide had obliged the pickmen to strike work, a sea would come rolling over the rocks, while the smith was in the middle of a ‘favourite heat,’ dashing out the fire, and endangering his indispensable instrument, the bellows; or if the sea was smooth, the smith had often to stand at work knee deep in water, and the tide would rise imperceptibly, first cooling the exterior of the fire-place or hearth, and then quickly blackening and extinguishing the fire from below. Mr. Stevenson describes it as amusing to witness the perplexing anxiety of the smith when coaxing his fire, and endeavouring to avert the effects of the rising tide. Sometimes, while his feet were immersed in water, his face was not only scorched but continually exposed to volumes of smoke and sparks of fire. A great object therefore, of the beacon was to remove the smith above the reach of the highest tide.
One effect of visiting the rock at every tide, and carrying on this noise and traffic, was to banish the herd of seals which had hitherto frequented it as aresting-place during low water. As many as fifty or sixty of these animals had been seen at one time on the rock, but now not more than one or two occasionally appeared, and these confined their visits to the detached outlayers of the rock, from whence they would gaze on the workmen with that look of curiosity so remarkable in this animal. Mr. Stevenson was desirous of protecting them, in hopes of taming them, so as to gain that facility of studying their habits which was afforded at Small’s Lighthouse, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, a favourite resort of seals, where, by gentle treatment, they had become so tame and familiar as to eat bread out of the hands of the light-keepers.
The operations of this season were difficult and hazardous, the men having to row in boats at every tide from the rock to the floating-light; and the wind often shifting suddenly, the exertion of rowing was very great, although the distance was but two miles. When at the rock, the men had presently to work knee-deep in water; and the roughness of the sea was often such as to suspend the work for days together, during which time the floating-light would roll so unmercifully, that to put out a boat would have probably ensured its instant destruction.
During this early stage of the work there was a moment of appalling danger, which must be noticed in detail. On the 2nd of Sept. 1807, there were thirty-two persons upon the rock; and while all the artificers were busily occupied, a gale arose, during which the ‘Smeaton’ broke adrift from her moorings. In this perilous predicament, placed upon an insulated rock far out in the ocean, which, in the progress of the flood-tide, was to be laid under water to the depth of at least twelve feet, in a stormy sea, the feelings of the engineer may be better conceived than described. There were, at this period, only two boats attached to the rock, whose complement, even in fair weather, did not exceed twenty-four sitters; but to row to the floating-light, with so much wind, and so heavy a sea, a complement of eight men for each boat was as much ascould possibly be attempted, so that, in this way, about one half of those employed on the rock must be left unprovided for. Under these circumstances, had Mr. Stevenson ventured to despatch one of the boats, in expectation of either working the ‘Smeaton’ sooner up towards the rock, or in hopes of getting her boat brought to the assistance of the rest, this must have given an immediate alarm to the artificers, each of whom would have insisted upon taking to his own boat, and leaving the eight artificers belonging to the ‘Smeaton’ to their chance.
The unfortunate circumstance of the ‘Smeaton’ and her boat having drifted, was for a considerable time, known only to Mr. Stevenson and to the landing-master, who removed to the further part of the rock, where he kept his eye steadily upon the progress of the vessel. While the artificers were at work, chiefly in sitting and kneeling postures, excavating the rock, or boring with the tools, and while their numerous hammers, and the sound of the smith’s anvil continued, the situation of things did not appear so awful. In this state of suspense, with almost certain destruction at hand, the water began to rise upon those who were at work on the lower parts of the sites of the beacon and lighthouse. From the run of the sea upon the rock, the forge-fire was sooner extinguished than usual; and the volumes of smoke having ceased, objects in every direction became visible from all parts of the rock. After having had about three hours’ work, the men begun, pretty generally, to make towards their respective boats for their jackets and stockings, when, to their astonishment, instead of three, they found only two boats, the third being adrift with the ‘Smeaton.’ Not a word was uttered by any one, but all appeared to be silently calculating their numbers, and looking to each other with evident marks of perplexity depicted on their countenances. The landing-master, conceiving blame might be attached to him for allowing the boat to leave the rock, still kept at a distance. At this critical moment Mr. Stevenson was standing upon an elevatedpart of the rock, where he endeavoured to mark the progress of the ‘Smeaton,’ not a little surprised that her crew did not cut the praam adrift which greatly retarded her way. The workmen looked steadfastly at their leader, and turned occasionally towards the vessel still far to leeward. All this passed with the most perfect silence, and the melancholy solemnity of the group was such that, Mr. Stevenson states, it left an impression never to be effaced from his mind.
In the meantime Mr. Stevenson was considering various schemes which might be adopted for the general safety of the party, in hopes that the ‘Smeaton’ might be able to pick up the boats to leeward when they were obliged to leave the rock. He was, accordingly, about to address the artificers on the perilous nature of their situation, and to propose that all should unstrip their upper clothing, when the higher parts of the rock were laid under water,—that the seamen should remove every unnecessary weight and encumbrance from the boats, and a specified number of men should go into each boat, and that the remainder should hang by the gunwales, while the boats were to be rowed gently towards the ‘Smeaton,’ as the course of the ‘Pharos’ or floating-light lay rather to windward of the rock. But, when he attempted to speak, his mouth was so parched that his tongue refused utterance, and he says, ‘I now learned by experience that the saliva is as necessary as the tongue itself for speech.’ He then turned to one of the pools on the rock, and drank a little salt-water, which produced immediate relief; and his delight was in no small degree increased when, on rising from this nauseous beverage, some one called out, ‘A boat!’ ‘A boat!’ and on looking round, at no great distance, a large boat was seen through the haze making towards the rock.
The effect of this accident was, that when the bell rung next morning, and the workmen were mustered, out of twenty-six, only eight, besides the foreman and seamen, appeared on deck to accompany the engineer to the rock. ‘The use of argument to persuade themen to embark in cases of this kind would have been out of place, as it is not only discomfort, or even the risk of the loss of a limb, but life itself, that becomes the question.’ The boats proceeded with the eight willing workmen: four hours were passed upon the rock, and, on returning to the ‘Pharos,’ the eighteen men who remained on board seemed quite ashamed of their cowardice; and on again proceeding to the rock, they were the first to embark. This was the only instance of refusal to go to the rock.
Shortly after this occurrence, the whole party on board the Pharos was exposed to a fearful gale, which kept them from the rock during ten days and exposed them to imminent danger. The floating-light broke adrift, but, providentially, no damage was sustained. This circumstance, however, imparted a character of extreme hazard to life on board the floating-light, that it was difficult to provide sailors to man her. On landing upon the rock the effects of the gale were at once apparent. Six large blocks of granite, which had been landed by way of experiment, had been removed from their places, and by the force of the sea thrown over a rising ledge into a hole at the distance of twelve or fifteen paces; a sufficient evidence of the violence of the storm and the agitation of the sea on the rock. The smith’s forge was also shifted from its place—the ash-pan of the hearth with its ponderous cast-iron back had been washed from their places of supposed security, the chains of attachment broken, and these weighty articles found at a very considerable distance in a hole of the rock.
Although the sea often had a most frightful appearance, yet the beacon divested the Bell Rock of many of its terrors: its beams afforded an excellent guide to shipping, and old sailors frequently expressed their admiration at the change of circumstances which led to their cruising with so much confidence both by day and night in the immediate vicinity of this dangerous rock. It also had a beneficial influence on all who were actively engaged about the lighthouse by inducing agreater confidence of safety, so that at all times when a boat could be put to sea or approach this sunken reef, there was not that actual danger in landing which formerly presented itself, because in the event of the tender going adrift or a boat happening to be wrecked upon the rock, the beacon could be looked to as a refuge till assistance arrived.
On the 6th October, 1807, the works were relinquished for the season. The time which had been spent in the rock amounted only to one hundred and eighty hours, of which one hundred and thirty-three, or about thirteen and a half days of ten hours each, could be said to have been actively employed, and yet during this period, besides the erection of the principal beams of the beacon-house, some considerable progress had been made in preparing the site of the lighthouse. ‘This reason’s work,’ says the engineer, ‘affords a good example of what may be executed under similar circumstances, when every heart and hand is anxiously and zealously engaged, for the artificers wrought at the erection of the beacon as for life; or somewhat like men stopping a breach in a wall to keep out an overwhelming flood.’
During winter the men were busy in the work-yard preparing the stones and laying them course by course upon a stone basement, equal to the foundation course of the lighthouse. Here the stones were fitted into their places, and carefully numbered and marked as they were to lie in the building; a necessary operation, the several courses being dove-tailed and connected together, so as to form one mass from the centre to the circumference of the building. The stones were also bored or fixed with trenails of oak and joggles of stone, after the manner of the Eddystone lighthouse, and in this state they were laid aside, and in readiness for being shipped in lighters for the rock.
Considering the importance of a light on the Bell Rock, it was at first determined that the whole outward casing of the lighthouse should be of granite, and that sand-stone should be used only for the interior work; but from the difficulty of procuring a sufficient supply ofgranite, it was afterwards found necessary to restrict the use of it to the lower courses of the building. The granite was from the Rubislaw quarry, and was so compact, that it contained only about thirteen and a half cubic feet to the ton. The sand-stone was from the Mylnefield quarry, and contained fifteen feet to the ton.
As soon as the weather would permit, the operations of the second season commenced at the rock. The arrangements for carrying on the works were made on an improved scale. A new vessel (named the Sir Joseph Banks) was provided as a tender for lodging the workmen off the rock, instead of the floating-light. The new tender was well supplied with cooking apparatus, provisions, water, fuel, &c.; the space not used as birthage, &c. was occupied with casks of lime, cement, and other articles required for the work. The advantage of this new arrangement was, the ease with which the tender could be brought to the lee side of the rock, to take the people on board at any emergency; whereas, the floating-light, being moored as a guide to shipping, could not be moved about so easily, to serve the purposes of the workmen. Every precaution was also taken to render the praam-boats or stone-lighters buoyant, for such was the presentiment of danger attached to the landing department, that, in addition to a water-tight lining, each praam was provided with twelve strong empty casks, which were stored in the hold, and were sufficient to float and render her buoyant in case of accident. The praams therefore became so many life-boats, moored in the neighbourhood of the rock. The Sir Joseph Banks was also furnished with large landing boats and a life-boat.
The beacon had resisted the wintry storms tolerably well. Indeed, the force of the waves upon the rock was not so great as might have been expected, from an interesting and unlooked-for cause, namely, the extensive beds of marine plants which grow upon it. ‘It often happened,’ says Mr. Stevenson, ‘when heavy seas were rolling along the Bell Rock, which at a distance threatened to overrun the whole, that, upon reachingthese beds of fuci, with which the flat and level parts of the rock were thickly coated, the velocity and force of the waves were immediately checked, and in a great measure destroyed.’
On the 25th of May 1808, the operations of the second season were commenced with very different feelings, to those experienced during the previous year, when every step was attended with a great degree of doubt, uncertainty, and danger; but the preparations and precautions, which had been so wisely adopted, gave a security and promptness to the work, which relieved all concerned in it of much anxiety. Landing upon the rock was at all times difficult, but, so long as the boats were kept from striking upon it, the spray which came on board was but little heeded.
During the early part of this season the work proceeded as follows: The workmen landed on the rock at low water, and immediately began to bale out the water from the foundation pit, while the pumps were also kept in action. The work was proceeded with on the higher parts of the foundation as the water left them. The pumps being placed diagonally, about twenty men were employed to work each pump; and thus this great body of water, extending over a circular area of forty-two feet diameter, and of the average depth of two feet, could be drawn off in half an hour. The men then proceeded, for about two hours and a half, to level the foundation with their picks, some of the sailors being employed in clearing away the chips, and conveying the iron tools to and from the smiths on the beacon, where they were sharpened. When the sea broke in and overflowed the pit, the party returned in boats to the tender.
The appearance of the rock about this time is thus described: ‘Its surface was crowded with men, the two forges flaming, the one above the other, upon the beacon, while the anvils thundered with the rebounding noise of their wooden supports, and formed a curious contrast with the clamour of the surges.’ Sometimes, when the sea was smooth, the beacon had the appearanceof being afloat upon the water, with a number of men supporting themselves in every variety of attitude and position; while from the upper part of this wooden house, such volumes of smoke ascended from the forges, that strangers at a distance often mistook it for a ship on fire. When working by such light at night, the rock presented a remarkable aspect to the distant shipping, the numerous lights flitting about, apparently below the surface of the water, having a curious and fanciful appearance. To the workmen themselves, the effect of extinguishing the torches was sometimes startling, and made the darkness of the night quite horrible, while the sea would assume that phosphoric appearance so familiar to the sailor, and dash upon the rock like so much liquid fire.
As the work proceeded, the smiths were sometimes left on the beacon throughout the day, and the noise of their anvils was an excellent guide to the boats in foggy weather. This circumstance confirmed the engineer, as to the propriety of erecting in the lighthouse large bells, to be tolled by machinery day and night, during the continuance of foggy weather, by which the mariner may be forewarned of too near an approach to the rock.
The foundation pit having assumed the appearance of a large even platform, and the tides being favourable, it was determined to lay down the first course, which consisted of a few irregular and detached stones for making up certain inequalities in the interior parts of the site of the building. Having taken the dimensions of the first or foundation stone, a model of its figure was made, and this was taken by the engineer in a fast-rowing boat to the work-yard at Arbroath: two men were immediately set to work upon one of the blocks from the Mylnefield quarry, and as the stone-cutters relieved each other, and worked without intermission, the stone was soon prepared, and sent off next day in one of the stone-lighters. On the 9th July the stone was placed in a praam-boat, decorated with colours for the occasion. Flags were also displayed upon the beacon and from the shipping in the offing. The stonewas gently lowered into the water, which occupied the site of the building, amidst the cheering of all present. The stone was necessarily landed at high water, for want of a sufficient length of railway for conveying it along the rock at low water to the site of the building.
On the 10th July the sailors displayed their flags at all points, and as many as could be spared from the floating-light and the tenders landed to witness the long desired ceremony of laying the first stone of the lighthouse. The importance of the building was such, that but for the perilous and uncertain nature of any arrangement which could have been made for this ceremony, instead of its having been performed only in the presence of those immediately connected with the work, and a few casual spectators from the neighbouring shore, reckoning in all about eighty persons, many thousands would have attended upon an occasion which must have called forth the first dignitaries of the country in conferring upon it the highest honours of masonry.
At eleven o’clock the foundation stone was laid to hand. It was square in form, and contained about twenty cubic feet, and had no other inscription than the date 1808. The engineer, attended by his three assistants, applied the square, the level, and the mallet, and pronounced the following benediction: ‘May the Great Architect of the universe complete and bless this building.’ Three hearty cheers were then given, and success to future operations drunk with the greatest enthusiasm. When the tide began to overflow the site the whole party returned to the ship; prayers were read, and every heart, doubtless, felt more than usually thankful.
The first continuous course was now landed on the rock and laid down. Mr. Stevenson gives an enumeration of the various kinds and quantity of the work in this single course. Although only one foot in thickness it contained five hundred and eight cubic feet of granite in outward casing; eight hundred and seventy-sixcubic feet of Mylnefield stone in the hearting; one hundred and four tons of solid contents; one hundred and thirty-two superficial feet of hewing in the face-work; four thousand five hundred and nineteen superficial feet of hewing in the beds, joints, and joggles; four hundred and twenty lineal feet boring of trenail holes; three hundred and seventy-eight feet lineal cutting for wedges; two hundred and forty-six oaken trenails; three hundred and seventy-eight oak-wedges in pairs.
In the work-yard about sixty men were employed in hewing and preparing the various courses of the solid part of the building. The second course, which contained some very weighty stones, was laid down upon the platform in the middle of the yard, each stone being carefully fitted and marked as it was to lie in the building.
By the end of this season the building was brought to a level with the highest part of the margin of the foundation pit, or about five and a half feet above the lower bed of the foundation-stone. The number of hours work upon the rock this season at low water amounted to about two hundred and sixty-five, of which number only eighty were employed in building.
The third season was commenced early in the spring of 1809. The first works consisted in laying down mooring-chains with floating-buoys, for mooring the stone-lighters and praam-boats; the beacon was also fitted out as a more permanent residence for the workmen, in order to lessen the amount of sickly motion which is so distressing to landsmen in a rough sea. By the end of June the men were able to work upon the masonry while the rock was under water; and on the 8th July, for the first time, the tide ceased to overflow the building at low water. With considerable exertion the solid part of the building, which reached to the height of thirty feet, was completed by September. By continuing the works a month or two longer a much greater height might have been attained,but as the engineer foresaw that a diligent employment of the next season would suffice for the completion of the work, he deemed it advisable to leave the house in its present solid defensible posture, on which the sea had much less hold, than if part of the hollow portion had been built.
The winter months were occupied in preparing the upper courses; but in consequence of severe frosts, several excellent and valuable stones from the Mylnefield quarry were destroyed by absorption of moisture from the air, which moisture expanding in the act of freezing, split the stones, and rendered them useless. It was therefore determined to construct the cornice of the building, and the parapet of the light-room of the Liver Rock, of the Craig-Leith quarry, celebrated for its durability and beauty, and for its property of not being liable to be affected by the action of frost. These stones were prepared at Edinburgh during the winter, and the iron frame-work, and the several compartments of the light-room got ready.
Having during two seasons landed and built upwards of one thousand four hundred tons of stone upon the rock, while the work was low down in the water, and before the beacon was habitable; and finding that it did not now require more than about seven hundred tons to complete the masonry, there was every prospect of finishing the lighthouse during the season. But as the success of the work depended wholly upon the stability of the beacon, every possible attention was bestowed upon it, and visits made to the rock during the winter months when the weather would allow.
On the 10th of May operations for the season were commenced. The building to the height of fifteen feet above the rock was found to be thickly covered with fuci: on the east side the growth of sea-weed was observed to the full height of thirty feet, and even on the top or upper bed of the last-laid course it had grown so as to render walking somewhat difficult. The men therefore set to work to scrape off the sea-weed, inorder to apply the moulds of the first course of the staircase. The engineer had also to fix the position of the entrance-door, which was regulated chiefly by the appearance of the growth of the sea-weed on the building, indicating the direction of the heaviest seas, on the opposite side of which the door was placed.
The artificers now took permanent possession of the beacon, and were all heartily rejoiced at getting rid of the trouble of boating, and the sickly motion of the tender. The beacon, which has been so often named, and which proved a source of so much comfort to the men, and of benefit and dispatch to the work, stood well during the five years that its services were required. In its present complete form it consisted of three floors, one of which was occupied as the cook-house and provision store; the second, which was much encumbered by the meeting of the principal beams, formed only two cabins, one for the engineer, and the other for the foreman. In the third compartment were three rows or tiers of beds, capable of accommodating about thirty men. Below these three floors was the temporary floor at the height of twenty-five feet above the rock, used for preparing mortar and for the smith’s workshop. The beacon was connected with the building by a gangway, or bridge of timber.
Mr. Stevenson has given an interesting description of his cabin in the beacon, where he had passed many weeks ‘in a kind of active retirement, making practical experiment of the fewness of the positive wants of man.’ This cabin measured not more than four feet three inches in breadth on the floor; and though, from the oblique direction of the beams of the structure, it widened towards the top, yet it did not admit of the full expansion of his arms when he stood on the floor, while its length was little more than sufficient for suspending a cot-bed during the night. This was tied up to the roof during the day, thus leaving free room for the admission of occasional visitants. ‘His folding-table was attached with hinges immediately under the small window of the apartment, and his books, barometer,thermometer, portmanteau, and two or three camp-stools, formed the bulk of his moveables. His diet being plain, the paraphernalia of the table were proportionably simple, though every thing had the appearance of comfort, and even of neatness, the walls being covered with green cloth formed into panels with red tape, and his bed festooned with curtains of yellow cotton-stuff. If, in speculating upon the absolute wants of man in such a state of seclusion, one was reduced to a single book, the Sacred Volume, whether considered for the striking divinity of its story—the morality of its doctrine—or the important truths of its Gospel, would have proved by far the greatest treasure.’
As the building rose in height the action of the sea upon it was regarded with much interest. When the wind was blowing, accompanied with a heavy surf upon the rock, the appearance towards high water is described as being very grand and wonderful. Waves of considerable magnitude rose as high as the solid or level of the entrance-door which was to the leeward; but on the windward side the sprays flew like lightning up the sloping sides of the building, occasionally wetting the artificers, and interrupting their operations on the top of the walls.
In the early part of July, the works being nearly completed, great interest was excited by a visit from Mrs. Dickson, the only daughter and surviving relative of Mr. Smeaton. She was conveyed to the building on board the ‘Smeaton,’ which had been thus spontaneously named by the engineer from the sense of the obligation which a public work of the description of the Bell Rock owed to the labours and abilities of Mr. Smeaton. Mrs. Dickson seemed to be quite overcome with the many concurrent circumstances which tended in a peculiar manner to revive and enliven the memory of her departed father.
The 29th of July was a day of great rejoicing at the Bell Rock. The last stone was landed, and that it might lose none of its honours, the same praam-boat with which the first stone of the building had been landedwas appointed also to carry the last. The weather being remarkably fine, all the ships and the craft hoisted flags; the praam which carried the stone was towed by the seamen in gallant style to the rock, and on its arrival cheers were given as a finale to the landing department. On the next day, the ninetieth or last course of the building having been laid, the lintel of the light-door room, being the finishing stone of the exterior walls, was laid with due formality by the engineer, who at the same time pronounced the following benediction, ‘May the Great Architect of the Universe, under whose blessing this perilous work has prospered, preserve it as a guide to the mariner.’
The remaining details, referring chiefly to the completion of the interior of the lighthouse, are not of general interest. They were so far advanced by the end of the year 1810, that the light was advertised to the public to be exhibited every night from the 1st of February 1811. The advertisement stated the following particulars:—‘The light will be from oil, with reflectors placed at the height of about one hundred and eight feet above the medium level of the sea. To distinguish this light from others on the coast, it is made to revolve horizontally, and to exhibit a bright light of the natural appearance, and a red-coloured light alternately, both respectively attaining their greatest strength, or most luminous effect, in the space of every four minutes; during that period the bright light will, to a distant observer, appear like a star of the first magnitude, which after attaining its full strength is gradually eclipsed to total darkness, and is succeeded by the red-coloured light, which in like manner increases to full strength and again diminishes and disappears. The coloured light, however, being less powerful, may not be seen for a time after the bright light is first observed. During the continuance of foggy weather and showers of snow, a bell will be tolled by machinery, night and day, at intervals of half a minute.’ By this management the light was found to be so powerful as to be seen and readily distinguished at the distance of six or sevenleagues in a clear atmosphere. On the exhibition of this light the floating light was discontinued.
Having thus traced the building through some of its principal stages, a brief view in its complete state may here be desirable. This lighthouse is a circular building, forty-two feet in diameter at the base and thirteen feet in diameter at the top. The masonry is one hundred feet high, and the whole structure, with the light-room, measures one hundred and fifteen feet. The ascent from the rock to the entrance-door is by a kind of trap-ladder, which is a difficult mode for any but the light-keepers, who are accustomed to it. Other persons are generally hoisted up in a chair by a moveable crane. From the entrance a circular stair leads to the first apartment, which contains the water, fuel, &c. The communication with the other apartments is by means of wooden steps. The three lower apartments have two windows each, and the upper rooms four windows each. All the windows have double sash-frames, glazed with plate-glass, besides storm-shutters of timber. The light-room is octagonal, twelve feet across and fifteen feet high. It is framed of cast iron and glazed with polished plate-glass, each plate measuring two feet six inches by two feet three inches, and being one-fourth of an inch thick. It is covered with a dome and terminates in a ball. It is also furnished with a lightning-conductor. In the year 1816, the whole exterior surface having become much discoloured by the sprays of the sea, was painted in oil of one uniform tint.
In the course of the first winter some interesting observations were made upon the action of the weather and the general appearance of the lighthouse. During rough weather a tremulous vibratory motion was found to affect the whole house. The tremour was especially felt in leaning against the walls in the upper apartments when the wind was blowing fresh, or when the house was struck by a sea or by a boat coming suddenly against it, and might be compared to that which is perceptible in a common house upon the slamming of particular doors, or when a carriage makes a rattlingnoise in passing along the streets. But this effect is attended with no real danger. The late eminent Professor Robison told Mr. Stevenson that when he visited the Eddystone Lighthouse, something having forcibly struck the building, he was sensible of a vibratory motion in one of the rooms in which he was then sitting; but instead of producing any alarm in his mind, he assured his friends that it was to him the strongest proof of the unity and connection of the fabric in all its parts.
During the storms of winter, Mr. Stevenson says that from the Forfarshire coast ‘the lighthouse appeared in one of its most interesting aspects, standing proudly among the waves while the sea around it was in the wildest state of agitation. The light-keepers did not seem to be in motion, but the scene was by no means still, as the noise and dashing of the waves were unceasing. The seas rose in the most surprising manner to the height of about seventy feet above the rock, and after expending their force in a perpendicular direction, fell in great quantities round the base of the lighthouse, while considerable portions of the spray were seen adhering, as it were, to the building, and gathering down its sides in the state of froth as white as snow. Some of the great waves burst and were expended upon the rock before they reached the building; while others struck the base, and embracing the walls, met on the western side of the house, where they dashed together and produced a most surprising quantity of foam.’
The regulations observed in attending the Bell-Rock may be briefly stated. The nearest town to the lighthouse is that of Aberbrothock, or Arbroath, in Forfarshire, about eleven miles distant. A handsome cutter, called ‘The Pharos,’ is stationed here as a tender to the lighthouse. This vessel goes off to the rock every fortnight, or in the course of each set of spring-tides, to relieve the light-keepers and to supply the house with fuel, provisions, &c. There are four lighthouse-keepers, three of whom are always on duty, while one is ashore. If the weather offers no impediment, the light-keepers are each six weeks at the rock and a fortnight ashore withtheir families. The salaries are from fifty to sixty guineas per annum, with a stated allowance for each man of bread, beef, butter, oatmeal, vegetables, and small-beer, with fourpence a day extra for tea, &c. They have also a suit of uniform clothes every third year. Mr. Stevenson says that the light-keepers were, upon the whole, pleased with their situation, and talked in a feeling manner of the hardships of mariners whom they often saw tossed about during the storms of winter.
According to the present system of Northern lighthouses, the watches in the light-room are as regularly relieved as on ship-board. The keeper is liable to immediate dismissal if he leave the light-room before being regularly relieved; and for securing order and regularity in this respect a time-piece is placed in each light-room, and bells are hung in the bed-rooms of the dwelling-houses. At some of the stations the light-room and the bed-rooms are connected by a set of tubes, by blowing gently into which the keepers on watch can sound an alarum-bell in the room below, and rouse his comrade to change guard. The man below answers this call by a counterblast through the tubes, and a small index in the light-room is thereby raised to signify that the signal has been obeyed.
At Arbroath suitable buildings are erected for the light-keepers’ families, with each a piece of enclosed ground, and a seat in the parish-church. Connected with these buildings are store-houses, a room for the master and crew of the attending vessels, and a signal-tower fifty feet high, at the top of which is a small observatory furnished with an excellent achromatic telescope, a flag-staff, and a copper signal-ball measuring eighteen feet in diameter. By means of this and a corresponding ball at the lighthouse, daily signals are kept up to signify whenall is well. Should the ball at the rock be allowed to remain down, as is the case when anything is particularly wanted, or in the event of sickness, the tender immediately puts out to sea.
The expense of this great national undertaking, together with the buildings at Arbroath, the attendingvessel, and the first year’s stores, amounted to about sixty-one thousand three hundred and fifty pounds.
We cannot close this notice of the Bell Rock lighthouse without recording a curious accident which occurred on the night of the 9th February, 1832, about 10 o’clock. A large-herring gull struck one of the south-eastern mullions of the light-room with such force, that two of the polished plates of glass measuring about two feet square and a quarter of an inch thick, were shivered to pieces, and scattered over the floor, to the great alarm of the keeper on watch, and the other two inmates, who rushed instantly into the light-room. It happened fortunately, that although one of the red shaded sides of the reflector-frame was passing in its revolution at the moment, the pieces of broken glass were so minute, that no injury was done to the valuable red glass. The gull was found to measure five feet between the tips of the wings. In its gullet was found a large herring, and in its throat a piece of plate-glass about an inch in length.
While the Bell-Rock lighthouse was in progress, Mr. Stevenson was often struck with the frequent and distressing occurrence of shipwrecks at the Carr Rock. The Carr forms the seaward termination of a reef of sunken rocks which appear at low water, extending about a mile and three quarters from the shore of Fifeness, on the northern side of the entrance of the Frith of Forth. The very dangerous position of this rock, as aturning pointin the navigation of the northern-bound shipping of the Frith, required that this rock, in connection with the several lighthouses of the Bell Rock, Isle of May, and Inchkeith, should be made as easily distinguishable to the mariner as possible. In the course of nine years no fewer than sixteen vessels had been either lost or stranded on the Carr Rocks. Therefore, in 1809, moorings were laid down for a floating buoy, ‘but owing to the heavy swell of sea and the rocky sand-stone bottom on this part of the coast, it was found hardly possible to prevent the buoyfrom occasionally drifting, even although it had been attached to part of the great chain made from bar-iron an inch and a half square, with which the Bell-Rock floating-light had been moored for upwards of four years without injury. The moorings of the Carr Rock buoy, from the continual rubbing upon the sand-stone bottom, were worn through with the friction in the course of ten months; and during the four years which it rode here, though regularly examined and replaced in the proper season of the year, it was no less than five times adrift, to the great inconvenience and hazard of shipping.’
Such being the case, it was resolved, however difficult and perilous the undertaking, to erect a beacon of masonry upon the rock. The length of the Carr Rock, from north to south, measures seventy-five feet, but its greatest breadth, as seen at low-water of spring-tides, is only twenty-three feet; hence it was not possible to obtain a base for a building of greater diameter than eighteen feet. The surface of the rock was also so rugged that it was necessary to excavate part of the foundation-pit of the building to the depth of seven feet. The difficulties were still further increased on account of the foundation being partly under the level of the lowest tides, so that a coffer-dam was required. It was further necessary, after each tide’s work, to remove and carry ashore part of this coffer-dam; so that on the return of the workmen at ebb-tide much time was lost in readjusting the coffer-dam, and in pumping the water out of the foundation-pit.
Some idea may be formed of the difficulties attending the early stages of this work, from the fact that during the whole of the first season, or summer of 1813, the workmen could not command more than forty-one hours’ work upon the rock; during the second season the time was only fifty-three hours. These two years were entirely occupied in excavating and preparing the foundation, and in laying ten stones, or the half course of masonry, which brought the foundation to a uniform level for the first entire course of the building.Mr. Stevenson contrasts this slow progress with that made at the Bell Rock during the first two seasons. Although this building was situated twelve miles from the shore, three courses were erected, the diameter of the base being forty-two feet, besides the erection of a beacon-house or barrack for the workmen. ‘The establishment for the works at the Bell Rock was of course on a much larger scale than that of the Carr Rock; but still the latter was equally effective, and the same apparatus, artificers, and seamen, were employed at both.’
During the third year’s work, the second course of the masonry was completed upon the Carr; and nine stones of the third course were laid by the 3rd of October, when a heavy ground-swell obliged the workmen precipitately to leave the rock and take to their boats. Before the cement was fixed, the surge of the sea had washed it out; the oaken trenails were wrenched off, and the whole of the nine blocks of stone swept off the rock and lost in deep water, though they had been completely dove-tailed and fitted on the same principles as the masonry of the Bell-Rock lighthouse, where not a single stone was lost during the whole progress of the work.
During the fourth season, the operations were retarded by several untoward accidents. The wind and the waves sometimes destroyed in a moment the labour of weeks; but by dint of skill and untiring patience and industry, they succeeded by the month of November in completing the sixteenth course, which raised the building to the height of about twenty feet.
The fifth year was particularly unfortunate. The whole of the masonry having been completed, the coast was visited in November with a gale of wind, accompanied with a heavy swell of sea, which washed down the upper part of the building, and reduced it to the height of the fifth course, which formed part of the fourth year’s work. It was therefore determined to modify the original design of the work. Instead of completing this beacon with masonry, and providingthe machine and large bell, which was to have measured five feet across the mouth, to be tolled by the alternate rise and fall of the tide, it was now determined to erect six columns of cast iron upon the remaining courses of masonry, to terminate in a cast iron ball of the diameter of three feet, formed in ribs, elevated about twenty-five feet above the medium level of the sea. This beacon was completed in September 1821.