Flannan Isle

Flannan Isle is an English language poem by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, first published in 1912. It refers to a mysterious incident that occurred on the Flannan Isles in 1900, when three lighthouse-keepers disappeared without explanation.[1][2]

Text

The poem begins:

"Though three men dwell on Flannan Isle
To keep the lamp alight,
As we steer'd under the lee, we caught
No glimmer through the night."

A passing ship at dawn had brought
The news; and quickly we set sail,
To find out what strange thing might ail
The keepers of the deep-sea light.[3]

— Stanzas 1-2

The poem Flannan Isle is quoted by Tom Baker as the Doctor at the end of the Doctor Who story Horror of Fang Rock, which was set on a lighthouse and involved an alien explanation for the tragedy that befell the three keepers there and survivors of a shipwreck.

For the 1994 album Chansons des mers froides (Songs from the Cold Seas), French producer Hector Zazou adapted an extract of the poem Flannan Isle as a song entitled The Lighthouse. Lead vocals were performed by Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and backing vocals were provided by a female Nanai shaman.

The Genesis song The Mystery of Flannan Isle Lighthouse (on Archive 1967-75) is based on the incident as is the opera The Lighthouse by Peter Maxwell Davies.

The novel Some Strange Scent of Death by Angela J Elliott takes its name from a line in the poem and tells of the disappearance of the lighthouse keepers.

The main story of the video game Dark Fall II: Lights Out contains characters and locations related to the incident.[4]

2018 Scottish thriller film The Vanishing is set in the Flannan Isles.[5]

References
  1. Flannan Isle poetry-archive.com Retrieved 8 Jan 2011.
  2. Isle, Flannan. "Flannan Isle by Wilfrid Wilson Gibson". allpoetry.com. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  3. Gibson (1912) p. 43.
  4. "Dark Fall II: Lights Out - Walkthrough". IGN. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  5. McIver, Brian (2018-11-29). "New Gerard Butler movie to shine light on mystery of Scots lighthouse keepers". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2019-10-31.

Edition
  • Gibson, Wilfrid Wilson (1912). Fires, Book I. London: E. Mathews. pp. 43–46.
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