SOMEWHAT STATISTICAL
It has been already said that the Bell Rock rises only a few feet out
of the sea at low tide. The foundation of the tower, sunk into the
solid rock, was just three feet three inches above low water of the
lowest spring-tides, so that the lighthouse may be said with
propriety to be founded beneath the waves.
One great point that had to be determined at the commencement of the
operations was the best method of landing the stones of the building,
this being a delicate and difficult process, in consequence of the
weight of the stones and their brittle nature, especially in those
parts which were worked to a delicate edge or formed into angular
points. As the loss of a single stone, too, would stop the progress
of the work until another should be prepared at the workyard in
Arbroath and sent off to the rock, it may easily be imagined that
this matter of the landing was of the utmost importance, and that
much consultation was held in regard to it.
It would seem that engineers, as well as doctors, are apt to differ.
Some suggested that each particular stone should be floated to the
rock, with a cork buoy attached to it; while others proposed an
air-tank, instead of the cork buoy. Others, again, proposed to sail
over the rock at high water in a flat-bottomed vessel, and drop the
stones one after another when over the spot they were intended to
occupy. A few, still more eccentric and daring in their views,
suggested that a huge cofferdam or vessel should be built on shore,
and as much of the lighthouse built in this as would suffice to raise
the building above the level of the highest tides; that then it
should be floated off to its station on the rock, which should be
previously prepared for its reception; that the cofferdam should be
scuttled, and the ponderous mass of masonry, weighing perhaps 1000
tons, allowed to sink at once into its place!
All these plans, however, were rejected by Mr. Stevenson, who
resolved to carry the stones to the rock in boats constructed for the
purpose. These were named praam boats. The stones were therefore cut
in conformity with exactly measured moulds in the workyard at
Arbroath, and conveyed thence in the sloops already mentioned to the
rock, where the vessels were anchored at a distance sufficient to
enable them to clear it in case of drifting. The cargoes were then
unloaded at the moorings, and laid on the decks of the praam boats,
which conveyed them to the rock, where they were laid on small
trucks, run along the temporary rails, to their positions, and built
in at once.
Each stone of this building was treated with as much care and
solicitude as if it were a living creature. After being carefully cut
and curiously formed, and conveyed to the neighbourhood of the rock,
it was hoisted out of the hold and laid on the vessel's deck, when it
was handed over to the landing-master, whose duty it became to
transfer it, by means of a combination of ropes and blocks, to the
deck of the praam boat, and then deliver it at the rock.
As the sea was seldom calm during the building operations, and
frequently in a state of great agitation, lowering the stones on the
decks of the praam boats was a difficult matter.
In the act of working the apparatus, one man was placed at each of
the guy-tackles. This man assisted also at the purchase-tackles for
raising the stones; and one of the ablest and most active of the crew
was appointed to hold on the end of the fall-tackle, which often
required all his strength and his utmost agility in letting go, for
the purpose of lowering the stone at the instant the word "lower" was
given. In a rolling sea, much depended on the promptitude with which
this part of the operation was performed. For the purpose of securing
this, the man who held the tackle placed himself before the mast in a
sitting, more frequently in a lying posture, with his feet stretched
under the winch and abutting against the mast, as by this means he
was enabled to exert his greatest strength.
The signal being given in the hold that the tackle was hooked to the
stone and all ready, every man took his post, the stone was
carefully, we might almost say tenderly raised, and gradually got
into position over the praam boat; the right moment was intently
watched, and the word "lower" given sternly and sharply. The order
was obeyed with exact promptitude, and the stone rested on the deck
of the praam boat. Six blocks of granite having been thus placed on
the boat's deck, she was rowed to a buoy, and moored near the rock
until the proper time of the tide for taking her into one of the
landing creeks.
We are thus particular in describing the details of this part of the
work, in order that the reader may be enabled to form a correct
estimate of what may be termed the minor difficulties of the
undertaking.
The same care was bestowed upon the landing of every stone of the
building; and it is worthy of record, that notwithstanding the
difficulty of this process in such peculiar circumstances, not a
single stone was lost, or even seriously damaged, during the whole
course of the erection of the tower, which occupied four years in
building, or rather, we should say, four seasons, for no work was or
could be done during winter.
A description of the first entire course of the lower part of the
tower, which was built solid, will be sufficient to give an idea of
the general nature of the whole work.
This course or layer consisted of 123 blocks of stone, those in the
interior being sandstone, while the outer casing was of granite. Each
stone was fastened to its neighbour above, below, and around by means
of dovetails, joggles, oaken trenails, and mortar. Each course was
thus built from its centre to its circumference, and as all the
courses from the foundation to a height of thirty feet were built in
this way, the tower, up to that height, became a mass of solid stone,
as strong and immovable as the Bell Rock itself. Above this, or
thirty feet from the foundation, the entrance door was placed, and
the hollow part of the tower began.
Thus much, then, as to the tower itself, the upper part of which will
be found described in a future chapter. In regard to the subsidiary
works, the erection of the beacon house was in itself a work of
considerable difficulty, requiring no common effort of engineering
skill. The principal beams of this having been towed to the rock by
the _Smeaton_, all the stanchions and other material for setting them
up were landed, and the workmen set about erecting them as quickly as
possible, for if a single day of bad weather should occur before the
necessary fixtures could be made, the whole apparatus would be
infallibly swept away.
The operation being, perhaps, the most important of the season, and
one requiring to be done with the utmost expedition, all hands were,
on the day in which its erection was begun, gathered on the rock,
besides ten additional men engaged for the purpose, and as many of
the seamen from the Pharos and other vessels as could be spared. They
amounted altogether to fifty-two in number.
About half-past eight o'clock in the morning a derrick, or mast,
thirty feet high, was erected, and properly supported with guy-ropes
for suspending the block for raising the first principal beam of the
beacon, and a winch-machine was bolted down to the rock for working
the purchase-tackle. The necessary blocks and tackle were likewise
laid to hand and properly arranged. The men were severally allotted
in squads to different stations; some were to bring the principal
beams to hand, others were to work the tackles, while a third set had
the charge of the iron stanchions, bolts, and wedges, so that the
whole operation of raising the beams and fixing them to the rock
might go forward in such a manner that some provision might be made,
in any stage of the work, for securing what had been accomplished, in
case of an adverse change of weather.
The raising of the derrick was the signal for three hearty cheers,
for this was a new era in the operations. Even that single spar,
could it be preserved, would have been sufficient to have saved the
workmen on that day when the Smeaton broke adrift and left them in
such peril.
This was all, however, that could be accomplished that tide. Next
day, the great beams, each fifty feet long, and about sixteen inches
square, were towed to the rock about seven in the morning, and the
work immediately commenced, although they had gone there so much too
early in the tide that the men had to work a considerable time up to
their middle in water. Each beam was raised by the tackle affixed to
the derrick, until the end of it could be placed or "stepped" into
the hole which had been previously prepared for its reception; then
two of the great iron stanchions or supports were set into their
respective holes on each side of the beam, and a rope passed round
them to keep it from slipping, until it could be more permanently
fixed.
This having been accomplished, the first beam became the means of
raising the second, and when the first and second were fastened at
the top, they formed a pair of shears by which the rest were more
easily raised to their places. The heads of the beams were then
fitted together and secured with ropes in a temporary manner, until
the falling of the tide would permit the operations to be resumed.
Thus the work went on, each man labouring with all his might, until
this important erection was completed.
The raising of the first beams took place on a Sunday. Indeed, during
the progress of the works at the Bell Rock, the men were accustomed
to work regularly on Sundays when possible; but it is right to say
that it was not done in defiance of, or disregard to, God's command
to cease from labour on the Sabbath day, but because of the urgent
need of a lighthouse on a rock which, unlighted, would be certain to
wreck numerous vessels and destroy many lives in time to come, as it
had done in time past. Delay in this matter might cause death and
disaster, therefore it was deemed right to carry on the work on
Sundays. [Footnote]
[Footnote: It was always arranged, however, to have public worship on
Sundays when practicable. And this arrangement was held to during the
continuance of the work. Indeed, the manner in which Mr. Stevenson
writes in regard to the conclusion of the day's work at the beacon,
which we have described, shows clearly that he felt himself to be
acting in this matter in accordance with the spirit of our Saviour,
who wrought many of His works of mercy on the Sabbath day. Mr.
Stevenson writes thus:--
"All hands having returned to their respective ships, they got a
shift of dry clothes, and some refreshment. Being Sunday, they were
afterwards convened by signal on board of the lighthouse yacht, when
prayers were read, for every heart upon this occasion felt gladness,
and every mind was disposed to be thankful for the happy and
successful termination of the operations of this day."
It is right to add that the men, although requested, were not
constrained to work on Sundays. They were at liberty to decline if
they chose. A few conscientiously refused at first, but were
afterwards convinced of the necessity of working on all opportunities
that offered, and agreed to do so.]
An accident happened during the raising of the last large beam of the
beacon, which, although alarming, fortunately caused no damage.
Considering the nature of the work, it is amazing, and greatly to the
credit of all engaged, that so few accidents occurred during the
building of the lighthouse.
When they were in the act of hoisting the sixth and last log, and
just about to kant it into its place, the iron hook of the principal
purchase-block gave way, and the great beam, measuring fifty feet in
length, fell upon the rock with a terrible crash; but although there
were fifty-two men around the beacon at the time, not one was
touched, and the beam itself received no damage worth mentioning.
Soon after the beacon had been set up, and partially secured to the
rock, a severe gale sprang up, as if Ocean were impatient to test the
handiwork of human engineers. Gales set in from the eastward,
compelling the attending sloops to slip from their moorings, and run
for the shelter of Arbroath and St. Andrews, and raising a sea on the
Bell Rock which was described as terrific, the spray rising more than
thirty feet in the air above it.
In the midst of all this turmoil the beacon stood securely, and after
the weather moderated, permitting the workmen once more to land, it
was found that no damage had been done by the tremendous breaches of
the sea over the rock.
That the power of the waves had indeed been very great, was evident
from the effects observed on the rock itself, and on materials left
there. Masses of rock upwards of a ton in weight had been cast up by
the sea, and then, in their passage over the Bell Rock, had made deep
and indelible ruts. An anchor of a ton weight, which had been lost on
one side of the rock, was found to have been washed up and over it to
the other side. Several large blocks of granite that had been landed
and left on a ledge, were found to have been swept away like pebbles,
and hurled into a hole at some distance; and the heavy hearth of the
smith's forge, with the ponderous anvil, had been washed from their
places of supposed security.
From the time of the setting up of the beacon a new era in the work
began. Some of the men were now enabled to remain on the rock all
day, working at the lighthouse when the tide was low, and betaking
themselves to the beacon when it rose, and leaving it at night; for
there was much to do before this beacon could be made the habitable
abode which it finally became; but it required the strictest
attention to the state of the weather, in case of their being
overtaken with a gale, which might prevent the possibility of their
being taken off the rock.
At last the beacon was so far advanced and secured that it was deemed
capable of withstanding any gale that might blow. As yet it was a
great ungainly pile of logs, iron stanchions, and bracing-chains,
without anything that could afford shelter to man from winds or
waves, but with a platform laid from its cross-beams at a
considerable height above high-water mark.
The works on the rock were in this state, when two memorable
circumstances occurred in the Bell Rock annals, to which we shall
devote a separate chapter.