[39] Stevenson, “Account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse,” pp. 222, 223.
The appearance of the rock at this time was very curious, and with its effects of light and shade would have pleased the eye of a Rembrandt. Its surface was thronged with men; the two forges flamed, one above the other, like Cyclopean furnaces; while the anvils thundered with the rebounding clash of their wooden supports, in strange contrast with the noisy clamour of the ocean-surge. During the night, if the men were at work, the spectacle presented to a passing vessel was of the most picturesque character. To the artificers themselves, the effect of extinguishing the torches was sometimes startling, and made terrible the darkness of the night; while the sea, lit up with a phosphoric glow, rolled in upon the rock like waves of fire.
As the enterprise proceeded, the smiths were sometimes left on the beacon throughout the day, and the din of their anvils formed, in foggy weather, an excellent guide for the boats. This circumstance confirmed Mr. Stevenson’s opinion as to the propriety of erecting in the lighthouse large bells to be rung by machinery, and tolled day and night during the continuance of hazy weather, so as to prevent the mariner from drawing too near the dangerous rock.
So much progress had been made in the preliminary operations by the 10th of July, that on that day it was determined to lay the foundation-stone. The ceremony attending it was very simple. Mr. Stevenson, attended by his three assistants, applied the square, the level, and the mallet in due form, and pronounced the following benediction:—“May the Great Architect of the Universe complete and bless this building!” Three earnest cheers were then given, and success to the future operations was drunk with the greatest enthusiasm.
The first course of masonry was now laid down. It was only one foot in thickness, yet it contained 508 cubic feet of granite in outward casing; 8076 cubic feet of Mylnefield stone in the hearting; 104 tons of solid contents; 132 superficial feet of hewing in the face-work; 4519 superficial feet of hewing in the beds, joints, and joggles; 420 lineal feet boring of trenail holes; 378 feet lineal cutting for wedges; 246 oaken trenails; 378 oak wedges in pairs.