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Tuesday, 30 August 2011 This posting is a link to the various pieces this blog will publish in regard to the folklore of aquatic beasts in Loch Ness and other Scottish lochs. That Loch Ness had a tradition of such beasts is not in doubt. In fact, quite a few had such stories ranging from mere lochans only hundreds of feet across to the mightiest bodies of water such as Loch Ness itself.

Such stories follow common themes though there would also be local variations. However, by and large, such stories were confined to the Highlands of Scotland where the preponderance of lochs would lie.

Three beasts dominate our thread of posts and that is the Water Horse, Water Bull and the Kelpie. The three are similar but sufficiently different to merit their own stories (though this did not stop writers from confusing them). But their major differences would be that the Kelpie inhabited rivers whilst the Water Horse was seen as a more aggressive beast than the Water Bull.

In the local Gaelic tongue their names would be Each Uisge (pronounced "ech ooshk") for the Water Horse and Tarbh Uisge (pronounced "tarv ooshk") for the Water Bull. No doubt there may have been dialectical variations to these pronunciations (I have seen "ooshkya" instead of "ooshk").

Unlike most cryptozoologists who regard such stories as mythical and unconnected with modern lake monster sightings, this blog takes the opposite view that there is a catalyst for this genre of story that was sightings of strange creatures. That is a theme that will hopefully be developed as time goes on but here are the relevant links below. Any strange or interesting tales from the pre-Nessie era which do not necessarily mention such beasts will also be linked here.

The Water Horses of Loch Ness - link

The Floating Island of Loch Ness - link

The World's Oldest Nessie Document - link

The Elf-Cattle of Caithness - link

Mhorag of Loch Morar - link

The Loch Oich Monster - link (mix of folklore and modern)

The Creature of Loch Ulladale - link (mix of folklore and modern)

The Water Bull of Loch Duntelchaig - link

The Water Bull of Loch Tarff - link

Lewis and Water Horses - link and link

Carmichael Watson Project - link

Fishy Loch Ness Story from 1846 - link

The Loch Ness Kelpie Cartoon - link

The Dornoch Dragon and Nessie - link

Here be Mermaids! - link

The Folklore of An Niseag - link

Thoughts on the Loch Ness Kelpie - link

A Victorian Nessie Story - link

A sighting from 1909 - link

Monsters and Omens - link

Skye Water Horses, Sea Serpents and Dr. MacRae - link

John Keel and the 1896 Loch Ness Monster - link

The Glasgow Evening News and its 1896 Loch Ness Monster - link

The Beast of Loch Achtriochtan - link

The Bell of Saint Cummin - link

The Ancient Serpent Stone of Loch Ness - link

Posted by Glasgow Boy at 04:43 Click on image for more ...