Nessie, Beast of the Loch
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The Loch Ness Monster, true or false?
Could this poor wee beastie be a left-over from the last Ice Age? Known fondly as "Nessie", Niseag, this plesiosaur-like creature is said to be under a long, deep lake near Inverness, Scotland.
Even St Columba met Nessie, (although in less than pleasant circumstances) and he seized the moment to practice a little Christian conversion.
Perhaps I will never meet Nessie, that fabulous beastie in the depths of the Loch, but. I would love to. It's on my bucket list.
- Nessie, Grandmother of all Monsters
- A Cryptozoological Creature
- St Columba meets Nessie
- How do we know St Columba met Nessie?
- The Source of the Columba versus Nessie story
- Could the story about Columba be true?
- I think Columba saw a Kelpie
- Nessie Sighting 1933
- Nessie receives 20th century recognition
- The Rocks of the Lochs
- The Great Glen
- Modern Researchers in Loch Ness
- Last Undiscovered Animals
- The Numerous Theories
- Nessiteras Rhombopteryx
- A Field Guide
- Where are you, Nessie?
- What do you think?
- Long may she live in the loch!
- Send Nessie a friendly Cheerio
Nessie, Grandmother of all Monsters
Sea serpents, the terrfiying kraken and other mythological creatures have formed a part of folklore since the beginning of time.
Around the world there are reputed to be sea serpents or monsters in many bodies of fresh water. Nessie in Loch Ness, Morag in Loch Morar, Shielagh in Loch Shiel, Lizzy in Loch Lochy, Champ in Lake Champlain, Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan and, quaintly, Wally in Lake Wallowa.
While research has been conducted at many of these lakes, Loch Ness is the icon for monsters and Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster is, without doubt, the grandmother of them all.
A Cryptozoological Creature
Nessie is in the realms of cryptozoology, the study of hidden animals considered to be legendary or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology.
St Columba meets Nessie
Columba was a man who stood for no nonsense, not even from a monster.He had ordered one of his monks to swim across the River Ness to fetch a boat when, halfway across, the beast appeared, roaring in a most frightening manner. The monster headed straight for the swimming monk.
The Saint himself jumped in the river crying out at the monster :
Go no further, nor touch the man! Go back!
Thus commanded, the monster fled.
According to a 7th century text from St. Adamnan, ... the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes. The brethren gave glory to God.
How do we know St Columba met Nessie?
It was Adamnan, descendant of kings and a man respected at that time for his great learning. who tells us this.
Adamnan is the author of Vita Columbae. The Life of Columba, possibly the most important surviving work written in early medieval Scotland. He wrote many other works dealing with law, one of which (The Law of Innocents) is considered the prototype of the Geneva Convention.
The Source of the Columba versus Nessie story
Life of Saint Columba, Founder of Hy. Written by Adamnan, Ninth Abbot of that Monastery
It's in English - you don;t have to wade through the Latin as I did, so unwillingly, as a schoolgirl.
Could the story about Columba be true?
So should we take what Adamnan says seriously? What about these reports Columba encountering and conquering, sometimes converting, various assorted "monsters", at various places in Scotland?How reliable is this?
This reliability of this earliest reference by Adamnan has been questioned. I have a few questions myself.
Critics always point out that the event is said to have occurred on the River Ness, not in the Loch. But my concern is deeper than a little geographical license.
My concern is the alleged attack by Nessie. There's certainly no other reported instance of her attacking anyone. She is generally portrayed as shy and quick to avoid people, and who could blame her for hiding from us? If Nessie had not remained so elusive, her poor body, stuffed and mounted, would doubtless be gracing some baronial hall right now.
I believe Adamnan confused Columba's peaceful encounter with another occasion. An occasion when Columba experienced a less happy meeting with another Highlands beastie, the Water Horse.
I think Columba saw a Kelpie
In Scottish folklore, large animals are associated with many bodies of water from small streams to the largest lakes, often labeled Loch-na-Beistie on old maps.These water-horses, or kelpies, have magical powers but often harbour malevolent intentions.
They are dragons under water, lurking with ravenous intent, waiting for the onset of darkness in the long Northern nights before they come forth and devour the Innocent.
Nessie Sighting 1933
Nessie receives 20th century recognition
In August 1933, a London man named George Spicer said he had sighted Nessie. A few weeks earlier while motoring around the Loch, both Spicer and his wife had seen "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life", trundling across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth.
The following month, another letter came from a veterinary student reporting a similar encounter while on a night drive.
By the end of the year, Nessie received official recognition from the Secretary of State for Scotland, ordering the police to prevent any attacks on her.
The Rocks of the Lochs
(They were in Australia once!)
As the continents drifted northwards the land became squeezed into the dry centre of the super-continent Pangaea. A mere 400 million years ago, the Great Glen side slip fault was created.
The Great Glen
As the continents began to break up and cluster around the north pole, great Scottish mountains, which would have been Himalayan in size were gradually worn down to the stumps which you see today. Scotland was still in the grip of the ice twelve thousand years ago, but the main advances were over and the land was beginning to rebound from being depressed into the mantle. The surface of Loch Ness would have been at a similar elevation to sea level.
Anything living in the Loch today must have arrived from the freezing North Sea up the River Ness after the final retreat of ice!
Did Nessie's family arrive in the Loch at this time?
Modern Researchers in Loch Ness
Loch Ness Monster : Buy at AllPosters.com
It is to Loch Ness that myriad researchers have flocked with their cameras and sonars, webcams and mini submarines, their hopes, fears and dreams of solving the mystery of Nessie.
They are all looking for a creature who appears from the depths with an elongated neck that quite often protrudes from the water, having a small head, diamond shaped flippers and three distinct humps on her back followed by a tail.
Some say that she lives under or around Urquhart Castle and many photographs (mostly fake) have been taken of her in the vicinity
Last Undiscovered Animals
The Beasts that Hide from Man: Seeking the World's Last Undiscovered Animals
Amazon Price: $16.95 (as of 02/13/2012)
From a popular writer in the field of cryptozoology, strange accounts of animals whose existence has not been formally accepted. Wildlife anomalies from the blood drinking death birds of Ethiopia to the exotic Mongolian Death Worm.
Strange and scarey, overlooked, lost, undiscovered, forgotten and extinct animal species.
The Numerous Theories
There are numerous theories as to her identity, including .....
- a snake-like primitive whale known as a zeuglodon
- a type of long-necked aquatic seal
- a giant eel
- a giant walrus
- a giant mollusc
- a giant otter
- a giant diving bird
- a floating mat of plants
- an image from a 'slip in time'
- a "paraphysical" entity
- a mirage
- a drug-induced hallucination from marsh gas
- a survivior from an alien spacecraft
- a surviving plesiosaur
Nessiteras Rhombopteryx
Is this a joke?
The name, from Greek, means "The wonder of Ness with the diamond shaped fin".
Over the years many people have noted that if you rearranged the letters of Nessiteras rhombopteryx, it can be made to read "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S".
This may mean something - or it may mean nothing at all.
A Field Guide
Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizensof the Deep
Amazon Price: $9.53 (as of 02/13/2012)
An Encyclopedia of sea monsters covering a vast array of hypothetical species.
Different Cryptids are showcased in species profiles, with an overview of the creature, its habitats, range and behaviour, and include illustrations, maps, and the sightings. From the water horse, sea centipedes and marine crocodiles to giant salamanders and a dinosaur in the Congo.
Whether your interest is Nessie or giant squids, this book is for you
Is the Thylacine still living?
Where are you, Nessie?
The Legend of Nessie
Ultimate and Official Loch Ness Monster Site, with more...0 points
Nessie, The Loch Ness Monster- CoverUps.com
The Loch Ness Monster, affectionately known as Nes more...0 points
Loch Ness and Loch Ness Monster Information
Loch Ness Research and Exploration. Tourist inform more...0 points
Latest from the Menagerie
Mythical and Magical Creatures
What do you think?
Is Nessie really in the Loch?
Fetching blurbs now... please stand byYes of course! She is merely a little shy of strangers
blackspanielgallery says:
Perhaps not today, but at least in the last few decades it existed.
Posted november 20, 2011
AnthonyAltorenna says:
As much as I'd like the legend to be true, I don't think it's possible for Nessie to live in Loch Ness. The Loch was formed after the last ice age, and just isn't old enough to support a prehistoric reptile or dinosaur. Maybe another relic from the past lives on elsewhere, yet to be discovered.
Posted juli 02, 2011
JoshK47 says:
There has to be an explanation for the sightings of all these cryptozoological animals, including Nessie!
Posted juni 27, 2011
Bluepisces1124 says:
Course she is. The evidence support it/ But she might well be dead by now. unless there are pleanty of them down there in the loch
Posted mei 30, 2011
RomeSal says:
Funny, since she came on...there have been reported sightings even at Bear Lake and in Canada...yes perhaps, she could very well be true but let's hope she stays safely away from us!
Posted april 15, 2011
SherylP says:
I've been to Loch Ness although she was too shy to come and say hello that day :)
Posted februari 23, 2011
Usagi says:
I think she's in there...animals are amazing..
Posted februari 20, 2011
eclecticeducation says:
I don't know, but I think it is possible. Scientist are always finding animals that they thought were extinct. I like to think she may be real.
Posted oktober 05, 2010
No, of course not! But it's great for tourism
RealMonstrosity says:
Nope. If all these monsters were real there wouldn't be enough space for all the other animals!
Posted juni 30, 2011
Elisabeth says:
She nay have passed on by now but her legend is as good as it gets
Posted februari 20, 2011
hayleylou says:
I like to believe not. It's too spooky to think otherwise :)
Posted februari 08, 2011
Blair says:
Personally, I don't believe that Nessie exists. It was probably just an old village myth that some creative kids took seriously and every time some rare fish with a long, sleek tail would swim into sight, that was Nessie. And when the back of a seal's head would just ever so slightly peep up, that was Nessie. So, it probably goes without saying, Nessie is no more than a story book character.
Sometimes, when you hear something, like there'll be a shooting star tonight, you think you see it! But really, it's just a flying airplane. You know what airplanes look like in the night sky, but you let your imagination take over so that airplane is a shooting star. That is exactly how a select few believe Nessie is real- their eyes deceive them.
Plus, I do not believe in Nessie because if the first recorded sighting of her was in 565 A.D., and another sighting was in the 1930's; that would mean that the monster would be about 1,400 years old. Clearly, Nessie's existence is highly impossible.
Posted januari 11, 2011
Jumablya says:
giving all the evidence and videos either there is alot of people photoshopping or its real. i think alot of people are photoshopping trying to solve possibly the greatest mystery ever.
Posted mei 10, 2010
JewelRiver says:
I read a hilarious article in the weekly world news that said the lochness monster was really a 300 lbs scottsman who loved to snorkle and he came from a long line of heavy snorkelers so that is how I'm basing my answer
Posted maart 15, 2010
Long may she live in the loch!
And one day I may get to see her myself. Long may she live in the loch!
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Send Nessie a friendly Cheerio
I appreciate each and every comment. You don't have to be a Squidoo member to leave yours.
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FreakyVulture
Dec 18, 2011 @ 5:56 pm | delete
- Great Nessie lens. Love the image selection.
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blackspanielgallery
Nov 20, 2011 @ 9:44 pm | delete
- Interesting idea for a dual.
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Lifeboost
Nov 20, 2011 @ 5:39 pm | delete
- Fascinating lens! Blessed :)
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franstan
Oct 17, 2011 @ 6:57 pm | delete
- Great lens. I am not sure what to believe about Nessie
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Fitness2go
Oct 16, 2011 @ 1:44 pm | delete
- I want to believe!
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About Susanna Duffy
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One day I hope to find Nessie myself!
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