Story of Nessie of Loch Ness

Once upon a time, there lived Nessie in the dark water of Loch Ness near Inverness. The large, long and slender necked, humpbacked Loch Ness monster, often known as Nessie is still believed to reside in the deep waters of the Loch visible only to a few people in and around the lake. It appears on the surface of the water out of nowhere and again disappears into nowhere randomly. Let’s find Nessie in and around the strikingly beautiful freshwater lake of Scotland – the Loch Ness.

Discovering the Legends: The Loch Ness Monster

The dark and calm waters of Loch Ness

I had no idea of the legend of Nessie until I started my Loch Ness tour. This is when our guide mentioned about Nessie and I was delighted to hear the legend associated with the spot I chose to tour.

Urquhart Castle overlooking the Loch Ness

The first written mention of this monster was found in the biography of Saint Columba in 565 AD. It was mentioned that a huge beast on the loch was about to attack a man whom the saint saved by invoking God. Since then there were several sighting and discussion on the monster residing in Loch Ness.

The modern legend of the monster dates back to 1933 when on a Spring afternoon a couple noticed a huge animal rolling and plunging on the loch while driving through the road by the lake. Since then the news gained much publicity. Every other day there was news of spotting of this enormous creature either on the surface of water or lumbering on the road beside.

Since then various investigation went on. Some investigation suggested it to be a hoax while others termed it as an optical illusion. But the controversy remained and eyewitness continued to spot the Loch Ness monster anytime, anywhere in and around the lake. A majority of them described it as a long-necked huge creature with one or more humps protruding above the water surface. Some added the feature of flippers to the above details.

Looking for Nessie

The Loch Ness monster gradually became immensely popular as Nessie. With time much modern investigation went on with no definite outcome while eyewitnesses kept spotting it again and again. Then there was the picture of Nessie published in the Daily Mail London. It was claimed to be taken by a renowned physician named R. Kenneth Wilson, which was later proved to be a hoax and a falsification committed by surgeon Wilson.

After all these even in recent times, there are various claims of people spotting Nessie, some say it may be a Manatee while others disagree. So even today the legend of Nessie remained unexplained and unexplored. Yet Nessie became even more popular as a cryptid and affectionately had itself portrayed as soft toys and as image on other souvenirs.

Like other tourists, I too wanted to try my luck in spotting Nessie in Loch Ness once I heard of the legend at the beginning of our trip. As the trip began and we sailed through the calm dark waters of the beautiful Loch Ness, in no time I forgot the story of Nessie losing myself in the serene vistas.

The sights were so pleasing and engaging that I did not need any other reason to keep myself involved. I did not find the real Nessie but there were adorable Nessie all around in the stores in various forms of souvenirs. I picked up some cute little Nessies to bring back home. With such an interesting legend and such pretty sights, I end my series of post on Inverness and its surroundings.

Fort Augustus

I did not find Nessie so I cannot share any picture of this popular monster. I share the pictures of the locations in and around the lake that was appealing and highly engaging.

Read my previous post on Inverness.

Read my previous post on Eilean Donan Castle.