The Water-horse Skeleton, Ord

Well, here's something you don't see every day... the skeleton of a water-horse! Whilst visiting Skye I bought Geoff Holder's very interesting book 'The guide to Mysterious Skye and Lochalsh', and a photo on page 60 caught my eye, a mossy overgrown skeleton, accompanied by a nearby photo of a plaque reading: 

'Each Uidge Earballach, Hydro Equus Extendus, Long-tailed Water Horse. This is the only known example of this rare beast - a distant relative of the better known Monstra Nessium Hydro E.E.is usually sighted only twice a year when it swims inshore to browse on whelks. This specimen was stranded at an exceptionally low tide in 1967.' 

The author kindly tells the reader where they can find this delightful beast, in the garden of 'An Acarsaid' on the shore at Ord. He gives details of access to the garden with opening times and how visitors can give donations to charity, but when I visited I couldn't spot the charity box unfortunately, or the sign. I think perhaps no one is currently maintaining the garden? Though it does appear to still be open to the public via the little gate opposite the beach.

 Sources & Further Information
The guide to Mysterious Skye and Lochalsh, Geoff Holder

Loch nan Dubhrachan Water Horse, Isle of Skye

Now for something a little more chilling. In modern times Kelpies and Water Horses are often portrayed as beautiful and kindly creatures, but in days long past their reputation was not so pleasant. These creatures were greatly feared and their sightings brought terror and horror to local people, who would hide their children indoors lest the Kelpies took them away forever. They had the powers to rise from the water in human form, and some would seize their prey and drag them beneath the waves, and others would prey in human form and drink the blood of their victim. Some disguised themselves as old women and would knock on the door of a lonesome bothy, pleading for shelter from the cold. If a young maiden was foolish enough to let the old woman in it is unlikely she would ever wake the following morning. Some Kelpies would disguise themselves as a handsome young man, so young maidens were warned to never go near a man with seaweed or shells in his hair, lest he drag them to their doom.

Loch nan Dubhrachan is a dark and brooding loch close to the road side between Isle Ornsay and Knock on the Isle of Skye, and was once said to be tenanted by a water-horse. According to MacCulloch's 'The Misty Isle of Skye' (1905) the water-horse had a perchant for pretty girls, but they did not like his attentions. This creature caused so much fear that in 1870 it is said that an attempt was made to catch the beast and end it's reign of terror. An account of the hunt was published by Alasdair MacGregor in 'Somewhere in Scotland' (1935). The entire account can be found here on the Comann nan Each-uisge Website. Another account can be found in MEM Donaldson's "Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands (1920), and can also be found on the Comann nan Each-uisge Website. Swire gives name to the beast in "Skye: The Island and it's Legend" (1961), refering to it as the 'Beast of the Little Horn'.

According to folklore great provisions were made for this hunting of the Waterhorse, with children being freed from school for the day, and people coming from far and wide to join in with the hunt. According to Donaldson's account vast quantities of alcohol were consumed too, which could explain a lot! He tells that two boats were brought along and a net was stretched between them to be dragged along the loch, but the net caught in a snag and "the majority of the spectators, thinking that the water-horse was indeed enmeshed, in terror rushed for their houses and carts or fled precipitately from the scene. Beside the snag, all that was caught on this occassion was two pike, so that the fisherman who aspires to a catch out of the common still has chance of the water-horse."

MacGregor's account published in 1935 comes from a man named John MacRae, who as a boy witnessed the hunt for the water-horse. He tells that the hunt began after a cattleman and his wife observed a small, black object on the shore of the loch. At first the cattleman thought it to be one of a farmer's cows that had drowned and washed ashore but as he neared the beast it "swam out with his head below water, putting little waves ashore." MacRae tells how the people were terrified and believed it to be the 'each-uisge' so Lord MacDonald said he would dredge the loch, and hence the hunt began.

After a short scramble through overgrown bushes I came across the loch, a dark and forboding place. The water appears dark and brooding, and the undergrowth is brittle and skeletal. No flowers bloomed or birds sung, this is not a welcoming place. We didn't stay long.

Sources & Further Information
Skye: The Island and it's Legend, Swire
Somewhere in Scotland, Alasdair MacGregor
The Misty Isle of Skye, MacCulloch
Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands, Donaldson
Comann nan Each-uisge

Loch Chon, Trossachs

I hope you all had a wonderful winter, and I apologise for the delay in adding the rest of my Trossach adventures! If any of you happen to use facebook, i'd like to invite you to join the 'Faery Folklore of the UK' group, a wonderful and friendly place to discuss fairy folklore, share stories and photos, and chit chat about folkloric things. Open to all, everyone welcome!

Next on my journey in the Trossachs was a visit to Loch Chon. It is perhaps best known for its resident kelpie or water-monster, but according to one source there are more faeries living at Loch Chon than anywhere else in the world! Well worth a visit then.

Louis Stott writes in 'Enchantments of the Trossachs' (1992), quoting Robertson's 'Selected Highland Folk Tales' (1961), and relates "a macabre folk-tale about a water-monster in Loch Chon, the dog loch. The story is about the murder of a young boy by a tinker who threw the lad into the loch where he was taken by a monster shaped like a dog." Stott continues, "A recent visitor to the spot had a vision of the same incident."

Further on in the book, Stott tells of how the loch became home to the fairies after they were banished from Menteith (blog on Menteith coming soon!), he writes that "some crossed over to the west of the River Forth, others went to the north, to live in the solitude of Balquhidder and Lochearnhead. The rest moved into the upper reaches of Strathard, which is why there are more faeries living at Loch Chon than anywhere else in the world."

Loch Chon is well sign posted and has it's own carpark, with a gravel track leading further into the trees and towards the loch. The path seems to vanish rather quickly and you're left with a few muddy paths to follow, some leading to the edge of the loch and others into the wooded areas.

We arrived at the loch approaching dusk, and found an eerie misty fog floating above the lake. The silence was extraordinary, not a sound for miles, and the loch was deathly still.

The shores of the loch are scattered with circles of rocks and burnt driftwood, the remains of camp fires. Deserted and forgotten, it's such a lonely place at dusk.

As time was getting on and dusk approaching, we bid farewell and returned a couple of days later when light was more plentiful. We decided to wander further into the wooded area, and found an enchanting abundance of fungus and mosses, all delicate and pretty...

.... and some less pretty, and more slimy and rather strange looking....

 

We found a mossy green tree throne, or the king of the mossy trees, it definitely had an air of royalty about it!

And lots of mossy green trees, that seemed to be paying respectful attention to the mossy green tree throne!

 

We spotted a grassy mound sprinkled with bracken and moss, with a definite feel of faerie about it, and lots of lovely mossy logs covered with mushrooms and tiny delicate lichen.

As with many locations associated with the fae, it's hard to know whether the place was once scene to a folkloric story or whether the association with the fae comes purely from the beauty and enchanting atmosphere, created by carpets of moss and gnarled old trees. I would love to hear from anyone who can point me in the direction of any other sources connecting Loch Chon with the fairies, as i'm very intrigued to know why there are said to be more fairies living at Loch Chon than anywhere else in the world!

Sources & Further Information

Selected Highland Folk Tales, Robertson

The Enchantment of the Trossachs, Stott