The Loch Ness Monster

Allow me to preface this article by addressing skeptics about cryptids like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot with an article Julie found in this morning's Daily Breeze about an 18-foot sea serpent found off Catalina Island in California recently.



As we finished breakfast at our B & B, our hostess Rachel asked, “Where will ya be off ta today?”

“Loch Ness.” replied Julie.

Sea Serpent Recently Found Off Catalina (Daily Breeze pic)

“Aye. Today should be a bonnie one to view Nessie, warmer than the last,” she said with a smile. “My mum said she got a nice photo of her the week past.”

Obviously skeptical, Jay asked, “You’re saying the Loch Ness Monster is real?”

“Well, that’s for everyone to decide for themselves.”

All of us sitting at the table laughed.

Grounded Boat On Isle of Skye Near Dunscaith Castle

Rachel’s face became deathly serious. “But if ya be askin’ if I believe, then aye, laddie. I wouldn’t want to lead ya down a garden path.  Nessie be real as you or me.”

We bid farewell to the Isle of Skye with our gas needle close to empty and put 20 pounds of petrol in just after we crossed the bridge from Skye to the mainland. Driving along the road, I thought back to something the proud Glasgow native from the kayak club at Loch Lomond had said in his instructions, about a kayak being mysteriously snapped in two at another loch last week, with the paddler still missing. Had he said Loch Ness?

Eilean Donan Castle

Our first big stop was the most photographed castle in Scotland, Eilean Donan Castle, where we, of course, snapped photographs.  Lots of history passed through this castle.  Robert the Bruce slept here in the winter of 1306-7 during the Wars of Scottish Independence.  King James I of Scotland called a meeting of the area's primary clan chiefs here in 1427, and then arrested many of them.  Rather than risk the same fate, we hit the road.

A couple of rest stops later, we arrived at Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness.

Our plan called for us to take a boat to see the castle from the water, but we wanted to see how it looked from the hill above the castle first.

Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness From Grassy Knoll

Urquhart Castle has a rich history. It was purportedly built on the site of a Northern Picts fortress, under the rule of their King Bridei, son of Maelchon, during the sixth century. Irish Saint Columba headed to Scotland in 563 AD to convert the Picts to Christianity, and while he didn’t convert Brindei, he did earn enough respect to be allowed to act as a diplomat among the tribes.

According to 7th century author Adomnan of Iona in The Life of St. Columba, the monk performed several miracles in Scotland, including one at River Ness (which flows into the Loch).  Columba came upon some Picts burying a companion who had been mauled by a 'water beast' that dragged him under to drown. Columba ordered one of his followers to swim across the river to prove that man need not fear any monsters if God was on his side. 



Artist Rendering of Pre-historic Plesiosaurus

As the man swam, a hideous monster surfaced close to him, shocking and scaring everyone on shore except Columba. He looked to God, made the sign of the cross, and said "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once."

The beast immediately stopped, and then withdrew, as if he had been "pulled back by ropes."  Many Picts were converted on that day.

Familiar names from history that we previously encountered passed through this strategic spot. 

A family called the MeicUilliams (MacWilliams) were involved in rebellions against King David I, who usurped his brother's Scottish throne over the claim of his nephew, Malcolm III, the old King's son and rightful heir.

The MeicUilliams, the sons of William fitz Duncan, might have been the same family as the MacQuillans we found in Northern Ireland, but that's pure conjecture.  It is a fact that names often changed based on which scribe recorded an event, because few people could read and write in olden days, and they sound quite similar.



Loch Ness With Urquhart Castle and Hillside

In 1296, my 22nd great grandfather Edward I of England captured Urquhart castle at the outset of the Scottish Wars for Independence. Control toggled a couple of times between Scotland and England, and then Robert the Bruce captured Urquhart in 1307.  

Over the next couple of hundred years, the MacDonalds from the Isles frequently invaded the Great Glen of the castle.

During the Jacobite Rebellions, Williamite forces held off 500 Jacobites in a siege, and when eventually forced to vacate, they blew up the gatehouse to prevent the castle being used militarily by the Jacobites.  From that point on, it was more or less a romantic site to be captured on canvas by artists, until the tourist industry emerged.



Urquhart Castle On Loch Ness

As we drove to the next stop in our self-guided tour, Amy told us about her anthropology instructor at UCONN who had spoken in class about his unexpected encounter with the Loch Ness Monster, which he said attacked his expedition's boat and nearly sank it. Some other students had goaded him on, having heard from previous students that this was the best way to get on his good side. She said she, like the other students, thought it was just a tall tale, but she couldn't help but wonder why this tenured professor clung to such a silly story.

Jay had previously said he preferred to use time we would "waste" at Loch Ness in the city of Inverness, which was a couple of hours out of our way, and we compromised to say we would do both.  

When it came time to buy our boat tour tickets, Jay and Amy both said they would rather use the free wi-fi at the nearby hotel to check in with folks back home and enjoy some cappuccinos on this brisk day at Loch Ness.



A Boat Cruising Along the Beautiful Shoreline of Loch Ness.

Julie and I decided to go by ourselves, despite the bone chilling breeze, and told them to meet us on the dock.

As we cruised out from port on the open deck, we noticed a large sail boat with its two masts snapped off.  

I asked a crew member what had happened.

“Likely a storm.”

“We’ve been in Scotland over a week, and we've seen nothing more than light rain.”

“Aye. We’ve ‘ad bonnie weather the summer through.”

“When did that boat wreckage wash up there?”

He thought a moment, then gave me a strange look.

“I can naw be shore, but I de-ny see her thar lost week.”

The water had a few wakes, but nothing too radical, and our boat motored along past scenic hillsides through the black waters. Some Asian tourists suddenly stood and snapped photos off the other side of the boat, so I rushed over with my flip video camera to shoot whatever had piqued such interest.

They kept snapping photos, but I couldn’t see anything significant.

Who is that gray-haired dude on Loch Ness?

“What did you see?” I asked a pretty young woman. She turned to her distinguished-looking husband behind her, speaking rapidly in Chinese.

He smiled and then looked at me. “A beeg a-robster.”

He spanned his arms as far as he could, and then hopped while circling his wrists, indicating something larger than his arm span could demonstrate.

His pretty wife turned back to me and nodded in agreement.

“A big lobster?” I asked 

A Japanese tourist politely tapped me on the shoulder, and smiling broadly said, “Godzeera!”

Boom! Boom!

The boat keeled hard starboard, and we all tumbled against the benches.

“Wow!” I exclaimed. “Big wave!”

The Japanese man looked alarmed. “No wave!”

Crack!

It felt like our large boat was being lifted out of the water, and if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, the deck seemed to be bowing up in the middle as we went higher. Could that be a big wave?

“Godzeera!”

Crack!

A blood-curdling scream pierced the air.

I looked over to the source, and saw Julie standing alone, face blanched white and eyes wide with fear.

The boat creaked as it lifted even higher, clearing the water line, definitely too high to be a wave.

Crash!

We dropped back into the water with a huge splash, soaking us.  

We all looked at each other, and the Chinese gentleman put his arm around his wife and laughed, easing the tension. We all chuckled along.

Smack!

Something powerful hit the other side of the boat.   

A huge reptile tail…or was it a gigantic octopus tentacle?... curled over the edge of the boat directly behind Julie!

She seemed too afraid to look.

“No!” I ran toward her.

The tail whipped back as I ran toward Julie, but instead of whipping forward to hit us, it dropped down into the water with a big splash.

I hugged Julie, and she squeezed me tighter than she ever had before.



Wake in Loch Ness

The others all ran over with cameras to capture the monster's image, but we could only see the wake of a splash, and an enormous shadow gliding away as it submerged deeper into the blackest depths.

Julie and I didn’t get off the boat to walk around the castle, mostly because the kids would be waiting for us, but I have to admit in the back of my mind thinking I wanted to get back to the dock before that monster, or whatever it was, returned.

The rest of the trip was scenic but not terribly eventful. Toward the end, a tape narration turned on, describing Loch Ness.

It seems that modern sightings of the cryptid known as the Loch Ness Monster had begun in 1933 when The Inverness Courier published Alex Chandler’s article reporting the account of George Spicer, a motorist from London, who had witnessed "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life." It had been tromping down the road with an animal in its mouth.



"The Surgeon's Photo"

After the article ran, letters from others who had seen the Loch Ness Monster began arriving at the newspaper office.  The story gained national and then international coverage.  A photo by Hugh Gray was soon published, and the Secretary of State for Scotland ordered police to prevent attacks on the creature.  A more famous photograph taken by Colonel Robert Wilson, who asked to remain anonymous, was published in The Daily Press in 1934 as “The Surgeon’s Photo.

In 1938, Chief Constable William Fraser of Inverness-shire wrote a  letter preserved in the National Archives of Scotland stating there was no doubt of the monster's existence and that it must be captured, dead or alive, to maintain public safety. 

Over the decades, newspapers would occasionally report more sightings of what is believed to be a Plesiosaurus, a freak surviving Mesozoic marine reptile from the Early Jurassic Period.

As we approached the dock, we could see Jay and Amy there, sipping their cappuccinos and waiving.

Behind them, I saw a big circular ripple push through the waves, and something huge and olive green began to emerge. The enormous head of a dinosaur burst upward through the surface, its cruel mouth gaping wide as if to suck in as much breath as it could… or was that the reason?

Julie and I began signaling frantically with our arms for Jay and Amy to get off the dock, but they just smiled and toasted us with their coffee cups. I pointed at the monster behind them, but they laughed, assuming it was another of Dad’s acting spoofs.

Then the monster head darted forward and took a huge chunk out of the dock with its razor sharp teeth, and the kids realized too late….



Yeah, anything I said about a living monster in the present day wasn’t real, except our B & B hostess saying her mum recently took a photo. I guess you’ll have to do the same, because we didn’t see Nessie ourselves.  No  people or boats were actually hurt in the writing of this article.