Nessie: The Birth of the Loch Ness Monster Legend

The Loch Ness monster is a mysterious creature said to live in the deep, dark waters of Loch Ness. ‘Loch’ is the Scottish word for ‘lake’. Situated in the Highlands of Scotland, near the city of Inverness, Loch Ness is the second-largest lake in Scotland, after Loch Lomond. Its deepest point is 230 metres deep, and it is the lake with the greatest volume of water in the UK. This makes it the ideal hiding place for an aquatic monster!

What ‘nessie’ looks like

The Loch Ness monster is also affectionately known by its nickname, Nessie. Some individuals who claim to have spotted the creature describe it as having four limbs and a large round body. Others suggest it has a long, thin body and neck, similar to a snake, with humps protruding from the water. However, there is a general consensus that the monster is a greenish colour.

The legend

The first reported sighting of the Loch Ness monster is credited to an Irish monk, St. Columba. He reportedly encountered a ferocious beast on the banks of Loch Ness in 565 AD while on his way to visit Brude, the king of the Picts, at Brude’s castle near Inverness. There, Columba learned about a water beast that had killed a man, so he banished the monster to the depths of the lake.

The sightings

A well-known alleged sighting occurred in 1933 when a London couple, George Spicer and his wife, encountered a strange creature crossing the road in front of them while driving to Inverness. The following year, a man named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit an unknown beast while riding his motorcycle in the area at night. Around the same time, a doctor took a famous photo of a dinosaur-like creature in the loch but this was later revealed to be a hoax.

Fact or fiction?

Since then, many people have taken pictures and made videos of the creature, although the images are consistently blurry. The lake has been carefully explored with submarines and special equipment, including sonar systems, microphones and underwater cameras. Aerial images and DNA samples have also been taken, yet nothing has been found. Most people believe that Nessie is a fictional creature and likely just a giant bird, otter, or large eel. Despite this, seven new sightings are reported every year. Since the rumours began, there have been over a thousand sightings, and approximately one million people visit the loch each year in the hope of spotting the mythical creature.