Legend Of The Loch Ness Monster – True Story Of Nessie

Is there any story in Scotland more famous than the Legend of the Loch Ness Monster?

Ask anybody around the world what they know about Scotland and Nessie is bound to be mentioned at some point. There have been countless books published and films made around this myth from the Scottish Highlands.

So, what’s the true story of Nessie and how can you go looking for Scotland’s best loved legend yourself?

Where Is Loch Ness?

Before you can go hunting for the Loch Ness Monster, you’ll need to know where Loch Ness is! It stretches for 37km down the Great Glen, one of five lochs connecting Inverness with Fort William. It’s the largest body of water in Scotland and even all the lakes and rivers in England and Wales combined wouldn’t fill it!

It might be narrow, but Loch Ness is deep – really deep. It plunges to a massive 227m deep, dropping away from the banks sharply. That’s a lot of space for a monster to hide in, especially with the dark colour of the water! The best place to see it from is probably Urquhart Castle, run by Historic Scotland.

If you want to get to Loch Ness, then you’ll probably need your own transport. It takes around 3.5 hours from either Edinburgh or Glasgow, then you have the choice of driving the busy north side of the loch or the quieter south bank. Here’s the best place to find car hire in Scotland and if you’re nervous about driving here, this article might help you!

What Is The Loch Ness Monster?

Different stories of the Loch Ness Monster have slightly different descriptions. Usually, it’s just spotted in the water as a large, dark mass or a shadow beneath the waves. Some early descriptions made Nessie sound like a whale or like some prehistoric monster. For some reason, maybe just because of the nickname, the Loch Ness Monster is almost always referred to as a she!

For most, the image conjured up when thinking about Nessie is of some kind of plesiosaur. A huge body, with kite-shaped flippers, a long, slender neck and a small head. That’s the most common artist’s depiction, with a popular story of the Loch Ness Monster that she’s a miraculous remnant of dinosaurs from millions of years ago!

There’s even a theory that Nessie is really a Kelpie – a shape-shifting water beast from Scottish folklore! They usually take the form of horses, but this could well be a special, local case.

When Was The Loch Ness Monster First Seen?

You might be surprised to hear that the first sighting of the Loch Ness Monster took place almost 1500 years ago! In 565AD, St Columba had been converting the Highland Picts to Christianity when he came across a burial in progress by the banks of the River Ness. It was the victim of a terrifying water beast.

Columba instructed one of his followers to splash around in the water and as predicted, the monster appeared. The saint made the sign of the cross, commanding it to leave and the beast was immediately hauled back by an invisible force!

The story can be found in Adomnan’s ‘Life of St Columba’ written around a hundred years after the saint’s death. It might be a metaphorical story of Columba banishing pagan beliefs, but it adds an extra element to stories of monsters in Loch Ness!

The 1900s Nessie Sightings

Legends of the Loch Ness Monster didn’t go away, but the stories really began to gather speed in the early 1900s. The road along the north of Loch Ness was improved in the 1930s and visitor numbers began increasing. More people travelling so close to the water meant far more sightings of Nessie.

In 1916, a local gamekeeper saw something enormous surfacing near his boat on the loch. Then in 1933, the manager of the Drumnadrochit Hotel saw what she claimed looked like a whale. That story, along with the other sightings, are explained perfectly in the brilliant Loch Ness Centre which is actually based in that old hotel!

A few months later, George Spicer and his wife were driving alongside Loch Ness when a strange beast crossed in front of their car. He described it as similar to a dragon or pre-historic animal. In January 1934, a motorcyclist Arthur Grant saw a similar creature on the road with a massive body and long thin neck.

Marmaduke Goes Hunting

With the media frenzy around Loch Ness, more people came looking for the monster. One of those was a famous big game hunter called Marmaduke Whetherall. He had been hired by the Daily Mail to find definitive proof of Nessie and it didn’t take him long.

Marmaduke claimed to have found fresh footprints of a four-toed animal around 20ft long. He took plaster casts of the prints, sent them down to London, saying, “One thing is for certain; the Loch Ness Monster is not a legend, but a fact.”

Unfortunately, it was revealed the footprints had been made using an ashtray made from a stuffed hippo foot! It was never proved that Marmaduke faked the prints himself, but the Daily Mail didn’t hold back on their humiliation of the hunter!

The Surgeon’s Photograph

The newspapers were already reporting the various sightings of the Loch Ness Monster, the story was heating up. Things really exploded in April 1934 with the release of what’s known as The Surgeon’s Photograph. It’s the most iconic picture of the monster, with a long thin neck and small head rising from the waves in front of a small hump.

Said to be taken by surgeon Robert Wilson, it’s been analysed and debated for decades. Some believe it to be undeniable proof that something lurks in Loch Ness. Others see it as nothing more than an elaborate hoax. There have been confessions published from people claiming to have been involved in setting up the picture.

They reportedly fitted a fake neck to a toy submarine to create the picture before sinking it in the loch. While some news articles consider the Surgeon’s Photograph to be debunked, I’m not so sure. It’s only my personal opinion, but there are enough holes in those contradicting stories to sink that toy submarine!

How To Go Nessie Hunting

There are a few different ways that you can go hunting for Nessie yourself. My advice would be to take this boat trip out to explore both the loch and Urquhart Castle at the same time. Keep your eyes on the sonar as you go, looking out for any unusual patterns in the depths.

Don’t forget to enjoy your surroundings though! Even if you don’t spot the Loch Ness Monster, it’s a beautiful place to get out on the water.

Is The Loch Ness Monster Real?

So is the Loch Ness Monster real? That’s the big question and nobody has an answer for it yet. People have been hunting for Nessie for a long time now, but the vastness of Loch Ness makes it a difficult process. Sonar has thrown up mysterious shapes in the depths and there’s even been a confusing Apple Maps sighting!

Other explanations have been put forward, from otters playing in a row to logs floating just beneath the surface. The most recent big theory claims that Nessie is just a very large eel! However, nobody has ever been able to conclusively say that she isn’t real and there have been well over 1000 sightings to date. That many people can’t have been fooled…can they?

What About Morag – The Loch Morar Monster?

There’s one last story that doesn’t get nearly enough attention. Have you ever heard of Morag – the Loch Morar Monster?

Found near the ferry to Skye at Mallaig, Loch Morar is over 80 metres deeper than Loch Ness at 310m. It’s said to home to a much more dangerous beast than Nessie, considered an omen of death to the locals.

Morag was often heard wailing in great distress at night, terrifying those who lived near the Loch. She was even seen in broad daylight on occasion but descriptions of her range from something like a Mermaid to just a great, black mass. Most commonly, she’s been described as having a long thin neck with a very small head but a huge body. Sound familiar?

Written records of Morag go back as far as 1887, but one of the more famous incidents happened in 1948. A boat of 9 people all saw some kind of 20ft long animal swimming in the loch. 20 years later, two men were out in a large boat when a beast bumped into them and attacked. They had to fight Morag off with an oar and a rifle!

There are legends of a secret, underwater tunnel between Loch Ness and Loch Morar. Maybe Nessie and Morag are the same creature. When the research boats arrive, they disappear to safety in the other Loch. Maybe we need to widen our search if we want to find the Loch Ness Monster!

If you enjoy the legend of the Loch Ness Monster, then you’ll definitely like the Scotland’s Stories book, available here!