Opening ceremonies for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow
Loch Ness Monster Day
May 2
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"It is interesting to note that during the Second World War the German High Command had sufficient confidence in the reality of the monster to actually drop bombs in Loch Ness with the intent of destroying the creature and, thereby, damaging British morale."
~ Donald E. Simanek & John C. Holden, Science Askew: A Light-hearted Look at the Scientific World, 2001
Is it possible that this dastardly WW II plan was hatched to rattle Nessie as revenge for the U-boats (recently recovered off the coast of Scotland by marine engineers) sunk by British patrol ships in the Irish Sea in 1918 — including one that was supposedly attacked by "a sea monster"? Fortunately, given the continual sightings since, Nessie and her relatives have evaded all such attempts at eradication in wartime and more peaceable times. But regardless of the truth of everyone's favourite lake monster, Nessie has competition! Although found in 1966 but only recently seriously studied and displayed to the public, the fossilized skeleton of a 170 million-year-old Jurassic predator discovered on the Isle of Skye, the Storr Lochs Monster, has been identified as a giant ichthyosaur! This ancient reptile grew to about 4m (13ft) in length and had a long, pointed head filled with hundreds of cone-shaped teeth, used to feed on fish and squid. The Storr Lochs Monster is the most complete skeleton of a sea-living reptile from the "Age of Dinosaurs" that has ever been found in Scotland!
Loch Ness Monster Reel
Although accounts of an aquatic beast living in Scotland’s Loch Ness date back 1,500 years to St. Columba's vanquishing of the beast on August 22, AD 565, the modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster comes from an alleged relatively recent sighting on May 2, 1933. The Inverness Courier reported an account of a local couple who claimed to have seen “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.” The story of the “monster” became a media phenomenon, with London newspapers sending correspondents to Scotland and a circus offering a 20,000 pound sterling reward for capture of the beast!
Sightings of sea serpents have been reported for hundreds of years, and continue to be claimed today.
It is believed that many sightings can be best explained by known animals such as oarfish, whales, or sharks (in particular, the frilled shark). Some cryptozoologists have suggested that the sea serpents are relict plesiosaurs, mosasaurs or other Mesozoic marine reptiles, an idea often associated with lake monsters such as the Loch Ness Monster.
Notable historical sightings of sea monsters range from well documented sightings from 1732 in Greenland, 1638 in New England, 1905 in Brazil, 1977 in New Zealand, 1983 off Stinson Beach, California, to 1985 in the San Francisco Bay.
The most common speculation amongst true believers is that the Loch Ness monster represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs. It remains one of the most intense focuses of cryptozoologists.
For an account of the latest potential sighting in 2016, click the battle between "Ichthyosaur and Plesiosaur" by Édouard Riou, 1863.
And see below for a video of this dance performed during the Summer Ball in Sterbfritz/Germany at the Kukucksnest Summer Workshop.
And for a Nessie-coloured, layered cocktail that's sure to increase sightings and send you reeling, try the following or watch the video below:
Loch Ness Monster Cocktail or Shots
1/3 oz Midori melon liqueur - for the color Nessie should be
1/3 oz Bailey's Irish cream - for St. Columba's Irish roots
1/3 oz Jagermeister herbal liqueur - to hallucinate a sea monster
Layer into a glass in the above order.
