In Scottish legend kelpies are water spirits in the shape of which animals?
"The Kelpies The Kelpies are 30-metre-high horse-head sculptures featuring kelpies, standing next to a new extension to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and near River Carron, in The Helix, a new parkland project built to connect 16 communities in the Falkirk Council Area, Scotland. The sculptures were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013. The sculptures form a gateway at the eastern entrance to the Forth and Clyde canal, and the new canal extension built as part of The Helix land transformation project. ""The Kelpies"" are a monument to horse powered heritage across Scotland. The sculptures"
"Kelpie Kelpie, or water kelpie, is the Scots name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but is able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem ""Address to the Devil"". Almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of Loch Ness."
"horse-powered industrial heritage. Construction was completed in October 2013 and the sculptures were opened for public access from April 2014. Kelpie Kelpie, or water kelpie, is the Scots name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but is able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem ""Address to the Devil"". Almost every sizeable"
"the 1674 burgh records for Kirkcudbright. Douglas Harper, historian and founder of the Online Etymology Dictionary, defines ""kelpie"" as ""the Lowland name of a demon in the shape of a horse"". It is the most common water spirit in Scottish folklore, but the name is attributed to several different forms in narratives recorded throughout the country. The late 19th century saw the onset of an interest in transcribing folklore, but the recorders were inconsistent in spelling and frequently anglicised words, which could result in differing names for the same spirit. Commentators have disagreed over the kelpie's aquatic habitat. Folklorists who"
"Water horse A water horse (or ""waterhorse"" in some folklore) is a mythical creature, such as the Ceffyl Dŵr, Capaill Uisce, the bäckahäst and kelpie. The term ""water horse"" was originally a name given to the kelpie, a creature similar to the hippocamp, which has the head, neck and mane of a normal horse, legs like a horse, webbed feet, and a long, two-lobed, whale-like tail. The term has also been used as a nickname for lake monsters, particularly Ogopogo and Nessie. The name ""kelpie"" has often been a nickname for many other Scottish lake monsters, such as each uisge"
"Milton Smith has hypothesised that the kelpie myth might originate with the water spouts that can form over the surface of Scottish lochs, giving the impression of a living form as they move across the water. Sir Walter Scott alludes to a similar explanation in his epic poem ""The Lady of the Lake"" (1810), which contains the lines Pictish stones dating from the 6th to 9th centuries featuring what has been dubbed the Pictish Beast may be the earliest representations of a kelpie or kelpie-like creature. Other depictions show kelpies as poolside maidens, as in Draper's 1913 oil on canvas."
"Central America and the Australian bunyip are seen as similar creatures in other parts of the world. The mythological kelpie is usually described as a powerful and beautiful black horse inhabiting the deep pools of rivers and streams of Scotland, preying on any humans it encounters, One of the water-kelpie's common identifying characteristics is that its hooves are reversed as compared to those of a normal horse, a trait also shared by the ""nykur"" of Iceland. An Aberdeenshire variation portrays the kelpie as a horse with a mane of serpents, whereas the resident equine spirit of the River Spey was"
"their shorter than normal ears, a characteristic shared by the mythical water bull or ""tarbh uisge"" in Scottish Gaelic, similar to the Manx ""tarroo ushtey"". Kelpies have the ability to transform themselves into non-equine forms, and can take on the outward appearance of human figures, in which guise they may betray themselves by the presence of water weeds in their hair. In their human form, kelpies are almost invariably male. One of the few stories describing the creature in female form is set at Conon House in Ross and Cromarty. It tells of a ""tall woman dressed in green"", with"
"were reported regularly during the 18th century, but it was not until the 19th century that sightings were recorded. Water horse A water horse (or ""waterhorse"" in some folklore) is a mythical creature, such as the Ceffyl Dŵr, Capaill Uisce, the bäckahäst and kelpie. The term ""water horse"" was originally a name given to the kelpie, a creature similar to the hippocamp, which has the head, neck and mane of a normal horse, legs like a horse, webbed feet, and a long, two-lobed, whale-like tail. The term has also been used as a nickname for lake monsters, particularly Ogopogo and"
"are referred to as kelpies in English accounts, and thus mistakenly attribute lake-dwelling habits to the latter. Others associate the term ""kelpie"" with a wide variety of mythical creatures. Counterparts in some regions of Scotland include the shoopiltee and nuggle of Shetland and the tangie of Orkney; in other parts of the United Kingdom they include the Welsh ceffyl dŵr and the Manx cabbyl-ushtey. Parallels to the general Germanic neck and the Scandinavian bäckahäst have been observed; Nick Middleton observes that ""the kelpie of Scottish folklore is a direct parallel of the [sic] bäckahästen [of Scandinavian folklore]"". The wihwin of"
"describing horse-like creatures, they were intended to keep children away from the loch. Sjögren wrote that the kelpie legends have developed into descriptions reflecting a modern awareness of plesiosaurs. The kelpie as a water horse in Loch Ness was mentioned in an 1879 Scottish newspaper, and inspired Tim Dinsdale's ""Project Water Horse"". A study of pre-1933 Highland folklore references to kelpies, water horses and water bulls indicated that Ness was the loch most frequently cited. A number of hoax attempts have been made, some of which were successful. Other hoaxes were revealed rather quickly by the perpetrators or exposed after"
"soft mass like jelly-fish"" according to an account published by Spence. When a blacksmith's family were being frightened by the repeated appearances of a water kelpie at their summer cottage, the blacksmith managed to render it into a ""heap of starch, or something like it"" by penetrating the spirit's flanks with two sharp iron spears that had been heated in a fire. Almost every sizeable Scottish body of water has a kelpie story associated with it, but the most widely reported is the kelpie of Loch Ness. Several stories of mythical spirits and monsters are attached to the loch dating"
"Thomas Millie Dow had also sketched the kelpie in 1895 as a melancholy dark-haired maiden balanced on a rock, a common depiction for artists of the period. Folklorist Nicola Bown has suggested that painters such as Millie Dow and Draper deliberately ignored earlier accounts of the kelpie and reinvented it by altering its sex and nature. Two high steel sculptures in Falkirk on the Forth and Clyde Canal, named ""The Kelpies"", borrow the name of the mythical creature to associate with the strength and endurance of the horse; designed by sculptor Andy Scott, they were built as monuments to Scotland's"
"define kelpies as spirits living beside rivers, as distinguished from the Celtic lakeside-dwelling water horse (""each-uisge""), include 19th-century minister of Tiree John Gregorson Campbell and 20th-century writers Lewis Spence and Katharine Briggs. This distinction is not universally applied however; Sir Walter Scott for instance claims that the kelpie's range may extend to lochs. Mackillop's dictionary reconciles the discrepancy, stating that the kelpie was ""initially thought to inhabit ... streams, and later any body of water."" But the distinction should stand, argues one annotator, who suggests that people are led astray when an ""each uisge"" in a ""common practice of translating"""
"Blue men of the Minch The blue men of the Minch, also known as storm kelpies ( ), are mythological creatures inhabiting the stretch of water between the northern Outer Hebrides and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink. They appear to be localised to the Minch and surrounding areas, unknown in other parts of Scotland and without counterparts in the rest of the world. Apart from their blue colour, the mythical creatures look much like humans, and are about the same size. They have the power to create storms, but when the weather is"
"Ceffyl Dŵr Ceffyl Dŵr is a water horse in Welsh folklore, a counterpart of the Scottish kelpie. In her 1973 book ""Folk-lore and Folk-tales of Wales"", Marie Trevelyan says that the Ceffyl Dŵr was believed to shapeshift and even fly, although this varies depending on region. For example, in North Wales he is represented as being rather formidable with fiery eyes and a dark forbidding presence, whereas in South Wales he is seen more positively as, at worst a cheeky pest to travelers and at best, as Trevelyan puts it, ""luminous, fascinating and sometimes a winged steed"". The Ceffyl Dŵr"
"Each-uisge The each-uisge (, literally ""water horse"") is a water spirit in Scottish folklore, known as the each-uisce (anglicized as ""aughisky"" or ""ech-ushkya"") in Ireland and cabyll-ushtey on the Isle of Man. It usually takes the form of a horse, and is similar to the kelpie but far more vicious. The each-uisge, a supernatural water horse found in the Scottish Highlands, has been described as ""perhaps the fiercest and most dangerous of all the water-horses"" by the folklorist Katharine Briggs. Often mistaken for the kelpie (which inhabits streams and rivers), the each-uisge lives in the sea, sea lochs, and fresh"
"form of the water bull, but historian and symbologist Charles Milton Smith has suggested that such mythological creatures might originate with the water spouts that can form over the surface of Scottish lochs, which can give the impression of a living form as they move across the water. Water bull The water bull, also known as tarbh uisge in Scottish Gaelic, is a mythological Scottish creature similar to the Manx ""tarroo ushtey"". Generally regarded as a nocturnal resident of moorland lochs, it is usually more amiable than its equine counterpart the water horse, but has similar amphibious and shapeshifting abilities."
"two high steel sculptures in Falkirk, ""The Kelpies"", completed in October 2013. The etymology of the Scots word ""kelpie"" is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Gaelic ""calpa"" or ""cailpeach"", meaning ""heifer"" or ""colt"". The first recorded use of the term to describe a mythological creature, then spelled ""kaelpie"", appears in the manuscript of an ode by William Collins, composed some time before 1759 and reproduced in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh of 1788. The place names Kelpie hoall and Kelpie hooll are reported in ""A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue"" as appearing in"
"Parallels to the general Germanic neck or nixie and the Scandinavian bäckahäst have been observed. More widely, the wihwin of Central America and the Australian bunyip have been seen as counterparts. The origin of the belief in malevolent water horses has been proposed as originating in human sacrifices once made to appease gods associated with water, but narratives about the kelpie also served a practical purpose in keeping children away from dangerous stretches of water, and warning young women to be wary of handsome strangers. Kelpies have been portrayed in their various forms in art and literature, including recently as"
"Water bull The water bull, also known as tarbh uisge in Scottish Gaelic, is a mythological Scottish creature similar to the Manx ""tarroo ushtey"". Generally regarded as a nocturnal resident of moorland lochs, it is usually more amiable than its equine counterpart the water horse, but has similar amphibious and shapeshifting abilities. The water bull is said to reproduce with standard cattle, the resulting progeny distinguishable by the small size of their ears. According to some myths, the calves of water bulls and ordinary cows ought to be killed at birth by any method other than drowning – they cannot"
"diving suddenly, could be from real-life encounters with a sea turtle such as the leatherback sea turtle. Each-uisge The each-uisge (, literally ""water horse"") is a water spirit in Scottish folklore, known as the each-uisce (anglicized as ""aughisky"" or ""ech-ushkya"") in Ireland and cabyll-ushtey on the Isle of Man. It usually takes the form of a horse, and is similar to the kelpie but far more vicious. The each-uisge, a supernatural water horse found in the Scottish Highlands, has been described as ""perhaps the fiercest and most dangerous of all the water-horses"" by the folklorist Katharine Briggs. Often mistaken for"
"is said to inhabit mountain pools and waterfalls. Even though it appears solid, it can evaporate into the mist. In one form of the legend the Ceffyl Dŵr, as a horse, leaps out of the water to trample and kill lone travelers. Another form of the legend reports that the Ceffyl Dŵr entices the unwary traveler to ride him. Flying into the air, the Ceffyl Dŵr evaporates, dropping the unfortunate rider to his death. Citations Bibliography Ceffyl Dŵr Ceffyl Dŵr is a water horse in Welsh folklore, a counterpart of the Scottish kelpie. In her 1973 book ""Folk-lore and Folk-tales"
"and of the Holy Ghost""; the water could then be used as a cure. A popular and more recent explanation for the Loch Ness monster among believers is that it belongs to a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs, but the kelpie myth still survives in children's books such as Mollie Hunter's ""The Kelpie's Pearls"" (1966) and Dick King-Smith's ""The Water Horse"" (1990). Folklorist Gary R. Varner has suggested that the origin of the belief in water horses that preyed on and devoured humans may be a reflection of the human sacrifices once made to appease the gods of water. The association"
"southern Europe. Another possible source of the myth is the European eel (""Anguilla anguilla""), which spawn in the Atlantic Ocean and swim upstream into freshwater, and grow up to . Beithir The beithir is a large snakelike creature or dragon in Scottish folklore, possibly originating from sightings of large grass snakes (""Natrix natrix"") or European eels (""Anguilla anguilla""). The Scottish Gaelic word ""beithir"" has been defined variously as ""serpent"", ""lightning"", and ""thunderbolt"". It is also referred to as beithir-nimh (""venomous serpent"") and nathair (""serpent"" and ""adder""). The word may also mean ""wild beast"" and may be derived from the Norse"
"back to 6th-century reports of Saint Columba defeating a monster there. The early 19th-century kelpie that haunted the woods and shores of Loch Ness was tacked up with its own saddle and bridle. A fable attached to the notoriously nasty creature has the Highlander James MacGrigor taking it by surprise and cutting off its bridle, the source of its power and life, without which it would die within twenty-four hours. As the kelpie had the power of speech, it attempted unsuccessfully to bargain with MacGrigor for the return of its bridle. After following MacGrigor to his home, the kelpie asserted"
"Lavellan A Lavellan, làbh-allan, la-mhalan or la-bhallan etc. is a mythological/cryptozoological creature from northern Scotland. It was generally considered to be a kind of rodent, and the name """"làbh-allan"""" is also used for a water shrew or water vole in Scottish Gaelic. It was however, reportedly larger than a rat, very noxious, and lived in deep pools in rivers. Its poisonous abilities were legendary, and it was said to be able to injure cattle over a hundred feet away. Fleming, describing the Ermine, compared the prejudice against the animal to Sibbald's account of the country people's dislike of the Lavellan;"
"and Morag of Loch Morar and Lizzie of Loch Lochy. Other names for these sea monsters include ""seahorse"" (not referring to the seahorse fish) and ""hippocampus"" (which is the genus name for seahorses). The usage of ""water horse"" or ""kelpie"" can often be a source of confusion; some consider the two terms to be synonymous, while others distinguish the water horse as a denizen of lochs and the kelpie of turbulent water such as rivers, fords, and waterfalls. Some authors call one creature of a certain place a kelpie while others call it a water horse. The name ""water bull"""
"men of the Minch"" (also known as storm kelpies), who occupy the stretch of water between Lewis and mainland Scotland, looking for sailors to drown and stricken boats to sink. ""Seonaidh"" - a water-spirit who had to be offered ale. It has been claimed that there is a mermaid's grave in Benbecula, but the exact location is unknown. The mermaid was killed in the early nineteenth century after having been seen for a couple of days, before a teenage boy threw a rock at it, killing the entity. Accounts stated that the upper part of the creature was the size"
"Boobrie The boobrie is a mythological shapeshifting entity inhabiting the lochs of the west coast of Scotland. It commonly adopts the appearance of a gigantic water bird resembling a cormorant or great northern diver, but it can also materialise in the form of various other mythological creatures such as a water bull. A generally malevolent entity, the boobrie typically preys on livestock being transported on ships, but it is also fond of otters, of which it consumes a considerable number. In its manifestation as a water horse the creature is able to gallop across the top of lochs as if"
"is defined as a ""female fairy or water-kelpie"". Caoineag The caoineag () is a female spirit in Scottish folklore and a type of Highland banshee, her name meaning ""weeper"". She is normally invisible and foretells death in her clan by lamenting in the night at a waterfall, stream or lake, or in a glen or on a mountainside. Unlike the related death portent known as the bean nighe, the caoineag cannot be approached or questioned or be made to grant wishes. The Scottish folklorist Alexander Carmichael in ""Carmina Gadelica"" states that she foretells the death of those slain in battle,"
"Fuath A fuath (plural ""fuathan""; ) or vough (phonetic transcription), literally meaning ""hate"" in Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic, designates a class of malevolent Highland Gaelic mythological water spirits, inhabiting the sea, rivers, fresh water, or sea lochs. As a generic term the ""fuath"" can include the beithir (behir), peallaidh and ùruisg. The ""fuath"" in collected Gaelic folklore is substituted by the term ""kelpie"" in the English translation and commentary portions of John Francis Campbell's ""Popular Tales of the West Highlands"". More broadly, this name is even given to highland or nature spirits. Their appearance ranges from covered in shaggy,"
"white and could entice victims onto its back by singing. The creature's nature was described by Walter Gregor, a folklorist and one of the first members of the Folklore Society, as ""useful"", ""hurtful"", or seeking ""human companionship""; in some cases, kelpies take their victims into the water, devour them, and throw the entrails to the water's edge. In its equine form the kelpie is able to extend the length of its back to carry many riders together into the depths; a common theme in the tales is of several children clambering onto the creature's back while one remains on the"