The Loch Ness Monster is a mythical animal that allegedly lives in Loch Ness, a large freshwater lake near Inverness, Scotland. Although accounts of an aquatic beast living in the lake date back 1,500 years, all efforts to find any credible evidence of the animal have failed. That hasn’t dampened the public’s enthusiasm, however, for any news about “Nessie.” Loch Ness, located in the Scottish Highlands, has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain; the body of water reaches a depth of nearly 800 feet and a length of about 23 miles.
Scholars of the Loch Ness Monster find a dozen references to “Nessie” in Scottish history, dating back to around 500 A.D., when local Picts carved a strange aquatic creature into standing stones near Loch Ness.
St. Columba
The earliest written reference to a monster in Loch Ness is a 7th-century biography of Saint Columba, the Irish missionary who introduced Christianity to Scotland. In 565 A.D., according to the biographer, St. Columba was on his way to visit the king of the northern Picts near Inverness when he stopped at Loch Ness to confront a beast that had been killing people in the lake.
Seeing a large beast about to attack another man, St. Columba intervened, invoking the name of God and commanding the creature to “go back with all speed.” The monster retreated and never harmed another man.
Loch Ness Monster Sightings
In 1933, a new road was completed along Loch Ness’ shore, affording drivers a clear view of the loch. On May 2, 1933, the Inverness Courier reported that a local couple claimed to have seen “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.”
The story of the Loch Ness Monster became a media phenomenon, with London newspapers sending correspondents to Scotland and a circus offering a 20,000 pound reward for capture of the beast.
After the 1933 sighting, interest steadily grew, especially after another couple claimed to have seen the beast on land, crossing the shore road. Several British newspapers sent reporters to Scotland, including London’s Daily Mail, which hired big-game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell to capture the beast.
After a few days searching the loch, Wetherell reported finding footprints of a large four-legged animal. In response, the Daily Mail carried the dramatic headline: “MONSTER OF LOCH NESS IS NOT LEGEND BUT A FACT.”
Nessie
Scores of tourists descended on Loch Ness and sat in boats or decks chairs waiting for an appearance by the beast. Plaster casts of the footprints were sent to the British Natural History Museum, which reported that the tracks were that of a hippopotamus, specifically one hippopotamus foot, probably stuffed. The hoax temporarily deflated Loch Ness Monster mania, but stories of sightings continued.
A famous 1934 photograph seemed to show a dinosaur-like creature with a long neck emerging out of the murky waters, leading some to speculate that “Nessie” was a solitary survivor of the long-extinct plesiosaurs.
