Many peoples had legends describing a huge water spirit. Malice and hostility were attributed to them. If people or whole ships perished in the water, then the same spirit or werewolf living in the river or lake was declared guilty of these tragedies. There are especially many such beliefs among the Irish or Scots. But no myth so worried people in the XX - XXI centuries, as disputes about a monster supposedly living in Loch Ness.
Instructions
Step 1
The favorite character of the Scots is the Kelpie, a dangerous creature that takes on different guises and lures people to the bottom of the lake. Kelpies can change not only their appearance, but also their sizes. Therefore, this mythological character is most often identified with a creature living in Loch Ness Lake. After all, no one knows for sure either its appearance or length.
It is believed that for the first time the ancient Romans mentioned a monster that looked like a hybrid of a camel and a horse, or a mythological sea serpent. During the enslavement of the Celts in the territory where Scotland is now located, they discovered this creature and captured it in drawings.
Later, the meeting with Nessie, as they affectionately began to call the elusive inhabitant of the lake, was attributed to the missionary Columbus (not Christopher Columbus, as for some reason it is commonly believed). Supposedly, this holy man met a beast when he converted the Picts. It just happened not on Loch Ness, but on the river of the same name.
Step 2
In 1932, a respectable local woman drowned in the lake, which was the reason for fanning rumors and speculation. The newspaper "Scottsman" received a letter from a certain Rose, in which he gave the exact dates of meetings with the monster in the 15th, 18th and 19th centuries. But no documentary evidence of these facts was provided. And the letter, most likely, was a harmless fiction of a bored Scotsman. Later, the married couple McKay, while relaxing on the lake, saw something strange and incomprehensible. Apparently, the spouses were not inclined to fantasies, but their story was heard by the inspector of the fishery control, publishing articles in newspapers at his leisure. It was he who caused the excitement around the little-known lake.
Over the next couple of years, the meeting with the monster was talked about quite often. Photos appeared, often of poor quality, sometimes fakes. But gradually, interest in the lake dweller subsided.
Step 3
After about twenty years, the myth of the lake monster is becoming popular again. New images of Nessie appear, and one of them, the most famous, shows three humps above the surface of the water. Previously, only the head and long neck of the animal were photographed, somewhat similar to the trunk of an elephant. The snapshot of the humps contradicted the rumor of the circus touring elephants bathing in the lake.
It was during these years that Nessie finds her ardent admirer, Mrs. White. For a long time, Constance White collected all the legends about the lake dweller, all mentions of meetings with him and any documentary evidence. Later she published a book about Nessie. Mrs. White easily refuted all the inconsistencies in the description of the monster, explaining that eyewitnesses saw the animal in different periods of adulthood. The book turned out to be exciting, although it does not prove anything.
Step 4
Even later, a young English aircraft engineer, Tim Dinsdale, joined the study of the legends of the Loch Ness monster. It is difficult to say what so suddenly prompted Mr. Dinsdale to devote his life to such research, but he arranged expeditions to the lake more than fifty times, filmed the lake dweller on film. Studies of his film were carried out, which confirmed that there is an unidentified creature in the lake, towering one and a half meters above the water. And only forty-five years later, new studies of the film refuted this statement, considering a moving object to be the trail of a motor boat.
Step 5
Nowadays, amateur researchers are finding more and more evidence that Nessie exists, providing images of varying degrees of reliability. Unfortunately, no one has yet found material evidence. First, despite its deep water, there is not enough food supply in Loch Ness for such a large creature as Nessie is imagined to be. Secondly, no remains of this creature have been found so far. Even if we assume that it appeared in the lake in 1933, more than one generation of lake monsters should have changed since that time.
Legends remain, Nessie's admirers hope to meet her. But, alas, they are not happy with the reality yet.
