Loch Ness
|
Monks living in 565AD may have been the first to produce art
depicting the Loch Ness Monster. Ancient stones found in the
vicinity of Loch Ness have animal carvings on them. Historian
Norman Newton says, "They are all incredibly accurately
drawn. There is no doubt what they are: the horse, the stag,
the salmon, the wild boar, the eagle, the snake. Then we
come to something which is often described as the Pictish
Beast and occasionally as the Pictish Elephant." He thinks it's
Nessie.
Calum Macleod writes in the Inverness Courier that many
different versions of this mysterious creature appear on the
stones, suggesting it was a local animal. "Pictish symbol
stones are all very realistic," Newton says. "There is no
mistaking what they are?but then you get these things
which don't look like a real animal and always look very
stylized. It's always been called the Pictish Elephant for fairly
spurious reasons, but that's what started me thinking about
dolphins if the Picts only caught a glimpse of them from a
boat or the shore. One problem with that theory is there is no
chance there could be a dolphin in Loch Ness because they
just wouldn't go into a fresh water environment."
Newton had found many early mentions of Nessie, including a
1648 mention of a "floating island" in the loch.
Dan Kincaid writes in the Arizona Republic about the Mokele-
Mbembe?the Loch Ness Monster of Africa, which people have
seen in the Likouala Swamp in the Republic of the Congo.
Its description resembles a sauropod, which was a long-
necked dinosaur like the brontosaurus. It's said to be more
than 30 feet long. In the native language, Mokele-Mbembe
means "stopper of rivers" or "eater of palm trees."
One of the greatest human secrets lies in
plain sight in Ohio. Don't miss Whitley's interview with Ross
Hamilton, who tells all about it on this week's
Dreamland!
To see an image of the "Pictish Beast",
click here.
To learn more, click here and
here.
