Tales from the Cryptid Corner 2

Today on Cryptid Corner, we are diving into one of the world's most famous cryptids out there, none other than the Loch Ness Monster.

Also known as Nessie, this water monster is named after the lake in Scotland where it's been seen by scores of eyewitnesses.

In Scottish Gaelic, the original language of the Highlanders, Loch means lake, and Nessie lives in Loch, Ness.

Get it? Now, you may have seen the old black and white photograph of Nessie that was later proven to be a hoax.

But believe me, there's ample evidence out there that suggests there's something very big and very real in that Scottish lake.

Not to mention Loch Ness is incredibly vast.

It's larger than all the lakes in England and Wales combined.

And the water in Loch Ness has almost zero visibility from all the decaying vegetable matter or peat that erodes into the lake from the surrounding highlands.

That makes it really hard to see anything in the water.

People usually describe Nessie as having a long, curved neck and a hump or two on its back, a pointy tail, and fins.

Some have guessed that it may even be a long-lost dinosaur species.

Who knows? Loch Ness lies on top of a great fault line, so there could be plenty of ancient mysteries hidden in the depths.

Others have suggested a giant sea serpent or humongous eel.

Ew! The first modern sighting of Nessie was in 1933, when a local hotel manager named Aldi McKay saw something emerge from the flaccid surface of the lake.

Originally, she intended to keep this strange experience private, entrusting it to only a close friend or two, who were sworn to secrecy.

Well, it wasn't long before a local newspaper writer was brought into the confidence of a friend of a friend and blew the whole story out of the water.

But Aldi's story wasn't the first time that something strange simmered beneath the surface of the Scottish waters.

In 565 A.D., nearly 1,400 years earlier, an early Catholic missionary from Ireland's St. Columba crossed the path of a great watery beast on the River Ness, which flows from the lake of the same name.

As the story goes, St. Columba, who had traveled to Scotland to preach to native Picts, was on his way to cross the river Ness when he saw a group of men by the riverbank.

As he got closer, he saw that they were all very sad because they had just buried their friend.

The saint asked them what happened, and they said a terrible monster had arisen from the depths and attacked him, and warned the saint not to try to cross, as it would surely attack again.

For reasons unknown to modern readers, St. Columba decided he still needed to cross the river and asked one of his assistants to swim across it to retrieve the little dinghy tethered to the other side.

Who knows, maybe St. Columba didn't believe all that pang and woo-woo, or maybe he knew this would be the perfect way to confront the elusive beast.

Either way, his helper quickly jumped in and was almost halfway across when something ferocious erupted from the depths.

The monster was waiting for another unfortunate human to dare disturb these waters and was quick to strike.