Excerpt from the Diary of Lord Malmesbury
(regarding the story of the Loch Arkaig monster)
October 3, 1857
|
|
October 3rd. This morning my stalker and his boy gave me an account of a mysterious
creature, which they say exists in
Loch
Arkaig, and which they call the
lake-horse. It is the same animal of which one has occasionally
read accounts in the newspapers of having been seen in Highland lochs,
and on the existence of which in Loch Assynt the late Lord Ellesmere
wrote an interesting article, but the story has always been looked upon
as fabulous. I am now, however, persuaded of its truth.
My stalker,
John Stuart, at Achnacarry, has seen it twice, and both times at sunrise
in summer on a bright sunny day, when there was no ripple on the
water. The creature was basking on the surface. He saw only
the head and hind quarters, proving its back was hollow, which is not
the shape of any fish or seal.
Its head
resembled that of a horse. It was also seen once by his three
little children, who were walking together along the beach. It was then
motionless, about 30 yards from the shore, and apparently asleep, and at
first they took it for a rock, but when they got near it, it moved its
head, and they were so frightened that they ran home, arriving in a
state of greatest terror. There was no mistaking their manner when
they related this story, and they offered to make an affidavit before
the magistrate.
|
|
Editor's
Notes:
An English politician, Lord Malmesbury reportedly leased a portion
of Achnacarry for fifteen years. His reports of its beauty
even reached Queen
Victoria. |
|
