The Each-Uisge
In the Highlands, a fine horse grazing by a loch is not to be trusted. Climb on its back, and you can't get off, and it heads straight for the water.
What was reported
The each-uisge, Gaelic for 'water horse', was the most feared creature of Highland lochs and sea lochs, more dangerous than the kelpie of the rivers. It appeared as a handsome horse or pony, or sometimes as a young man. Anyone who touched or mounted it found their hands stuck fast to its skin.
It would then gallop into the deepest water and drag its rider under. On the Isle of Raasay, a story tells of a blacksmith whose daughter was taken by an each-uisge, and who lured the creature with a roasted sheep and killed it with hot iron spears.
Explanations offered
Water horse legends are found across Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia. Folklorists see them as warnings about the danger of deep, cold lochs, and about strangers who seem too good to be true. Some have linked later 'monster' sightings in lochs to these much older beliefs.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Isle of Raasay, Highland, Scotland, UK
- Witnesses
- Scottish Highland folklore
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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