Loch Ness: From Out Of The Depths

By Patrick J Gallagher

In 1933 “Nessie” erupted into the public consciousness with a deluge of sightings of “something” in the waters of the 22 mile long and 700 foot deep Scottish loch.

Since then the Loch Ness Monster has captured the public imagination more than any other cryptid creature.

Gathered in this book are the original newspaper accounts from the years 1933 and 1934, when “Nessie Fever” was at its height. Not just sightings, but plans for monster hunts and government responses to the appearance of this unknown creature are presented here.

A number of the sightings documented here, possibly too “mundane” to be sensationalised by the national press, are seeing print for the first time since the 1930’s, after languishing in the archived pages of the small local newspapers in which they first appeared.

Whatever your stance on the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, these accounts provide a fascinating insight into the happenings and opinions that swirled around Loch Ness in the early part of the 20th Century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patrick J Gallagher
• Release date: Sep 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516360512

Book preview

For Dorothy. A sounding board and support throughout this process. I hope this work inspires you to hunt down some mysteries during your travels.

LOCH NESS: FROM OUT OF THE DEPTHS

Introduction

The Loch Ness Monster has captured the public imagination more than any other cryptid creature.

In 1933 Nessie erupted into the public consciousness with a deluge of sightings of something in the waters of the 22 mile long and 700 foot deep Scottish loch.

It started with just a smattering of reports in the local press early in the year, then, in the latter part of 1933 the national press picked up on the story and Nessie Fever spread far beyond the borders of Scotland, to not just the rest of the U.K., but to the whole world.

The sightings continued in force throughout 1934, with dozens of sightings of varying credibility being reported in the local papers, primarily the Dundee Courier and the Aberdeen Journal. These two years were truly the Golden Age for the Loch Ness Monster, as sightings became less and less frequent in subsequent years.

At the same time, would-be monster hunters planned their expeditions, and government officials held forth on the legalities of having a strange new creature in Scottish waters. In the minds of most, there seemed very little doubt that something very real lurked in the murky depths.

Here, then, is a collection of the British newspaper reports of the day, covering 1933 and 1934.

The sightings that most people are familiar with have been recounted many times due to their being reported by the major players like The Times and The Daily Mail. However, many of the sightings chronicled here were not picked up by the national press, most likely because they were not deemed sensational enough.

Thus, a number of the sightings within these pages are now seeing print for the first time since they were originally published in the 1930’s.

Whatever your stance on the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, these accounts provide a fascinating insight into the happenings and opinions that swirled around Loch Ness in the early part of the 20th Century.

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately the one main omission from this collection are the reports from The Daily Mail, which include the now-infamous Surgeon’s Photograph, which were not available for direct transcription. However, the Mail’s accounts form the basis of a large portion of Loch Ness lore that has been republished many times over the years, and so the information contained in those articles can easily be found elsewhere.

MAY – SEPTEMBER

1933

Dundee Courier - Tuesday 23 May 1933

LOCH NESS MYSTERY MONSTER

Once again a sea monster is reported to have been seen on Loch Ness, near Inverfarigaig. where the water reaches a depth of 700 feet. Mr Shaw, of Whitefield, Inverfarigaig, who previously disbelieved that there was monster, saw it a few days ago, and, calling his son and a friend, they watched it for about ten minutes through a telescope. Photo shows Mr Shaw and his friends, who are keeping a regular lookout in the hope of seeing it again.

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Aberdeen Journal - Tuesday 23 May 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER AGAIN SEEN.

Inverness-shire Bus Driver's Device to Get It.

An effort is to be made to catch the Loch Ness sea monster.

People who have come forward with the most authentic stories speak of a monster between twenty and thirty feet long with a body like that of a huge overgrown eel. Mr Alex. Gray, a bus driver, who resides at Foyers, is to make an attempt catch it.

Special Tackle.

Realising that such a fish would require something stronger than the conventional fishing outfit, Mr Gray has had special tackle made.

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Dundee Evening Telegraph - Tuesday 23 May 1933

SEA MONSTER SEEN IN LOCH

An effort is to be made to catch the Loch Ness sea monster.

People who have come forward with the most authentic stories speak of a monster between 20 and 30 feet long with a body like that of a huge, overgrown eel.

Mr Alex Gray, a bus driver, who resides at Foyers, is to make an attempt catch it.

Realising that such a fish would require something stronger that the conventional fishing outfit, Mr Gray has had special tackle made.

Dundee Courier - Thursday 01 June 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER AGAIN

Seen by Bus Passengers

Considerable excitement was caused yesterday along Loch Ness side when it became known that the strange fish, which is popularly termed the Loch Ness monster, was observed disporting itself in the loch.

The driver of a motor bus stopped his vehicle, and the passengers had a good look at the strange sight about a quarter of a mile away.

They described it as having big head and back like an overturned boat.

Efforts are being made to clear up the strange affair, which has recently given rise to so much conjecture.

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Dundee Courier - Friday 09 June 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER SEEN AGAIN

RATHER LIKE A PORPOISE OR A SEAL.

The Loch Ness monster was reported as having been seen at Fort Augustus by Mr John Cameron, Canalside, and by two students at the Abbey School.

Mr Cameron stated that to him the creature seemed rather like a porpoise or a seal. It cruised about on the surface of the water about a mile from the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, and 15 minutes later it disappeared in the middle of the loch.

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Dundee Courier - Friday 16 June 1933

THAT LOCH NESS MONSTER!

Sturgeon, Eel, or Upturned Boat?

The identity of the Loch Ness monster is still a matter of conjecture.

Several Fort-Augustus people, it was reported yesterday, have seen the animal, and in the opinion of Mr F. Sutherland, Lovat Terrace, who had a good view of the creature, it is nothing more startling than a sturgeon.

If such is the case, the explanation of the presence in the loch of this fish, which is an irregular visitor to the estuaries of British rivers, is doubtless that it travelled up the River Ness during a spate and then entered Loch Ness.

The sturgeon attains a length of from 8 to 12 feet, and the largest specimens are said to weigh several hundredweights.

Other people who have seen the creature say it is either a huge eel or else something that has never before been seen. Apparently it usually appears in a form resembling a small upturned boat.

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Dundee Courier - Wednesday 09 August 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER AGAIN

Seen by Four People

As Big as a Horse

The Loch Ness monster has been seen again, this time by no fewer than four people, all of whom live at Fort-Augustus.

They are Miss Nellie Smith, Miss Keys, a maid at the Abbey Hospice; and Engineer Commander R. Meiklem, R.N., and Mrs Meiklem, from whose home, which occupies a splendid position overlooking Inchanacardoch Bay and Cherry Islands, these eye-witnesses obtained a clear view of the creature, which was then about 600 yards away.

Commander Meiklem stated that with the aid of powerful binoculars he thought the monster was quite as big as a horse, and its sharply rising peak-shaped back seemed to be dotted with knobbly lumps.

Its colour was black or a very dark brown, but the watchers did not see its head as its fins or flippers were churning the water.

The creature, according to the two girls, seemed to hover on the surface. Then it careered off and finally sank in a lather of foam.

Commander Meiklem said that in all his experience at home or abroad he had never seen anything like it before.

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Aberdeen Journal - Wednesday 16 August 1933

Is it the Loch Ness monster? A tree trunk, which has certainly the characteristics of the horse with a knobbly back, has been washed ashore near Foyers. It is feasible that this may be what has been seen by so many eyes, except perhaps those that saw the monster cross the road with a lamb its mouth!

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Aberdeen Journal - Monday 21 August 1933

NEW SEA MONSTER.

Has the Loch Ness monster a rival further south?

This question is now being discussed in Oban and along the shores of Loch Linnhe, where a strange sea animal, it is reported, has been seen disporting itself during the past four days.

One resident declares that a sea serpent of extraordinary dimensions had been observed near Seal Island.

Others, however, are inclined to be sceptical, and maintain that the monster may be one of the many whales or porpoises which are at present in Loch Linnhe, which, with Lochs Molfort and Craignish, is present with mackerel and saithe, sure lures for the huge visitors.

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Dundee Courier - Thursday 31 August 1933

LOCH MONSTER SEEN AGAIN

Huge Head and Wriggly Neck!

The Loch Ness monster continues to give rise to much speculation.

Mrs MacDonell, wife of a forestry worker Port Clair, Invermoriston, and her sister-in-law, Mrs Sutherland, whose husband is a member of Drymen Police Force, are reported to have obtained an excellent view of the monster when the loch was calm.

They described it being fully 30 feet long, and that it had a huge flat head, a long wriggly neck, and that it travelled much the same way as a snake propels itself along.

Mr Sutherland, although he was too late to actually see the creature, stated the waves it made might easily have been caused by a passing steamer.

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Dundee Evening Telegraph - Thursday 31 August 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER SEEN AGAIN

The Loch Ness monster is 30 feet long, it has a huge flat head, a long wiggly neck, and it propels itself along in much the same way as a snake travels.

That is the description that Mrs Barbara MacDonell, Port-Clair Invermoriston, and her sister-in-law, Mrs Sutherland, Drymen, Stirling, gave to a reporter. The creature was only 100 yards from the shore when they saw it, and the loch was dead calm, with the sun shining brightly at the time - between nine and ten o'clock in the morning.

Mrs Sutherland, who with her husband (a member of the Stirling Police Force) is spending a holiday with Mr and Mrs MacDonell, stated that the head and neck protruded above water, then a short distance behind followed the well known hump.

The creature, after proceeding half a mile at a high speed, disappeared towards the opposite shore.

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Dundee Courier - Wednesday 27 September 1933

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

The Loch Ness monster has reappeared, and becomes a serious challenge to curiosity.

This morning we get the names of five persons who have seen it within the last day or two, not too remote for easy observation, and their descriptions suggest nothing so much as the sea serpents of nineteenth century mythology.

Thus it is rather like a huge caterpillar (30 feet long), and it travels with an up and down motion and not the lateral motion of a giant eel. At intervals it lifts up a smallish head and calmly surveys the surrounding world.

That is precisely the creature described by countless sea captains and mates throughout Victoria's glorious reign; though something not unlike it may be found in the startling picture pages of geological text books dealing with the age of reptiles.

Can it be that somebody has dropped into Loch Ness one of those dinosaur's eggs found in the Gobi desert a year or two ago and that the hot summer has hatched it out?

The Fishery Board is being appealed to for a solution, but it strikes us that this is another case for private enterprise. There is no reason to think that the monster is a fish. Fish are not like huge caterpillars, and they do not lift their heads out of the water and take an obvious interest in terrestrial scenery.

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Dundee Courier - Wednesday 27 September 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER SEEN AGAIN

Party's Splendid View

Further evidence of the existence of a monster Loch Ness contained in a description by an Inverness eye-witness.

A party of five had a plain view of the strange creature during the week-end. They were : —Mr Donald Morrison, son of Mr M. Morrison, Beechlawn, Inverness; Miss Gracey, an American lady; Mr Gerald Cree, Balnafoich; Mrs Guild, Balnafoich; and Miss Cree.

Miss Gracey was the first to see the monster, and she immediately told the others, who for three or four minutes watched it proceeding fairly leisurely between Dores and Balnafoich in the direction of Fort-Augustus.

Mr Donald Morrison said, "It was rather like a huge caterpillar travelling with a somewhat wormlike motion along the surface of the water. It moved with an up-and-down motion and not the lateral motion you would expect in a giant eel.

We saw it for three or four minutes, and, as it was a clear, bright day, with the surface of the loch very calm, we were able to get a splendid view of it. At intervals the monster lifted its head, which was smallish, out of the water. We were all agreed that it must have been at least 50 feet in length.

The hint has been thrown out in Inverness that the time has now arrived when the Fishery Board for Scotland should make some effort to investigate the real identity of the loch's weird inhabitant.

OCTOBER

1933

Nottingham Evening Post - Friday 20 October 1933

Loch Ness Monster.

LONDON has at least heard of the monster said to be haunting the waters of Loch Ness, the picturesque stretch which forms part of the Caledonian Canal. Cockney efforts to be funny on the subject are a little heavy. That something unusual has been seen in the loch during the past summer is undoubted, but whether it is anything more than a tree-trunk covered with weeds is open to doubt. Something must be allowed for Highland imaginativeness, as well as Highland fondness for pulling a Lowland leg.

Loch Ness is remarkable for the great depth and the icy coldness of its waters, as well the beauty of its surroundings, and does not need a sea-serpent to add to its attractiveness. The idea that some prehistoric animal may have made its tardy reappearance is, of course, scouted by the experts.

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Dundee Evening Telegraph - Friday 20 October 1933

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

Investigation Possible

It was stated that more definite steps may be taken to investigate the reported appearance of an unknown monster in Loch Ness.

It is thought that the Scottish Fishery Board might take the matter up as apparently angling, which is a very considerable asset to both sides of the great loch, may be affected. Some people are of opinion that the whole matter should be investigated by the Ness District Fishery Board, who look after the fishery interests in the district.

Besides attracting many well-known anglers from the South and others, fishing gives employment to not a few men, as well as helping the hotel industry on both sides of the loch. The rivers, too, that flow into the loch are dependent for their supply of salmon and grilse from the loch.

The joint clerk to the Ness District Fishery Board, Mr Athole Mackintosh, who was interviewed, stated that the members of the Board, including Captain the Hon. Even Baillie, who has taken a personal interest in the improvement of salmon fishing in the district, were quite cognisant of the stories of the appearance of the monster in the loch.

The Board was to meet soon, and no doubt the subject would be discussed.

If there was any suspicion that there was any danger of the salmon being interfered with by the monster the Board was sure to take every step to investigate the matter, and take steps if necessary to protect the great shoals of salmon which yearly find their way into the loch in their journey to and from the sea.

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Dundee Courier - Saturday 21 October 1933

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

Disgusted individualists frequently inveigh against the present generation as degenerate on the ground that it can do nothing for itself without the aid of officialdom.

They may find a new and strange support for their position in the fact that in Inverness the demand has gone forth that the Fishery Board should assume the duty of running down the Loch Ness monster!

What a confession of impotence on the part of individual enterprise in the North!

The position is far from creditable to northern enterprise, individual or otherwise.

For months past a first-rate monster has been, so speak, dragging its tail before the eyes of the inhabitants of the very heart of Celticdom. Hundreds have seen it, but nobody has gone after it. Why not?

The opportunity-is tempting enough. A large number of the favoured ones who have been privileged to see the creature are persuaded that it is a plesiosaurus which has awakened after lying in deep slumber since Mesozoic times.

The plesiosaurus was not so big as a whale and not half so formidable. But to the modern world a genuine fresh specimen would be a million times more interesting.

The possession of one, dead or alive, would be the making of Inverness. Millions of curious people would converge upon the town which had one either corralled or in its museum. The tourist industry would become a fertilising flood. The trumpets of fame would resound throughout the world.

If, on the other hand, the Fishery Board gets the monster it will certainly be taken up to London, and Inverness's unequalled opportunity will be lost!

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Aberdeen Journal - Monday 23 October 1933

THE MONSTER AGAIN!

What Loch Ness Tug Crew Beheld.

SANK LIKE A SUBMARINE.

The Loch Ness monster has not commenced its hibernations for the winter as was supposed. At the week-end it again made a brief appearance after an interval of more than a month.

It was seen three members of the crew of the canal tug-boat, Scott II, which was proceeding up the Loch to Inverness.

At a point about mid-loch, between Foyers and Invermoriston village, the engineer, Mr R. M'Connell, who was on deck, was startled to see a huge shape rise above the water in the rear of the barge that the boat was towing. He called two companions, Messrs D. Cameron, mate, and D. Mackenzie, fireman, to come on deck, and they also beheld the strange sight.

Tremendous Girth.

It appeared to be the back the animal, and it was about two feet out of the water. Its girth was tremendous, and it set up a huge wake. Both its head and tail were underneath the surface, and after following the boat for about a hundred yards it gradually sank like a submarine, until finally there was nothing left but the wake it had made.

The crew of the boat were at first going to make a search in the vicinity to see if they could find the creature again, but owing to the difficulties of navigating the craft, with the barge in tow, they did not do so, and proceeded to Inverness.

Believers Now.

The members of the crew have been navigating Loch Ness for more than eight years and had never seen any sign of the monster before. Indeed, they were avowed sceptics as to its existence, but now they are firm believers in the theory that Loch Ness holds something abnormal.

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Dundee Courier - Monday 23 October 1933

LOCH NESS MONSTER AGAIN

CLOSE VIEW FROM TUG BOAT

Big Black Object Which Came at Great Speed

After a lapse of several weeks the Loch Ness monster has been seen again in the loch.

For the first time it has been observed very close by persons on a vessel.

While the tug boat Scott II, which had a barge in tow, was going along the loch from Fort-Augustus to Inverness Mr Robert MacConnell, Fort-Augustus, the engineer, saw an unusual object in the loch, and he reported the matter to his mates, who also had a glimpse of the creature before it submerged.

It seems that Mr MacConnell came up on deck, and to his astonishment saw a big black object about 150 yards away following the wake of the barge.

At Great Speed

It came at a great speed, and when quite close followed the tug and barge, which were going at a little over ten knots an hour. He could not estimate its size, but its back was fully two feet out of the water, its head and tail being submerged.

He called out to Mr D. Mackenzie, foreman, and to Mr D. Cameron, mate, who came on deck and saw the object for a few minutes. MacConnell then called l&udly to the men the b ar e to look behind to see the monster. Suddenly, however, the creature turned on its side and slowly submerged.

It was only about eight feet of its body that MacConnell saw, but from the manner in which the creature submerged it must have been of large dimensions. The loch was calm at the time.

On the arrival of the tug boat at Inverness Mr MacConnell and his mate reported their experience to Caledonian Canal officials and others.

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Dundee Courier - Tuesday 24 October 1933

THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

Sir, - I read with interest in the Courier and Advertiser this morning about a horse which had left a field in Kent and swam 20 miles out to sea. In the next column there is an account of the Loch Ness monster having been seen again last week, and taking the two notices together makes one wonder if there can possibly be any connection between the two.

It may be that this horse was born on the shores of this loch, and, recalling the many pleasant days which he spent swimming about in the beautiful waters of the

Reviews for Loch Ness

[Warren Stevens · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is exactly what it appears to be - a collection of newspaper stories about the monster. If you're looking for the author's commentary you'll be disappointed. But if you're looking for an excellent resource to learn more about the origins of the Loch Ness Monster story, this is it! It's very readable, engaging, and fascinating from a historical and monsterological perspective.