Scottish Loch Monsters have long captured the world’s imagination, weaving together misty folklore, eyewitness tales, and the dark, brooding beauty of the Highlands. From the iconic legend of Nessie in Loch Ness to lesser-known tales from Loch Morar and Loch Awe, these enigmatic creatures blur the line between myth and possibility. Fishermen’s anecdotes, grainy photographs, and sonar blips fuel a mystery that refuses to go away, inviting sceptics and believers alike to peer into dark, murky waters and wonder what ancient secrets move beneath the surface.
Scottish Loch Monsters come in many forms- they can be beithers, each-uisge (water horses) and tarbh-uisge (water bulls). Some have even been given names like Nessie from Loch Ness, Morag from Loch Morar and Muc-sheilch from Loch Maree. It should be noted, however, that kelpies are creatures from rivers and streams and not to be confused with the each-uisge.
Nessie- the most famous Scottish Loch Monster
Perhaps Nessie is the most famous mythical creature in the world. However, some would argue that she is not mythical at all, but rather a cryptid. The first recorded encounter with the Loch Ness monster dates back to the 6th century.
Nessie and Saint Columba
While standing on the banks of the River Ness, which flows out of Loch Ness, Saint Columba contemplated the best way to cross to the other side. However, his thoughts were disrupted by a group of distraught Picts who were burying a friend. This friend had been attacked by a massive ‘water beast’ while swimming in the river.
However, Columba was not about to be dissuaded from crossing the river. On his command, one of his companions, Brother Lugne Mocumin, jumped into the river. He began to swim across with the object of bringing back a coble which was moored on the opposite side.
The onlookers stared ‘stupefied with terror’ as out of the depths surfaced the ferocious beast, its jaws wide open in anticipation of its next meal. It roared and headed towards the hapless Lugne. Meanwhile, Columba was nonplussed. Instead, he boldly stepped forward, making the sign of the cross. Invoking the name of the Lord, he commanded the beast, “Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed.”
Fearful, the monster fled. Lugne continued with his quest and soon returned with the boat. It is said that the monster has never attacked another human since that day.
However, this encounter has also been said to be a metaphorical way of him demonising a regional water goddess.
Modern Day Sightings
In 1934, the legend gained momentum when a London doctor took a photograph that appeared to show Nessie jutting out of the water. After the completion of the A82 road in 1933, which runs along the length of Loch Ness, Nessie sightings took off! Most of these describe a dark creature with a long neck, small head, and humps showing above the water line.
Various explanations have been given, such as leftover plesiosaurs from the age of the dinosaurs to giant eels, swimming birds and the wake left by boats using the Caledonian Canal. In 2018, a DNA study conducted in Loch Ness matched to some 3,000 species. None of them were reptile, although lots of eel DNA was recovered.
Morag of Loch Morar
Although not as famous as Nessie, Morag is probably the next most common Scottish loch monster. The first recorded sighting of Morag was in 1887. Alexander Carmichael, the famous Scottish Folklorist, gathered several stories about her. From his collection of texts, he wrote:
“Morag is always seen before a death and before a drowning.”
“There is a creature in Loch Morar, and she is called Morag. She is never seen save when one of the hereditary people of the place dies. The last time she was seen was when Aeneas Macdonnell died in 1898. The Morag is peculiar to Loch Morar. She is seen in broad daylight and by many persons, including church persons. She appears in a black heap or ball slowing and deliberately rising in the water and moving along like a boat water-logged. The Morag is much disliked and is called by many uncomplimentary terms.”
Is Morag a Ceasg?
In another description, he states:
“Like the other water deities, she is half-human, half-fish. The lower portions of her body is in the form of a grilse and the upper in the form of a small woman of highly developed breasts with long flowing yellow hair falling down her snow white back and breast.
“She is represented as being fair, beautiful and very timid and never seen save when one of the Morar family dies or when the clan falls in battle.
“Then she is seen rushing about with great speed and is heard wailing in great distress, bemoaning and weeping the loss of the House of Morar, laid desolate.
“The Morag has often brought out of their houses at night the people living along the shores of the lake and in the neighbourhood of her haunts, causing much anxiety to the men and much sore weeping to the women.”
In this description, she sounds more like a ceasg– a mermaid-like creature from Scottish mythology.
The Monster of Loch Hourn
Loch Hourn, a fjord-like sea loch on Scotland’s wild west coast, has produced only a few monster reports. However, one from August 1872 is exceptional. Over two days, six passengers on the yacht Leda repeatedly watched an enormous, dark, multi‑humped creature in Loch Hourn and the nearby Sound of Sleat. Witnesses described a slaty-brown animal with a blunt head, occasional small dorsal fin, and at least once a tall triangular fin. As it sped up, fewer humps showed, and its approach was loud enough to hear the rush of breaking water. Using passing schooners for scale, they estimated around 60 feet of visible length. Two ministers among the witnesses emphasised the humps behaved like fixed protuberances, not undulating like an eel. An experienced yachtsman insisted it resembled no known whale, seal, or porpoise.
Independent observers that evening reported a similar creature surging through the Kyle Rhea and as far as Loch Duich, consistent with a powerful swimmer navigating connected sea lochs. Later, in the 1950s, a nine‑year‑old boy reported a terrifying close encounter with a long‑necked head rising about ten feet from the water near shore, with additional sightings near Sandaig.
The Monster of Loch a’Mhuillidh
In the 1930s a beithir was reported on the ground near Loch a’ Mhuillidh in Glen Strathfarrar and Sgùrr na Lapaich. The beither is said to be the largest and deadliest of serpents and is armed with a lethal sting.
The Big Beast of Loch Awe
John Gregorson Campbell’s seminal work ‘The Gaelic Otherworld’, he records that Beathach Mor Loch Odha had twelve legs and was to be heard in the wintertime breaking the ice. Some say it was like a horse, other like a large eel.’
Seileag of Loch Sheil
Its name comes from the Gaelic an t-Seileag, a feminine diminutive derived from the name of the loch. Sometimes it is called Sheila. It is described as having a long neck and three to seven humps on its back.
In 1911, a groundskeeper and another man observed a creature with three humps through a telescope.
In 1926, Ronald MacLeod saw an animal emerge from the loch at Sandy Point. It appeared larger than the local mail steamer, had a long neck, and showed seven “sails” along its back.
On 9 June 1998, a submerged object caused an unusual disturbance in the water, seen from the Glenfinnan House Hotel.
The Each-uisge of Loch Arkaig
Loch Arkaig’s monster is said to be an each-uisge, and has a long neck, wide body and four flippers.
The Waterhorse of Loch-na-Beist
Once, something sinister was said to lurk in the depths of the Loch na Beiste or ‘The Loch of the Beast’ next to Mellon Udrigle, in Wester Ross. The Loch was said to be the home of an Each-Uisge or a shape-shifting water horse. Apparently, the locals could no longer tolerate the prospect of becoming the creature’s dinner. They implored the owner of the estate, Mr Banks, to take measures to put an end to the Beast. Alas, initially his tenants’ beseeching fell on deaf ears, until one fateful Sunday when Sandy McLeod, an elder of the Free Church of Scotland, was returning from the service at Aultbea. McLeod was in the company of two other witnesses when they saw the Beast. The creature was said to resemble the upturned keel of a good-sized boat.
Soon after, Kenneth Cameron, an elder of the Free Church, saw the water horse. Who could be more reputable than two elders of the Kirk? It seemed there was nothing else for it. Banks decided to jump into action by pumping out the water from the Loch. With the water now standing at half a meter, the Beast was still at large. Banks sent his boat, the Iris, to Broadford in Skye to procure fourteen barrels of lime.
A Deep Cavity
Banks could not persuade any of his terrified tenants to enter the Loch, so he called on two of the crew from the Iris to do the job on hand. Entering the Loch in a small rowing boat, James and Allan Mackenzie began probing the waters with their oars. At length, they found a hole two and a half fathoms deep. Surely this must be where the Beast had its lair. They poured the lime into the cavity. Strangely, the Beast has not shown itself in the Loch ever since.
The Muc-sheilch of Loch Maree
The Muc-sheilch is said to live in Loch Maree, in Wester Ross, but can travel to other nearby lochs. Its name comes from Gaelic and means Snail-pig. This might seem like a strange name, but not unusual for Gaelic. A whale in Gaelic is called muc-mhara (sea-pig) and the narwhal is muc-mhara-adharacach (horny sea pig).
It should be noted that while doing research for this article, I found many references on the Internet to Loch Maree being the same loch as Loch-na-beist. However, these are two different lochs, some 50 miles apart.
The Monster of Loch Garten
This monster is confined to Loch Garten and the burn that flows into Loch Mallachy, near Boat of Garten in the Cairngorms. This creature is said to be a cross between a horse and a bull. It has a jet‑black mane, dripping as though forever water‑logged and an immense head with glaring eyes.
In one account, a local once resolved to ensnare the monster. Binding rope around a vast boulder, he set a gaff with a lamb and cast it into the loch at dusk. Through the night, unusual sounds were heard: snarls, thunder, lightning, and furious roaring. At dawn, the boulder was gone — swallowed whole by the monster’s power. A deep rut remained, carved in rage from land to water. From that day on, the beast was neither seen nor heard, and some hold it sleeps yet beneath the loch’s surface.
The Monster of Loch Pityoulish
Loch Pityoulish was said to be home to a deadly water horse.
The heir to the Barony of Kincardine was playing with his friends on the shore of the Loch. They looked up and saw a magnificent steed. Not only was it majestic, but it was sporting a silver, jewel-encrusted bridle. The temptation was too much for the children who ran towards the creature, grasping at its bridle. But the enchanted bridle had turned to glue! The children were stuck fast as the beast galloped towards the Loch. The young heir was a smart thinker. He managed to grab his dirk and sever his fingers, freeing himself just in time to escape the terrible drowning. Unfortunately, his friends were not so lucky.
A Multitude of Scottish Loch Monsters
Whilst Nessie might hog the headlines, Scotland’s lochs are home to a surprisingly crowded cast of mysterious residents. From Morag’s mournful appearances in Loch Morar to the Muc-sheilch of Loch Maree, and from the multi-humped beast of Loch Hourn to the tragic water horse of Loch Pityoulish, these stories remind us that nearly every sizeable body of water in the Highlands has its own tale to tell. Whether they’re ancient each-uisge waiting to drag the unwary to a watery grave, or simply misidentified eels and boat wakes, these legends speak to something deeper—our fascination with the unknown and our respect for the wild, untamed places that still exist in modern Scotland. Nessie may be the celebrity, but she’s far from alone in those dark, cold waters.
