“When I was a boy, I remember hearing about the first sighting of the Loch Ness monster. I was about ten and my parents made a big deal about it, because they had been to the town of Inverness and had seen the Glen area and Loch Ness where the monster supposedly was seen. The Loch is like a freshwater lake, and there is a lot of activity surrounding it. The monster soon was in the news and was described like a swimming dinosaur with a very small head and webbed feet. There were even a few pictures taken of her. We called the monster Nessie, and over the years, she became very real for our family. There have continued to be sightings of her throughout the years. I remember one where she was actually walking on land, but I think the majority of them have been of her swimming in the lake. I used to tell your Mom stories about the monster. It was very friendly. Kind of like a good serpent who was there to protect and help others. Whenever we would go camping at Frog Lake on Mount Hood, she would think that the monster was there too. I used to tell here, “Jenny don’t swim too far out or the monster will get you.” That kept her close to shore. I like to believe that she is like a mythical character. Part magic and part real.  I know that the legend will endure forever. She reminds me of Bigfoot, because there has been so much written about her and everyone in Scotland, and from Scottish decent, knows the stories.  The Loch Ness monster is one of the most famous stories in Scotland, and one of my favorite memories of boyhood.”

My Grandfather told me that the first time that he heard about the Loch Ness monster was from his Grandfather. His Grandfather was the superintendent of the dock and would always hear stories from fishermen claiming that they had seen the monster while out on the water. This greatly stimulated his belief in the monster. The belief about the Loch Ness Monster can also be seen in the book Scotland: A Tourists’ Guide. Even though my grandpa now lives in the United States, he continued to tell his children about the Loch Ness monster. He used the story almost as a scare tactic to prevent my mother and her siblings from going out too far into any body of water, warning them that the monster could be lurking under the waves.

In recent years, the claims of Loch Ness monster sightings have increased tremendously. People now are coming forward with pictures and video images of the monster as proof. Many of them have been disregarded as fake. Nonetheless, people ambitiously travel to Loch Ness in hopes of being the one to capture footage of the beast. I found it interesting that in my Grandfather’s version of the tale, Nessie is seen as friendly, kind of protecting those in the water and around the area. It seems that in modern times, the media has spun this image and now Nessie is perceived to be a menacing monster. This is especially evident in the most publications about Nessie in the United States.

Annotation: Colourmaster Series. Scotland: A Tourists’ Guide. Printed and published in Great Brittain by Photo Precision Limited, St. Albans.