Seasons Greetings

 Merry Christmas to all. I hope you all find some joy in the holidays. I hope for lots of new cryptid sightings in 2024 and a better year for us all.xx

Christmas Monsters

 Christmas is also for Monsters!

 Not all Christmas creatures are benign like Santa Claus. Krampus looks like a demonic goat who walks on its hind legs like a human. He punishes naughty children, beating them with birch branches and carries a basket on his back so he can carry off a child to eat later.The 5th of December is Krampusnacht ,men in homemade Krampus costumes run around Alpine villages causing havoc. These 'Krampus Runs' continue today. The Karakoncolos looks like a cross between the Devil and a Sasquatch. In Turkey, the legend says he would stand at street corners on winter nights setting riddles for passers-by. If the traveller gave an answer that included the word ‘black’ they were free to go on their way. If not, he would strike them dead .Sometimes the Karakoncolos would just put them in a trance and leave them to roam free. In Serbia, the story says the Karakoncolos jumps on the victim’s back and uses them as a ride. The exhausted person was only released at dawn. Jólakötturinn is the Icelandic Yule Cat or Christmas Cat. Jólakötturinn, who first appeared in the 19th century, a huge, ferocious beast with razor-like whiskers, blazing eyes and terrible claws who consumed any child who did not receive new clothes on Christmas Day.It is tied into an Icelandic tradition in which those who finish their work on time received new clothes for Christmas, while those who were lazy did not . Jólakötturinn could tell who the lazy children were because they did not have at least one new item of clothing for Christmas and these children would be eaten by the Yule Cat. Then there is the macabre skeleton mare of Welsh tradition,Mary Lwyd, which rises from the dead and wanders the streets with her undead attendants, to remind the living of their existence. Mary Lwyd wants to to get into your house. To keep the zombie horse out, you must engage in a battle of rhymes . Usually singing the rhymes to which the zombie horse replies.On New Year’s Eve, the undead mare is represented by a puppeteer parading a horse skull on a pole draped in white cloth around the towns and villages. Next there is a creature from Scandinavian folklore who looks like a gnome and lives among the dead inside burial mounds called the Tomten.He can act as a caretaker of the household, that is if you keep on his good side. The Tomten has quite the temper and is known for biting people who upset him. The bites are poisonous and deadly. People leave a gift of food out on Christmas Eve for the Tomten. One of Iceland’s creatures associated with Christmas is Gryla a giant troll who is bad tempered with an insatiable hunger for children. Each Christmas, Gryla comes down from her mountain dwelling to hunt for naughty children. She catches them in a sack and takes them back to her cave where she boils them alive for her favourite stew.

Could plans for Loch Linnhe be the end of monster sightings?

 

End for Loch Linnhe Monster?

Loch Linnhe is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. It is about 50 kilometres (31 miles ) long and about 2km (1 and 1/5 miles) wide  It opens into the Firth of Lorne at its south-western end and  the town of Fort William lies at the northeast end of the loch, at the mouth of the River Lochy.There have been several reports of a creature in the Loch over the years. Plans for the loch could put an end to food stocks for any marine life .

West coast locals horrified at inevitable damage to Loch Linnhe

Alarmed locals are calling for government action to halt plans to create Scotland’s largest fish farm in a loch known for its dolphins, otters, seals and sea eagles.

Local divers, fishermen, wild swimmers and even a rock band have voiced opinions and are outraged by Loch Long Salmon’s [LLS] proposals to bring “semi-closed” fish pens to the renowned shores of Loch Linnhe – using technology never tested before in the UK.

The eight proposed pens would hold millions of fish – with a total live weight equivalent to 11,000 cows – and unlike conventional fish farms would need a large shoreside installation running 24 hours a day in support.

James Standley, a retired professional diver with 25 years of experience, lives on the boundary of the proposed site, and has raised concerns about the project’s impact on the loch’s wildlife and surrounding community.

Local angler David Gunn, who has fished these waters for 61 years, fears the proposed fish farm will all but end the wild Atlantic Salmon population in the area.

Source:

https://thehighlandtimes.com/community-bands-together-to-stop-mega-fish-farm-plans/

 

The first documented sighting appears to be in the 1940’s.A witness said that she had seen a creature with a long neck swimming in the loch. It was dark brown, had small black eyes, and stubby rounded horns.In June 1954, a Mr. Eric Robinson said he observed three humps which he estimated were moving at 30 mph and the water was churning behind the creature. He only saw it for a few minutes.In June 1964, 10 years later a Mrs. Preston saw the head and neck of a creature in the Loch.Then in July  1967, John Rankin Muir, William S. Muir, and others said they saw a snake like head and neck with two or three humps. They watched for approximately 10 minutes.

There are ample fish stocks in the Loch .The southern end around Lismore is  known for  big pollack, giant skate, wrasse and conger eels and during the summer months people expect to see shoals of mackerel, porpoises, dolphins and even occasionally a Minke whale. The Loch Linnhe Artificial Reef was completed in 2006,to study tides I presume but as far as I am aware its construction did not prompt an appearance of the monster.The Loch is open to the sea and as it attracts dolphins etc , it could have been a shoal of these that people have seen or some other large marine creature passing through. As Fort William is a popular tourist area it would be expected that photos would appear of the creature or more sightings would be reported.

This is the last reported sighting :
Unknown said...3 August 2019 at 08:14

Dos familias españolas (4 adultos y 4 niños) hemos visitado Escocia durante 9 días. En el camino entre Glencoe y Fort William paramos en un área de descanso para admirar las vistas del fiordo Linnhe. 4 niños y 2 adultos vimos avanzar por el fiordo, en dirección a Fort William, la cabeza por fuera del agua de un animal que avanzaba rápido. Poco tiempo después se sumergió mediante un movimiento circular dejando ver lo que pareció un largo cuello.

translation:Two Spanish families (4 adults and 4 children) have visited Scotland for 9 days. On the road between Glencoe and Fort William we stop at a rest area to admire the views of the Linnhe Fjord. 4 children and 2 adults saw the fjord move towards Fort William, head out of the water of an animal that was moving fast. A short time later he submerged himself in a circular motion, revealing what looked like a long neck.

 

Lets hope the local protest is successful for the sake of all the local wildlife not just the alleged monster.