Kelpie
A Kelpie, also known as a water kelpie, is a creature in Irish and Scottish folklore.
Etymology[edit]
The etymology of the Scots word kelpie is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Gaelic calpa, colpach or cailpeach, meaning "heifer" or "colt". The first recorded use of the term to describe a mythological creature, then spelled kaelpie, appears in the manuscript of an ode by William Collins, composed some time before 1759 and reproduced in the ransactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh of 1788.
History and description[edit]
The origins of the kelpie are believed to be rooted in human sacrifices to the water gods however this concept eventually died out and the story of the kelpie was then used to keep children from playing too near to lochs and dangerous rivers. It also encouraged women to be wary of good looking strangers. It is usually described as a horse-like creature, that is able to adopt a human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem "Address to the Devil".
See also[edit]
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