In search of Nessie in Scotland

By ALICE THERESA SUN - CUA
10/04/2010 | 01:35 PM

Who has not heard or read about the mysterious creature in Loch Ness, Scotland? Our imaginations had been fired since childhood with stories about this long-necked dragon-like sea serpent supposedly living in the deep waters of this Scottish lake.

Many photos were published about her (the gender seemed to have stuck, somehow!) showing a shadowy silhouette of a small head, and a long neck with an undulating back emerging from the center of the lake. And yet nobody could really say what it was, and how it really looked like.

There have been many tales and testimonies since 1933 (or even as early as the 6th century, in written accounts), of sightings in the lake, and some even “seeing" it cross the street before slithering/lumbering towards the water. Based on its long neck and aquatic preference, scientists pegged it as a plesiosaurus, a pre-historic monster.

Named as one of the mysteries of the world, it figured in many scientific and pseudo-scientific studies, and theories abound as well. Some submersible sonar pictures and hydro-echoes showed a live animal, 20-30 feet long, moving and swishing in the lake. Eel, dragon, fish, magic horse, serpent --- the Loch Ness creature’s very identity had certainly reached mythological proportions. Books and articles about the sea creature filled shelves upon shelves but until now nobody really knew what it was— that is, of course, if it really existed.

Thus, it was with great excitement that my husband Alex and I signed up with the Jacobite Tour for Loch Ness at a shop in downtown Inverness. The shop sold cute little stuffed toys of the “monster" called “Nessie," an endearing name for the creature, and many a child came away from that shop clutching yellow, pink and green beribboned smiling Nessies in their hands.

The trip started early in the morning, and our bus driver/tour commentator was Simon, a local Scot who was born and who grew up beside the Loch Ness. Did he himself witness this creature arising from the sea? Well, yes, he answered. Sometimes at night when he had one drink too many, he said, he could certainly conjure up Nessie! It was about an 8 hour drive to the quay where we were to board a motorboat that will bring us to the center of the lake. Remember folks, Simon reminded us, be on the lookout for her, and don’t forget your cameras!

After about 30 minutes I noticed that the water had become dark, almost black, and Alex said it was because of its depth — the deepest part was around 800 meters. Would we see even part of the creature? Would that day be a special one perhaps, when Nessie would decide to show herself? Would it be like some disaster movie, where a boatful of unwary travelers would be suddenly but silently stalked by a giant sea serpent, its front flippers the size of their puny boat? Everyone was on their toes, scanning the water, the horizon. A little commotion in the water brought little screams of excitement, and laughter. The boat was swift and, in its wake, spumes of water sprayed all over us — a hat brought to cover the face from the sun became a shield in the intermittent showers from the lake.

On and on the boat roared until suddenly from the distance we saw the ruins of a castle nestling at the foot of a hill. This was the Urquhart Castle, a popular place for Nessie sightings as its great tower had a very good vantage point, facing the lake. When we drew near I realized that the castle was made of stones laid on top of each other, and that the remains of the fortress stretched out as far as the eyes could see.

Upon disembarking, we had the grassy knoll to walk around with many loose stones from the castle ramparts lying about, and a fresh wind coming in from the lake. Many intrepid souls clambered up the ruins of the tower fortified by steel bars. From a higher area I traced the curving line of the remains of the fort, the quiet making one pensive, thinking about the people who might have lived here during medieval times. There were many vantage points to look at the lake, and as I stood there by the decaying ramparts of the castle, a cool wind came up to whip against my cheek. I looked out into the loch, and noted its colors changed from time to time, dark greenish blue near the quay, and almost black at the center. From where I was, the water appeared calm, except when the wind blew, riffling the surface. Alas, nothing that resembled a sea creature arose to frighten us.

And where was Alex? I found him in one part of the castle grounds examining something that looked very strange indeed —a tall triangular wooden structure about five stories high, with long arms, round wheels with intricate carvings, and a row of huge stone balls at its foot. An upright detailed description at the side said this was a Trebuchet, considered as an important siege engine during the middle ages, “equivalent to the big guns today".

Using counterweights (think catapult), it could fling missiles (the large stone balls) to a distance at high speed to destroy enemy fortifications. This modern replica —based on the work of Villand de Honnecourt, a 13th century French architect —had a counterweight of “6 tonnes" and the throwing arm was 12.5 meters long; it could hurl a stone ball weighing about 11 kg a distance of 140 meters with good accuracy. Trebuchets went “out of style" after gunpowder was discovered (and traveled to the West). Nowadays, these medieval siege engines were constructed for historical re-enactments or, for their architectural challenge.

There was a Visitor’s Centre built into the hollow of an outcropping rock, and there we learned that the Urquhart Castle was built during the 13th century, and had changed hands so many times when Scottish clans fought and died for it. The castle now belonged to the National Trust of Scotland. We were invited to watch a documentary about the castle and it included clan wars, mainly by the McDonald’s clan to claim the castle. Drawn-out battles, bloodshed, scorching, looting, until finally the castle was left alone, and it fell into ruins. Sometimes people took away the loose stones, too, for their own use. We filed out of the audio-visual room into the bright afternoon sun, replete with Scottish lore, and realized that even if we didn’t really see Nessie herself, she had practically been with us throughout the day. - GMANews.TV

With photos at: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/202562/in-search-of-nessie-in-scotland