When Rupert T. Gould wrote his book on the Loch Ness Monster in 1934, he came across quite a few people who said they had seen it decades before all the fuss that was then swirling around the loch. Further anecdotes from the first half of the 20th century had people also recalling what their older relations or associates told them about the creature in the loch going back longer.
I come across these little stories now and again and this one above was the latest I found which is from the Sunday Express for 9th February 1959. This one goes back to about 1820 when King George IV was monarch of Britain and Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo only five years before. They are short on detail not surprisingly but they all coalesce towards a common point and an older phenomenon than what some would have you believe.
The format is familiar concerning a dangerous beast residing in the loch which was capable of coming ashore and taking out one or two unwary kids. Other tales add a supernatural element concerning water horses masquerading as saddled horses ready to capture weary travellers. Such tales are said to have their origins in child safety around bodies of water and certainly there is an element of that in the evolution of such tales. However, since the legend of the saddled shape-shifter was more applicable to adults (how does a five year kid mount a horse?), it had a wider scope symbolizing the fear many had of something which did not stay well out of their way in the deeps, but would worryingly enter the domain of humans on land.
The author of this letter, Angus Maitland, sent a similar letter to the same newspaper sixteen years later as monster fever rose weeks before the Rines underwater photographs. It is shown below, but only adds minor details and is consistent with his previous letter, though it adds more detail to his mother's age.
Actually, 1820 is about as far back as these types of letters go, which is not surprising if we are assuming someone who was already old by the 1930s recalling the oral traditions of their grandparents. After this, there are a couple of tales from the 1700s, one from the 1600s before a huge leap of 1000 years back to St. Columba! I wonder what the monster was up to for an entire millennium?
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