tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post6046940406744049553..comments2024-03-20T18:13:07.791-07:00Comments on LOCH NESS MONSTER: The Dornoch Dragon and NessieGlasgow Boyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-61725673596184257472014-01-30T12:49:11.355-08:002014-01-30T12:49:11.355-08:00Ah, "Catastrophe" by David Keys - that w...Ah, "Catastrophe" by David Keys - that was the book.<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-19906240319034755312014-01-30T12:25:59.735-08:002014-01-30T12:25:59.735-08:00There seems to have been a major eruption in Indon...There seems to have been a major eruption in Indonesia at this time, but who's to say that cometary activity didn't trigger that?<br /><br />Dendrochronologist Mike Baillie quotes from 6th century British writer and cleric Gildas, who talks of "...a fire of righteous vengeance [which] blazed from sea to sea" and "burnt up almost the whole surface of the island, until its red and savage tongue licked the western ocean". (Maybe an exaggeration, but...) Then he goes on to have fun with the Arthurian dragon-related stuff.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-45052617258813945772014-01-30T04:52:46.757-08:002014-01-30T04:52:46.757-08:00Sorry, I sold my last spare copies at the Nessie S...Sorry, I sold my last spare copies at the Nessie Symposium!<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-28647934240150937322014-01-30T04:46:00.160-08:002014-01-30T04:46:00.160-08:00Ah, yes. Good question, Martin. i thought about it...Ah, yes. Good question, Martin. i thought about it and then thought no. I must be a paper book person!<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-20625594105531195982014-01-30T04:15:36.685-08:002014-01-30T04:15:36.685-08:00I've been wanting to ask for a while - are the...I've been wanting to ask for a while - are there any plans to make your book available as an e-book for kindle?Martinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-1855486867946842742014-01-29T15:32:12.343-08:002014-01-29T15:32:12.343-08:00Ok I'll buy it. I'm a scientific person, ...Ok I'll buy it. I'm a scientific person, so I open my mind to all sources of information. I'm still 99.99% certain there's no Nessie though. Do you offer any discount to sceptics buying your book? :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-34640384975791504322014-01-29T15:26:15.903-08:002014-01-29T15:26:15.903-08:00If you wish to take this subject seriously, read m...If you wish to take this subject seriously, read my book.<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-58087267617939073222014-01-29T15:23:44.396-08:002014-01-29T15:23:44.396-08:00There are tales of kelpies all over Scotland, you ...There are tales of kelpies all over Scotland, you should know that, Rowlie!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-42218738308696074682014-01-29T15:16:07.149-08:002014-01-29T15:16:07.149-08:00Hundreds? Something tells me you have not done you...Hundreds? Something tells me you have not done your due diligence on this subject.<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-13362920148376035132014-01-29T15:13:47.105-08:002014-01-29T15:13:47.105-08:00Yes, but unfortunately in hundreds of lochs, not j...Yes, but unfortunately in hundreds of lochs, not just L Ness. Kind of spoils it a bit don't you think? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-32689391747112006062014-01-29T14:57:03.011-08:002014-01-29T14:57:03.011-08:00Some (not all) are consistent with modern stories....Some (not all) are consistent with modern stories. They don't support the biological concept, just the "big, unknown thing" concept.<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-19415099183857105292014-01-29T14:44:27.282-08:002014-01-29T14:44:27.282-08:00Just so I'm clear - are you guys suggesting th...Just so I'm clear - are you guys suggesting that all the ancient Scottish folklore tales about kelpies and dragons all over the place actually support the concept of a biological flesh and blood unknown animal in Loch Ness?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-24767778123626816162014-01-29T14:42:06.910-08:002014-01-29T14:42:06.910-08:00*AnonStg*, Holiday's book "The Great Orm ...*AnonStg*, Holiday's book "The Great Orm of Loch Ness" predates his supernatural writings -- he's still all science and historical research at that point. Probably heavier on the historical parts than any book until GB's, so it'll be an enjoyable read. The main premise is an exploration of the invertebrate hypothesis he favored up until that time, but the digressions especially into historical reports and written records of alleged dragons and dragon slayings is really fun stuff.Steve Plambeckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09651489411808346005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-84466148976712982392014-01-29T12:09:28.880-08:002014-01-29T12:09:28.880-08:00Was there not some super-volcano event around the ...Was there not some super-volcano event around the Dark Ages times?<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-72764256846906571772014-01-29T11:29:22.743-08:002014-01-29T11:29:22.743-08:00It's true that this is some time before the &q...It's true that this is some time before the "witch craze", so perhaps that's an argument for the scapegoat having four feet rather than two.<br />Looking again at the text:<br />"this dragon who burnt all the fir-woods in Ross, Sutherland, and the Reay, of which the remains, charred, black and half decayed, may now be found in every moss. Magnificent forests they must have been, but the dragon set fire to them with his fiery breath, as he rolled over the whole land. Men fled from before his face, and women fainted when his shadow crossed the sky-line. He made the whole land a desert. And it came to pass, that this evil spirit, whom the people called "the Beast," and Dhu guisch (of the black firs), came nigh to Dornoch, as near as to Lochfinn…"<br />it seems to suggest a wider disaster, which may have come from the sky. Some people think that something of this sort may have happened across significant parts of Britain around 540 AD/CE. Maybe the tradition is combining this with a more modest later event? And if there were any earthly "dragons" living in more extensive lochs and bogs further west then one or two of them could have headed towards Dornoch when their environment was disrupted.<br />I haven't read Holiday, partly because I'm not inclined to reach for supernatural explanations for Nessie and her kind, but I think that it could be interesting to see how his researches relate to the 44 years of scientific / historical ideas proposed since he wrote.<br /><br />*AnonStg*Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-1162780272800980842014-01-29T03:51:52.389-08:002014-01-29T03:51:52.389-08:00Nicely put, Steve. Yes, the salamander reference m...Nicely put, Steve. Yes, the salamander reference may be more down to effect than morphology. But then again, this was the interpretation of the 1888 journal. One wonders what the original story teller thought?<br /><br />An english translation of Loch-An-Treel would also be desirable.<br /><br />An excavation would be very interesting!<br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-62529478856126981952014-01-28T21:49:46.108-08:002014-01-28T21:49:46.108-08:00Ahhh! Very exciting to at last have proof Rose wa...Ahhh! Very exciting to at last have proof Rose wasn't just making up stories, at least in this letter's case. I had a good feeling there were genuine sources behind his reports, and now even more so. Great detective work once again GB!<br /><br />While I'm excited for accounts that seem to align with my own premise on the nature of "Nessie", I think in this Dornoch case the use of the term "salamander" is coincidental, triggered because fire was involved.<br /><br />Let's look at the chronology in the tale itself. This "terrible dragon" was known to have "infested" the lochs to the west. So real or legendary, it wasn't a new neighbor, stories had grown up around it, and it was associated with at least one loch -- possibly Loch-an-Treel that being near. (Reminds one of Ted Holiday's observation that all European dragons were associated with rivers and lakes.)<br /><br />Then the Wood burns down, possibly preceded by fires seen in the sky as per the comet fragments idea contributed by *AnonStg*.<br /><br />Who do the locals blame? Why the Nessie-like beastie they've already seen and talked about for some time, of course! Gilbert goes out, finds one of the miserable animals perhaps cut-off from it's home in Loch-an-Treel by the fire (it picked the wrong day to come ashore for a crawl in the adjacent Wood), and Gilbert then proceeds to dispatch the disorientated animal rather easily. Or simply finds it dead and takes credit. Of course as the story is retold in later years, centuries actually, it converges with the tale of Sigurd slaying Fafnir, adopting all the forensic details of the killing of the more famous Norse dragon. Giving us Gilbert = Sigurd.<br /><br />Only what poor beast stood in for Fafnir??? It's probably way too late being seven centuries old, but someone should still get that permit and have a look under the "Stone of the Beast"! Probably wouldn't be anything left of a giant aquatic salamander though -- their skeletons are like cartilage, and don't preserve at all well.Steve Plambeckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09651489411808346005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-29364798764247030972014-01-28T12:13:06.719-08:002014-01-28T12:13:06.719-08:00Apology accepted, just don't scare off any mor...Apology accepted, just don't scare off any more readers! :)<br /><br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-78856874255437759122014-01-28T11:32:04.048-08:002014-01-28T11:32:04.048-08:00GB,any news about these photographs?
https://www.f...GB,any news about these photographs?<br />https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=631839443517857&id=537100722991730Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-57377294981118564432014-01-28T11:23:51.941-08:002014-01-28T11:23:51.941-08:00As it happens I've been looking at some local ...As it happens I've been looking at some local history books on the Dornoch area fairly recently. Now, while there's a tradition about dragons scorching local woods there's also a story about witches scorching them at this time. I've also been getting into stuff about comets' effect on Earth, so with acknowledgements to Messrs Klube, Napier, Baillie et al I'd like to suggest that dragons = comets = witches (flying through the sky on broomsticks). Now all we need is to find the "scorchio" stone that fell to Earth in the Camore Woods. (The hapless crone who took the blame for the event was probably found hundreds of years ago.)<br /><br />*AnonStg*Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-6497002615683653012014-01-28T01:20:05.284-08:002014-01-28T01:20:05.284-08:00The story is real enough (in terms of being in the...The story is real enough (in terms of being in the ancient literature) but the location was not Loch Ness. Might have been Gairloch, not sure.<br /><br />Glasgow Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03597014995112568086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-47623115586022815652014-01-28T01:19:11.492-08:002014-01-28T01:19:11.492-08:00I feel I should apologize. Borky hasn't posted...I feel I should apologize. Borky hasn't posted here since I confessed to having a burning crush on him; I think I scared him off. I'm the Lwaxana Troi of the Interwebs; my love and adoration can be a bit... much.<br /><br />Yours in Nessiana,<br /><br />StormStormnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-358999656752738469.post-76586271617238406102014-01-27T17:53:33.678-08:002014-01-27T17:53:33.678-08:00interesting stuff. what are your thoughts on the D...interesting stuff. what are your thoughts on the Duncan Campbell account from 1527 of a"terrible beast-issuing out of the water early one morning about mid summer..." Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com