Over on Steve Feltham's facebook page he alerts us to an item from BBC Radio Scotland's "Out of Doors". The person interviewed is Iona Moir who was one of a carload of people who witnessed the monster in its multi-humped and long necked aspect back in October 1936. This was a repeat of an interview with Iona from 2017 when she would have been about 90 years old and must have been about 10 years old when this event happened.
This is a story well known to Loch Ness Monster enthusiasts as the Marjory Moir sighting and the sketch above is taken from Tim Dinsdale's 1961 book "Loch Ness Monster". Iona was Marjory's daughter and the youngest in the number of five eyewitnesses. Her mother can be seen in the picture below being interviewed for the BBC's 1958 documentary, "Legend of the Loch".
Back in 2014, a granddaughter of Marjory had contacted me with the transcript of a tape conversation her grandmother had made back in the 1980s before she died. You can follow that aspect of this sighting here. I also covered this classic sighting in general back in this 2011 article. You can listen to the interview with Iona here for the next 26 days and it starts about 18 minutes in.
For those who cannot access the BBC podcast, I have recorded the segment to this link.
For those who cannot access the BBC podcast, I have recorded the segment to this link.
I recorded this audio interview with my mobile phone, so anyone that cannot link to the BBC interview, let me know. The one point I would make from this interview is Iona's speculation whether that monster was the only monster and once it died, that was it. The teams of investigators who turned up in the 1960s and 1970s were too late in her opinion.
I note Harry Finlay made a similar remark when we talked about his 1952 encounter. I can assure them that what they saw were likely different creatures and there were and are more tales to tell of the Monsters of Loch Ness.
POSTSCRIPT: I am sure there was a video on YouTube somewhere of Iona Moir being interviewed. If anyone can track that down, let me know.
The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com
A very compelling recounting of what she saw. No nonsense, not sensational in any way - just her memory of what 5 people saw. Clearly an animal, with a powerful means of propulsion under the water. No noise (engine) and a flexible neck. How such a thing could be hoaxed in the 1930's can't even be entertained. It would have traveled 2/3 of a mile towards the castle and back again, at speed, completely silently, with a back that could change it's shape and a long sinuous neck that repeatedly, sinuously dipped into the water as they watched. This is so great to have documented in the voice of the actual witness. This site is really, really valuable. Kudo's, Roland
ReplyDeleteThanks, MD.
DeleteSounds very much like your 'gas filled' Nessie, GB. I wonder if they noticed any signs of 'venting ' between the 'swimming away with three humps' and 'swimming towards them with no humps', if you get my meaning. Great work, anyway GB!
DeleteI have added a link to the recording I made of this interview especially since it will be lost to researchers in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteHopefully these voices from the past will help point us towards a future where we can learn more about these animals....my name is Lyle by the way,I've been following your blog daily ever since I found it,keep up the great work GB! We all appreciate it...
ReplyDeletePerhaps laying in a bed of silt at the bottom of the Loch or maybe resting within a cave or cavity of rock is a Nessie carcass. Possibly more than one. It would be possible a Nessie may be partially submerged and settled within the silt. Bob Rines attempted the search as we know but he could have missed the target. Even the best sonar may not distinguish a partial Nessie body, skeleton or preserved by the low water temperature. If a body was buried in the Loch bed it may be resting there right now. The evidence could be there.
ReplyDeleteDeepscan caught some mid-water traces and Rines searches detected objects in the Loch they could not identify up until the mid 1990's. But has there been many sonar hits since? Marcus Atkinson is the only decent sonar image I can think of. To myself it is looking more likely that these animals have died and lay somewhere on the Loch bottom.
The sightings from the earlier era seem far more interesting than that of todays distant dark blotches.
If I could afford to search the Loch bottom with enhanced sonar technology that is where I would look. Sonar that could penetrate through the silt ten feet or more and detect differences between rock, wood, clay, and bones. There would be all sorts of random items like odd fishing rods, junk, bottles, golf balls, whatever fell over the sides of boats over the decades so the sonar instruments and technology would have to be capable of separating such things. First and foremost said enhanced sonar would have to be fine tuned for details, no flaws. Such a search would take months at least.
Whatever animals called the Loch home from the 30's to the 70's seem to have died off. Scattered reports and stories before that time and after sure but where are they now???
I too am sometimes disillusioned with the seemingly dearth of more modern sightings. Similar to the classic multi person encounter described above. Can I ask your opinion about the Jon Rowe photo taken in 2011?
DeleteRoland covered it extensively on this blog.
To my mind it's as near to final proof that we're all looking for. It's a large creature, tantalisingly just inches beneath the surface.
This one has the professional sceptics rattled and they don't like talking about it . The clearly visible "tubes" or excretion orifices put them in a right tizzy. They actually said it must be two birds diving in unison.....an abomination which should be called out by any right thinking person - believer or not.
Once again a photograph that appears more like peculiar water shadow than that of an animal or underwater creature. It's intriguing whatever the bumps are and dark forms in the foreground but inconclusive.
DeleteApparently there is something large under the water but I see dark water and not much else. For something so close one could belly flop on top of it from the short distance away it just looks very vague.
As dark as the Loch water is to me it seems a large animal would be more visible from this short distance.
Why one photograph? At least take multiple shots to capture a moving form - the rainbow in the background would demonstrate same exact place and time.
Several additional photographs would have supported the large underwater form theory even if it only revealed relocation of a dark shape below the surface.
I'm positive it's already been done in the past, but would the best chance of a sighting not be to get a dedicated team together and place one member of the team along the Lochs edge on both sides at a reasonable distance between each one. Shift patterns would have to operate to make it feasible and perhaps carry it out for a full week. I'm available for said venture if it ever got off the ground Tim Campbell (one of the lucky ones to have had a sighting)
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