What are Scotland’s Mythical Horse Head Sculptures?

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What are Scotland’s mythical horse head sculptures?

The Kelpies, the largest equine sculptures in the world, are Scotland’s mythical horse head sculptures.  Unveiled in April 2014, these 30-metre high horse-head sculptures are situated in Helix Park Falkirk in Scotland. The Kelpies are a monument to Scotland’s horse-powered industrial heritage.

What are ‘kelpies’?

Kelpies are shape-changing aquatic spirits with a number of Scottish legends. The name was probably derived from the Scottish Gaelic words ‘cailpeach’ or ‘colpach’, meaning heifer or colt. 

According to legend Kelpies are malevolent spirits said to haunt rivers and streams, usually in the shape of a horse. It has the intent to harm, so beware. A kelpie might be disguised as a cute tame pony on a river bed,particularly attractive to children. Once the child is on the back of the Kelpie, the sticky magical hide will not allow them to dismount. The Kelpie will then, almost like an african crocodile, drag its prey into the river and eat the poor child.

Kelpies also has magical powers to sweep an unsuspecting traveler into a watery grave by creating a flash flood. A Kelpie’s tail entering the water sounds like thunder and if you hear wailing or howling when passing a river or expanse of water be careful, a storm might be coming.

Kelpies do however have a weak spot at its bridle. If you can get hold of a kelpie’s bridle will have command over it and.a captive kelpie is said to have the strength of at least 10 horses with the stamina of many more. A captive Kelpie is thus highly prized and there is a rumour that the MacGregor clan managed to capture a kelpie’s bridle and then  passed down through the generations, making the clan powerful. It is said to have come from a MacGregorr who took it from a kelpie near Loch Slochd.

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The Kelpie and the ten children.

A famous Scottish folk tale tells the story of the kelpie and the ten children.  The Kelpie managed to lure nine children onto its back and then kept on chasing the tenth child. It finally catches up with the child who strokes the “friendly” pony” on its nose and his finger gets stuck. Fortunately for the child he manages to cut off his own finger and escapes, however the other nine children are dragged into a watery grave.

In Scotland there is another water horse, the ‘Each-uisge’, this one lives in lochs and is reputed to be even more vicious than the kelpie.

So beware when strolling by a river, a stream or a loch taking in the beauty of it all, you never know that you might be watched from the water by a malevolent kelpie.

And you thought the Loch Ness monster was scary.

Ready to start planning that trip to Scotland? Start here!

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