Hello and welcome to the fourth part of our five part series on Scary Stories. Last week, we spoke about the merrow and their history in Irish Mythology. This week we will be talking about the water horse and the stories that surround it.
A water horse is a mythical creature, and it is known to have many different names. The term ‘water horse’ was the original name for the Kelpie. The Kelpie was known to be the Each Uisce in Irish, which is what the water horse, or the horse-eel was known as in the old language. The Each Uisce was thought to have short, stumpy legs, a head like a horse and a long tail. They were said to eat the crops of farmers, and sometimes even their animals.
The Water Horse and the Kelpie can often be confused with each other, as they are the most similar creatures. Some consider the two terms to be synonymous, while others see the Water Horse as the creature of lochs and lakes, and the Kelpie as the creature of rivers and waterfalls.
The Water Horse may sometimes appear as a pony on the river. It is particularly attracted to children, but they should beware, since these are malevolent spirits. Once a child is on its back, its sticky magical hide won’t allow them to get off.
It can be said that the story of the Water Horse was used as a way to warn children to stay clear of horses they didn’t recognise, as they could’ve been hurt. Much like spirits associated with bodies of water, these tales were spread further to keep children from playing beside water.
Other tales talk of how the Water Horse would wait in the rivers, waiting for someone to come along and believe it was a real horse, and realising their mistake too late, they would be swept onto the water horse’s back and carried away into the depths of the river.
There are many sorts of tales surrounding these water horses, and instead of fading with time, more and more seem to pop up. There is one tale where it is said that not long ago, a young boy was bathing near Lough Brin in Kerry, when suddenly he ran into his house with his back bleeding, crying and claiming to have been hit by a ‘worm’ that looked like half horse, half fish. If you were to ask them, many of the locals would tell you their own tales about it too.
Written in the Book of Lismore, it is said that the mightiest river in Ireland, the Shannon, has its own horse-like beast, Cata. The book talks about St. Senan, fighting and winning victory over the beast at Inis Cathaigh. Cata was said to be a huge serpent, with a horse’s mane, shining eyes, huge feet, and a whale’s tale.
These water horses can also sometimes appear in human form. They may sometimes appear as a beautiful woman, hoping to lure men to their death. Or they may take the shape of a hairy human lurking by the river, ready to jump out at unwary travellers and crush them to death, leaving only their organs behind.
There were many Water Horse sightings reported in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In 1846, the Captain of the Danish Navy reported seeing ‘an enormous, long necked beast’ somewhere between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The creature was said to have a horse-like head, and it moved gracefully like a swan. In 1883, two horse-headed creatures were said to be seen off the coast of Panama. The creature was a brown colour, with four legs and a tail that ‘divided into two parts’, referring to the whale-like tail appearance on the creatures.
The Water Horse is often thought of as a type of fairy as well as a spirit of the dead, most likely of the people that they have drowned. They were greatly feared by people who believed in them, and even to this day, people are afraid of unfamiliar ponies in the wild. So the next time you’re walking along a river, lake, or waterfall, be careful; there’s a chance you’re being watched from the water by a dangerous Water Horse.
These are our stories on the Water Horse. Join us next week for our final episode.
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