The Kelpie: Scotland's Shapeshifting Water Horse, Lure of the Unwary and Spirit of the Drowning Flood
The Kelpie — Herbert James Draper, 1913. The water horse in its most seductive aspect, appearing as a beautiful young woman emerging from the river: the lure made flesh, the danger dressed in invitation, the moment before the glamour breaks and the thing beneath is revealed. By the riverbank, grazing in the mist at the edge of the water, there is a horse. It is more beautiful than any ordinary horse — larger, sleeker, its coat glistening with a dampness that might be river water or might be something else, its mane hanging heavy and wet. It stands perfectly still as you approach. It does not shy or bolt when you reach for its back. And when you are seated on it — when you feel the extraordinary strength of the creature beneath you — the mane closes around your hands like something alive and will not release you, and the horse turns toward the deep water and walks in, and does not stop. This is the Kelpie — the each uisge in Scottish Gaelic, meaning "water horse" — one...