A weary traveler comes across a lone horse
by the shore. The animal seems calm, tame even, slowly approaching
the tired wanderer. By the look of his shoes, the creature is
a blessing for the man, he has a long road ahead of him, and this might be the only way
he’d make it. The steed does not mind his touch, patiently
waiting for him to climb on its back. But just as he takes a riding position the
horse suddenly bolts off. The startled traveler attempts to bring the
animal to a halt, or at least steer it, but to no avail. The pair gallop towards the sea at an alarming
speed. Realizing he has no choice, the wanderer makes
an effort to jump off the steed. His struggle has no effect, all his limbs
are stuck to the horse, a devilishly strong force keeping him mounted. He screams in terror as they plunge into the
salty water, diving into murky depths. The darkness beneath the waves clouds his
sight, but he is finally freed from the clutches of the evil creature. The terrified man manages to remain conscious,
and strives to stroke himself towards the surface. Something tugs at his leg from underneath,
releasing a red cloud. He looks down at the source, only to find a
flurry of teeth and then blackness. Yet another victim of a ravenous water spirit. Hi! I’m a crowing cockatrice, here with a brand-new
folklore creature to dissect. Or rather several, as dangerous water horses
are more widespread than you might think. The primary focus of this video will be the
Kelpie and the… now bear with me… I’m told by one of my books to pronounce
this as Ech Ooshskya. I’m not going to struggle with this throughout
the video though, I’ll just abbreviate the name as EU… like that abbreviation isn’t
taken. Anyway, there are a set of key differences
between the kelpie and the EU, but are otherwise so similar, that I decided to combine them. First, let’s discuss the one that is probably
more widely known, the kelpie, a water spirit of Celtic and Scottish tradition. It appears as a beautiful, sleek pony, either
grayish black or stark white, with a constantly wet mane. It usually wears a bridle, or even a saddle,
tempting people to mount it. Be foolish enough to do so, and it will dive
into the nearest body of water and slap its surface with its tail, imitating the sound
of thunder. It will dive deeper and deeper, drowning the
rider stuck to its back by magical powers. Some sources claim that it is content with
only drowning its victim, but others state it also tears the body apart. In such cases, the kelpie refuses to eat the
entrails, and throws them on the shore. It can often be found near freshwater rivers
and streams, usually inhabiting running water, but presumably due to the confusion between
it and the EU, some say it can be spotted beside lakes. One can discover whether a kelpie lives nearby
by its wailing and howling, signaling a coming storm. To make matters worse, the kelpie is also
a shape-shifter. It can appear either as a seductive, young
man, or a rough and shaggy individual. Identifying a kelpie in human disguise is
not impossible though, as they are known to keep their hooves upon transformation, and
their hair often contains a piece of seaweed entwined within. In his younger form, the kelpie attempts to
seduce young women, trying to persuade them to mount it in its equine shape. There are very few reports of kelpies assuming
a woman’s likeness, being more content at luring men as their pony self. When it rarely dons the appearance of a scruffy,
older man, they jump behind riders, grabbing them, often scaring their victim to death. It is not impossible to tame a kelpie, since
they are generally only attempting to lure people on a ride, and are mostly acting neutrally. Such a feat can be achieved by gaining possession
of its bridle, said to be the source of its power, after which the kelpie will obey orders
with the strength of ten ordinary horses. However, a kelpie could die as a result of
losing its bridle if the story of James MacGregor is anything to go by. He cut one off of a kelpie, and did not give
it back to the creature no matter how much it plead, telling him that it will die within
a day without the equipment. Another account says, that putting a human
bridle and saddle on one also forces it to do one’s bidding. A member of the Garaham clan did just that,
using the spirit to drag stones and build a castle. Upon completion he took them off, but the
kelpie was angry and exhausted. It ran into the river and cursed the people
of the new castle with misfortune, which would last as long as it lived. Which incidentally also means that kelpies
can talk even in their equine form. In the case of the EU, a similar horse shaped
water spirit from Irish and Scottish Gaelic folklore, many aspects are the same, but there
are key differences. It is said to be far more vicious for one,
tearing all of its victims into pieces, consuming all parts except for the liver, or occasionally
the heart and lungs. It also hunts cattle and sheep, not just humans. However, some sources claim, that it will
not kill unless it catches sight of water, being quite tame in drier regions. It is also fonder of standing waters, found
near lochs and the sea. The EU can also be tamed by saddling and bridling
it, providing a steed that is stronger than an ordinary horse. Additionally, a cow’s cap or shackles do
the trick as well. However, according to some accounts, they
are so vicious (presumably in the vicinity of water), that they may attack each other,
if either one has a strong human scent, curtesy of their previous victim. The EU possesses shapeshifting powers, just
like the kelpie. It also generally appears as a seductive young
man, but a giant bird is also a favored form, among several others. When one rides it, they get stuck all the
same, but in the case of this spirit, there are reports of people managing to escape. A very strong force, more than a human could
exert, can get one unstuck, but cutting the limb off is also a viable option. Fighting one is not generally an option, as
gunshots are said to be ineffective against the EU. However, loading silver into the gun, in the
form of a coin for example, can actually harm and frighten it. This water horse appears most commonly during
November, which period is sacred to the Celts. There are quite a few notorious EUs, like
the one near Cnoc-na-Bèist on the Isle of Lewis, which has fortunately been slain, or
a silky grey creature from Loch Treig. As recently as 1995, one has apparently been
spotted on the Isle of Skye, possessing a parrot beak, which has led some to believe
that leatherback turtles are mistaken of the beast. Some chilling stories are also passed on,
with occasional variations. Around Aberfeldy, an EU approached some children
playing, seven girls and a boy. The girls eagerly mounted the animal, but
as the creature expanded to accommodate all of them the boy realized something is not
right. He hurried off, with the EU shouting “Come
back, little scabby-head!”… quite the accent on that horse. A bit slow on the draw, but the girls also
noticed that there might be something off about their mount, but all they could do was
scream, as they were already stuck. The EU rode off with them into a nearby lake,
and had a right ol’ feast. Not the livers though. In another tale, from the Island of Raasay,
a smith lost his daughter, presumably to the shapeshifting tricks of the local EU. As a revenge, he set up a forge by the lake,
and with his son forged large hooks, keeping them red-hot in the fire, waiting for the
monster. They lured it with a roasting sheep. The EU came with a mist, in the form of an
ugly, shabby yearling. As it bit the sheep the smith and his son
leapt from hiding, puncturing the spirit with their hooks. Apparently, the dead EU dissolved into a puddle
of slime, and left no bones or skin. Quite a wealth of information on these two,
right? Well, this is just a fraction when it comes
to similar creatures. For the sake of brevity, I’ll only briefly
go over some similar creatures. The Shetland Islands are practically teeming
with malevolent water horses. The Neugle has a green mane and a tail curling
over its back, the Shoopiltie is a pony that keeps its ears when turning into a human,
and the Tangie is covered by seaweed. On the Isle of Man, the Cabyll-Uisge and the
Glashtin drag cattle, sheep and men beneath the water. The Irish Aughisky is one to be tamed, but
cannot glimpse the ocean. The Scottish Biast Na Srognig is the only
known aquatic unicorn of the British Isles, but is ravenous for human meat all the same. Iceland also has a water horse called Haikur. Last but not least, in Dacia, which was more
or less the predecessor of present-day Romania, the Endrop was said to lure people for a deadly
ride. Quite the list, and surprisingly, these creatures
are not exclusive to the British Isles, also appearing in Iceland and Romania. Obviously, there are a lot of magical and
supernatural aspects when dealing with water spirits, but if we were to design a realistic
animal, that could actually exist with such features in an alternate universe, what would
it look like, and what features do we have to abandon as misconceptions and exaggerations? Right out of the gate, we have a problem. All these mystical beasts are equine and predators
at the same time. While many of them share shapeshifting abilities,
since such a range of wildly different appearances is not feasible, we must assume that they
are indeed horses, or at least similar to horses. While it is not impossible for a herbivore
to turn omnivorous or predatory, I’d not go that route, as it would still be a stretch,
and there is a far more feasible lineage we could borrow from. In prehistoric times, from the Eocene to the
Miocene, entelodonts roamed Eurasia as well as North America. These beasts closely resembled pigs, with
huge, heavy heads, cloven hooves, and beefy bodies. They were omnivores, but the extent to which
they ate meat is unclear. However, based on their anatomy, markings
found on their teeth and other fossil evidence, it is clear that hunting was practiced by
some species. Their entire family is now extinct, but we
could theoretically change that for this hypothetical world. While entelodonts are not related to horses,
they are hoofed, and slightly altering their stature and proportions could make them equine
in appearance. With such looks, reports of the creature could
certainly imply, that it is in fact a pony or a foal. Some reports say beautiful, some say ugly,
I’ll let you decide that for yourselves. There is one little thing we have to change
though. All these creatures live near water, often
going for a swim. Small, pointy hooves would not be optimal
for such a habitat, as they would sink into the mud or sand. Their feet need to be relatively large, with
broad hooves, so they could more easily traverse their habitats. So, we have the looks covered, and completing
its food sources using lesser animals with a side of plant-based food, like nuts, roots
or fruits, we have the diet too. Their appearance on the British Isles and
in Romania is not surprising, based on the spread of their ancestors. Concerning Iceland though, there are a few
caveats. While it is not impossible for them to appear
on the island, they probably had a hard time finding meat before the settlers arrived. They most likely would not be capable of hunting
walruses due to their smaller size, so they would have to resort to feeding on birds and
fish, which they are not really equipped to catch. While their build allows for high speed chasing
on most terrains, they cannot really follow birds into the air, nor are they particularly
designed to swim after fish. Not to mention the difficulties that come
with the harsh winter of the country. I suppose there could be a species that adapted
better to these island conditions, developing a hunting method focused on short bursts of
extreme speed paired with acrobatic jumps, to reach birds mid-takeoff. Winter conditions could also be combatted
by storing various rations in dens and/or hibernation. Regardless, there are still a few notable
points we have to tackle. There are some aspects of these folklore stories
we have to take as misconceptions or exaggerations, like shapeshifting, appearing with bridles,
talking, dissolving into slime and being magically adhesive. However, we have to address the stories where
they prey on their riders. Since humans are often quite vulnerable when
venturing alone, kelpies and the like developing a taste for their flesh is not unfeasible,
but we have to assume, that they are generally quite timid, and the few ferocious, man-eating
ones are exceptions. After all, quite a few of these were hunted,
and not all stories involve them actively preying on humans. Additionally, waiting for people to jump on
their backs is not exactly a sound battle plan. What we could say is that if a person would
be bold enough to do so, of course the poor animal would bolt off to the nearest body
of water, trying to get rid of its rider, who would then boast about how he survived
the attack of a terrifying kelpie. On the other hand, we could infer that “riding
the kelpie” is a saying, referring to someone being the victim of the horse-like predator. And about their tendency to drag their victims
into the water? Well, they are not apex predators, only opportunistic. For them to catch something as large as a
human is probably very rare, dragging that wealth of food into the safety of the reeds,
or a seaside den, where it would consume the body piece by piece. This would also coincide with reports of them
tearing bodies to pieces, or leaving innards they do not want by the water, as their relatively
small size would keep them from eating an entire human in one sitting. Moving on, we have to tackle their strength. There is no way they would be stronger than
a horse. This exaggeration could originate from the
fact, that entelodonts presumably had incredibly strong bites, thus a water horse biting down
on a victim, while dragging it into the lake could seem much stronger than it actually
is. If the person survived, they probably had
quite the experience, understandably overestimating the actual strength of the animal. Cases of tamed kelpies used for labor, in
the event that they were true, would most likely be bragging without substance. That Garaham fellow probably let the kelpie
go after building the castle, because he realized, he would have had a much easier time with
an actual horse. Speaking of which, domestication would be
very unlikely to have huge success. Neither particularly strong, nor fit for fattening,
there really is no role such an animal could fill on a farm. What’s more, it would most likely need to
be fed meat in addition to what, say, a pig would require. They would probably not be reliable guard
dogs either, outclassed by… well, actual dogs. Overall, based on their lack of use for humans,
aggressive tendencies, the stories told of their demise, as well as the fate similar
animals suffered on the same group of islands, I’d say extermination efforts would have
been undertaken, were the water horses real. As to how effective these would be against
these semi-aquatic, solitary animals, of which terrifying stories are told, I’m not certain,
but humans generally do a pretty good job when it comes to mass murder. And that’s pretty much it, we’ve created
the realistic version of these water spirits. They would be halfway between a pony and a
boar. The fact that you wouldn’t want to ride
them still holds true, I guess… Anyway, thanks for exploring these creatures
with me, and if you have an idea for a future monster I should do the same with, you can
tell me all about it in the comments. If you’ve enjoyed this video, well, there
is a button for that… I don’t really know what it does… probably
nobody does… And now I’m off to find a suitable creature
that starts with an F… oh boy will it be a long search… Bye!
