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Kelpie
A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: '' each-uisge''), is a mythical shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. Legends of these shape-shifting water-horses, under various names, spread across the British Isles, appearing in the Northern Isles, Irish, Manx, Northern English, and Welsh folklore. It is usually described as a grey or white horse-like creature, able to adopt human form. Some accounts state that the kelpie retains its hooves when appearing as a human, leading to its association with the Christian idea of Satan as alluded to by Robert Burns in his 1786 poem " Address to the Devil". Almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of Loch Ness. The kelpie has counterparts across the world, such as the Germanic nixie, the wihwin of Central America and the Australian bunyip. The origins of narratives about the creature are unclear, but the practical purposes of kee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Kelpies
''The Kelpies'' are a pair of monumental steel horse-heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. They stand next to the M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorway and form the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, which meets the River Carron, Forth, River Carron here. Each head is high. The sculptures, which represent kelpies, were designed by sculptor Andy Scott (sculptor), Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013. An unveiling ceremony took place in April 2014. Around the sculptures is an area of parkland known as The Helix (Falkirk), The Helix. History The name was chosen by Scottish Canals at the inception of The Helix project in 2005, to reflect the kelpie, mythological transforming beasts possessing the strength and endurance of ten horses. ''The Kelpies'' represent the lineage of the heavy horse of Scottish industry and economy, pulling the wagons, ploughs, barges, and coalships that shaped the geographical layout of the Falkirk area. According ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the 2001 United Kingdom census, 2001 UK Census. The population of the town had risen to 34,570 according to a 2008 estimate, making it the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, 20th most populous settlement in Scotland. Falkirk is the main town and administrative centre of the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area, which has an overall population of 156,800 and inholds the nearby towns of Grangemouth, Bo'ness, Denny, Falkirk, Denny, Camelon, Larbert and Stenhousemuir, and the cluster of Falkirk Braes, Braes villages. The town is at the junction of the Forth and Clyde Canal, Forth and Clyde and Union Canal (Scotland), Union Canals, a location which proved key to its growth as a centre of heavy industry during the Industria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Each-uisge
The each-uisge (, literally " water horse") is a water spirit in Irish and Scottish folklore, spelled as the each-uisce (anglicized as ''aughisky'' or ''ech-ushkya'') in Ireland and cabbyl-ushtey on the Isle of Man. It usually takes the form of a horse, and is similar to the kelpie but far more vicious. Folklore Description and attributes The each-uisge, a supernatural water horse found in the Scottish Highlands, has been described as "perhaps the fiercest and most dangerous of all the water-horses" by the folklorist Katharine Briggs. Often mistaken for the kelpie (which inhabits streams and rivers), the each-uisge lives in the sea, sea lochs, and fresh water lochs. The each-uisge is a shape-shifter, disguising itself as a fine horse, pony, a handsome man or an enormous bird such as a boobrie. If, while in horse form, a man mounts it, he is only safe as long as the each-uisge is ridden in the interior of land. However, the merest glimpse or smell of water means the beginn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nixie (folklore)
The Nixie, Nixy, Nix, Näcken, Nicor, Nøkk, or Nøkken (; , ; ; Norwegian ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; or ) are humanoid, and often shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology and folklore. Under a variety of names, they are common to the stories of all Germanic peoples,The article ''Näcken''tome 20, p. 317 in (1914) although they are perhaps best known from Scandinavian folklore. The related English ''knucker'' was generally depicted as a worm or dragon, although more recent versions depict the spirits in other forms. Their sex, bynames, and various transformations vary geographically. The German and his Scandinavian counterparts were male. The German was a female river mermaid. Similar creatures are known from other parts of Europe, such as the Melusine in France, the Xana in Asturias (Spain), and the Slavic water spirits (e.g., the Rusalka) in Slavic countries. Names and etymology The names are held to derive from Common Germanic or , derived from PIE ("to wash"). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dictionary Of The Older Scottish Tongue
The ''Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue'' (DOST) is a 12-volume dictionary that documents the history of the Scots language covering Older Scots from the earliest written evidence in the 12th century until the year 1700. DOST was compiled over a period of some eighty years, from 1931 to 2002. Craigie and Aitken The fundamental principles of editorial policy were established under the authority of the first editor, Sir William Craigie, who was also the third editor of the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (1901–1928) and co-editor of the first ''OED'' Supplement (1933). Craigie was followed by Professor A. J. Aitken, who endorsed Craigie's principles, but he was nonetheless aware that the coverage of the language provided in Volumes I and II still had some room for improvement. He more than doubled the number of source texts read for the dictionary and launched a new reading programme, with more than 50 new voluntary excerptors, reading both printed editions and, mostly on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Collins (poet)
William Collins (25 December 1721 – 12 June 1759) was an English poet. Second in influence only to Thomas Gray, he was an important poet of the middle decades of the 18th century. His lyrical odes mark a progression from the Augustan literature, Augustan poetry of Alexander Pope's generation and towards the imaginative ideal of the Romantic era. Biography Born in Chichester, Sussex, the son of a hatmaker and former mayor of the town, Collins was educated at The Prebendal School, Winchester College, Winchester and Magdalen College, Oxford. While still at the university, he published the ''Persian Eclogues'', which he had begun at school. After graduating in 1743 he was undecided about his future. Failing to obtain a university fellowship, being judged by a military uncle as 'too indolent even for the army', and having rejected the idea of becoming a clergyman, he settled for a literary career and was supported in London by a small allowance from his cousin, George Payne. There he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transactions Of The Royal Society Of Edinburgh
Transaction or transactional may refer to: Commerce *Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment *Debits and credits in a Double-entry bookkeeping system *Electronic funds transfer, the electronic exchange or transfer of money from one account to another *Real estate transaction, the process whereby rights in a unit of property is transferred between two or more parties *Transaction cost, a cost incurred in making an economic exchange *Transactional law, the practice of law concerning business and commerce Computing *Transaction processing, information processing that is divided into individual, indivisible operations *Database transaction, a unit of work performed within a database management system *Atomic transaction, a series of database operations such that either all occur, or nothing occurs Other uses *Transactions, the published proceedings of a learned society: ** *Transaction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toponymy
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper name of any geographical feature, and full scope of the term also includes proper names of all cosmographical features. In a more specific sense, the term ''toponymy'' refers to an inventory of toponyms, while the discipline researching such names is referred to as ''toponymics'' or ''toponomastics''. Toponymy is a branch of onomastics, the study of proper names of all kinds. A person who studies toponymy is called ''toponymist''. Etymology The term ''toponymy'' comes from / , 'place', and / , 'name'. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' records ''toponymy'' (meaning "place name") first appearing in English in 1876 in the context of geographical studies. Since then, ''toponym'' has come to replace the term ''place-name'' in professional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Globe Fountain Detail - Geograph
A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of Earth is called a terrestrial globe. A model globe of the celestial sphere is called a ''celestial globe''. A globe shows details of its subject. A terrestrial globe shows landmasses and water bodies. It might show nations and major cities and the network of latitude and longitude lines. Some have raised relief to show mountains and other large landforms. A celestial globe shows notable stars, and may also show positions of other prominent astronomical objects. Typically, it will also divide the celestial sphere into constellations. The word ''globe'' comes from the Latin word ''globus'', meaning "sphere". Globes have a long history. The first known mention of a globe is from Strabo, describing the Globe of Crates from about 150 B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire. History An early rendition of the name of the town was Kilcudbrit; this derives from the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic ''Cille Chuithbeirt'' meaning "chapel of Cuthbert", the saint whose mortal remains were kept at the town between their exhumation at Lindisfarne and reinterment at Chester-le-Street. John Spottiswoode, in his account of religious houses in Scotland, mentions that the Franciscans, or Grey Friars, had been established at Kirkcudbright from the 12th century. John I de Balliol, John Balliol was in possession of the ancient castle at Castledykes in the late 13th century and Edward I of England is said to have stayed here in 1300 during his war against Scotland. In 1455 Kirkcudbright became a royal burgh. About a century later, the mag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiree
Tiree (; , ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and fishing are the main sources of employment for the islanders. Tiree, along with Colonsay, enjoys a relatively high number of total hours of sunshine during the late spring and early summer compared to the average for the United Kingdom. Tiree is a popular windsurfing venue; it is sometimes referred to as the "Hawaii of the north". In most years, the Tiree World Classic surfing event is held here. People native to the island are known as Tirisdich. History Tiree is known for the 1st-century-AD broch, for the prehistoric carved Ringing Stone and for the birds of the headland. , abbot of Iona Abbey 679–704, recorded several stories relating to St Columba and the island of Tiree. In one story, Columba warned a monk called Berach not to sai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
