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DIANE KNOX: I tell people in America I’m from the same place as the Loch Ness Monster


By Diane Knox

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Loch Ness - the home of a monster or not?
Loch Ness - the home of a monster or not?

Here we are again…April Fool’s Day. Now, full transparency, nothing I say in this column is an April Fool’s, mainly because you may be reading this after noon and that would make it obsolete anyway.

And secondly, because I am a really terrible prankster and you’d see right through me!

When I think of April Fool’s, I think of Nessie, but don’t get it twisted – I’m a firm believer. To some cynics, the world-renowned Loch Ness Monster may be considered nothing more than a year-round April Fool’s, a fairytale, a tourist-attracting scam or just a downright mystery.

But if you grew up in Inverness and the surrounding areas, the legend of Nessie is very real.

I remember being a wee girl, maybe seven or eight, and my parents taking my brother and I out to Loch Ness to look for the mythical monster. Hours spent at the visitor centre in Drumnadrochit, learning about sightings that had occurred over the years, scouring hazy old photos to trace the creature’s outline, and posing for cheesy photos in front of the giant statue by the side of the road (well, it seemed giant to us back then!).

We then continued our quest to Urquhart Castle, toured the ruins and stood at the tallest point, certain we’d seen some shadowy creature slither through the loch.

I even remember visiting my family in California one year and screaming with excitement when I saw the National Enquirer headline in the supermarket read “Nessie spotted in Loch Ness!”.

Little did I know that not everything you read in the National Enquirer is to be believed.

Nessie was a part of my childhood, and even now when people in America ask me what part of Scotland I’m from, I say “the same place as the Loch Ness Monster”! But today marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic April Fool’s of all time.

On April 1, 1972 news outlets around the world proclaimed that Nessie had been found dead, washed up at Foyers.

A “hump” had been spotted floating in the water, and crews of experts were immediately summoned to recover the mysterious object.

Locals were having none of it, claiming Nessie was too clever to be caught, and was much, much bigger than the creature that was taken onshore. But rumours circulated, claiming it really was Nessie with a big green scaly body, massive head and sticky-out teeth.

So the body was taken away by a team of English zoologists for analysis but the vehicle was stopped by police en route to some lab south of the border, and the general curator of Edinburgh Zoo was called in to examine the goods.

It wasn’t Nessie. It was a bull elephant seal, that had been previously frozen for quite some time – after having had its whiskers shaved off and cheeks stuffed with stones!

It was an April Fool’s hoax by an officer from Flamingo Park Zoo in Yorkshire; the whole thing had been masterminded to fool his team who were on a visit to Loch Ness to hunt for our mythical monster.

And so the legend lived on, and continues to do so. If you’re ever in doubt, don’t question it today, but it might be the perfect weekend to take a trip to Urquhart Castle and look for yourself.


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