Loch Morar is home to ancient Scots sea monster thought to be Nessie's cousin

One of Scotland's most beautiful loch's nestled in the Highlands is surrounded by stunning scenery - and home to an elusive monster. No, it isn't Loch Ness - we are talking about the deep waters of Loch Morar.

One of Scotland's most beautiful loch's nestled in the Highlands is surrounded by stunning scenery - and home to an elusive monster.

No, it isn't Loch Ness - we are talking about the deep waters of Loch Morar.

The loch is thought to the be deepest freshwater lake in the UK but this stretch of water has its own mystery that dates back almost as far as Nessie.

Said to be home to a humped beast, the residents here have their own name for their monster - Morag.

The cousin of Nessie has captured the imagination of locals for centuries but the beast rarely surfaces.

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Loch Morar

Lying just north of Glenfinnan close to Mallaig and the village that bears its name, the freshwater loch reaches depths of over 1,000 feet.

One of the largest lochs in Scotland, people living around, and working on, this ancient waterway have made sightings of a fantastical creature dating back to the 19th century.

Just under 12 miles long it is surrounded by hills, beaches and deep woodlands.

Morag

Sightings of Morag date all the way back to the 1880s, with more modern ones being recorded from the 1960s onwards.

Two of the most recent sightings have revived interest in the mysterious beast, with the loch's superintendent Viv De Fresnes, who spends thousands of hours on the loch, spotting - and photographing - two large unknown shapes travelling across the surface in the summer of 2019

Tourists Doug Christie and his wife Charlotte claim they spotted a 20ft black shape in the water three times in two days over the summer of 2013, with at least one of these sightings backed up by Kisimuil B&B owner Michael McNeill and his daughter Kathleen who managed to snap a picture - which you can see here.

Doug and Charlotte described it as a "large black shape" that rose to the surface before disappearing with Charlotte stating that at first, she thought "it was a whale", but knew it was impossible as the loch is freshwater.

Others who have seen the beast described it as the classical three humps rising above the water (similar to Nessie).

Perhaps the most dramatic sighting was that of local men Willie Simpson, and crofter Duncan McDonell, in August 1969.

The pair were returning from a ­fishing trip up Loch Morar when the creature struck their boat nearly capsizing them giving them a fright, Duncan managed to strike it with his oar which snapped in two, while Willie grabbed a rifle and attempted to shoot it.

But the creature simply sank out of sight before he could hit it.

Willy later said: “There is no doubt in my mind that there is a large monster, maybe more than one, in Loch Morar.”

Theories

With superstition and Celtic mythology playing a large part in Morag's story, the folklore of the Highlands could possibly have influenced the belief in both Loch Morar's famous inhabitant, as well as Nessie, with Kelpies and water horses said to drag unwary travelers to their watery death looming large in the area's past.

Records from the time state that the creature was thought to be supernatural, with anyone witnessing it cursed to receive a death in their family.

Other theories include the idea that most of the sightings could be put down to cats paws (swirling waves caused by wind), swimming seals, deers paddling out to the loch's islands for grazing and even wayward Atlantic Sturgeon.

The most intriguing theory is that eels have become trapped in the loch and grown to an enormous size - resulting in the sightings.

Famed naturalist Adrian Shine, who is now better known for hunting for Nessie, even spent several summers at the loch in the 1970s using a specially built submarine to try to find evidence of Morag but was unsuccessful.

He has now become a sceptic and hopes to disprove both Morag and Nessie's existence.

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