Kelpie is the Lowland Scottish name given to a malevolent water spirit or demon inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but can 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 poem "Address to the Deil". Almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of Loch Ness, first recorded in the 6th century. The kelpie has counterparts across the world, such as the wihwin of South America, the Scandinavian bäckahästen and the Australian bunyip. The origin of the belief in malevolent water horses may lie in the human sacrifices once made to appease the gods of water, but it also helped to keep children away from dangerous stretches of water and to warn young women to be wary of handsome strangers. Kelpies have been portrayed in their various forms in art (painting by Thomas Millie Dow pictured) and literature, most recently in two 30-metre (98 ft) high steel sculptures in Falkirk, The Kelpies.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelpie
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
Canada's worst railway accident took place when a passenger train fell through an open swing bridge into the Richelieu River near present-day Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St-Hilaire_train_disaster
1889:
Hyde Park and several other Illinois townships voted to be annexed by Chicago, forming the largest city in area in the United States and second largest in population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park_Township,_Cook_County,_Illinois
1914:
During the second day of the anti-Serb riots in Sarajevo (pictured), numerous buildings owned by ethnic Serbs were vandalized and looted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Serb_riots_in_Sarajevo
1950:
In one of the greatest upsets in sporting history, the United States defeated England during the 1950 FIFA World Cup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_1%E2%80%930_England_(1950_FIFA_World_Cup)
1974:
Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union while on tour with the Bolshoi Ballet in Toronto. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Baryshnikov
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
enterolith: A mineral concretion in the intestinal tract. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/enterolith
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
To love is not to look at one another: it is to look, together, in the same direction. --Antoine de Saint Exupéry https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint_Exup%C3%A9ry