Also called Each-uisge (water horse), Ceffyl dŵr (Welsh water horse), Nuckelavee (a darker Orkney cousin).
The tale
The kelpie haunts Scottish rivers and lochs as a fine horse that seems to invite anyone to ride it. Once you climb on, its hide turns sticky and you cannot get off, and it gallops into the deep water and drowns you. In one well-known tale several children climb onto such a horse, which stretches to fit them all; one boy touches it with a finger, finds it stuck, and cuts off his finger to save himself as the others are carried into the loch. Whoever can seize a kelpie's bridle, though, can make it work like an ordinary horse, and some Scottish families kept such bridles as heirlooms.
When they are met
- stormy nights
- when crossing rivers
- in autumn and winter when waters rise
Staying on their good side
- none; tradition advises caution rather than gifts
- staying away from strange horses by the water
- keeping children safe near lochs and rivers
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Teach children the kelpie tale as the old folk did, as a way to keep them away from dangerous water.
- Respect water: learn to swim and never go in alone at night.
- Tradition says the kelpie's bridle gives power over it, and iron keeps it away.
- Visit a loch or river and simply watch it with respect.
What their tales teach
- water safety
- resisting temptation
- caution with strangers
- respecting nature
Symbols
- a grey or black horse with a dripping mane
- water weed in the hair
- a magic bridle
- a sticky hide
From Scottish folk tradition; the Highland each-uisge of the sea lochs is usually held to be even more dangerous.
More Celtic folklore
- The Banshee The keening woman of the fairy mound
- Selkies The seal folk who come ashore
- The Púca The shape-shifter of November
- The Aos Sí The people of the fairy mounds
- The Tylwyth Teg The Fair Family of Wales
- Leprechaun The solitary fairy shoemaker
- Clurichaun The fairy of the wine cellar
- Fear Dearg The red man who asks to warm himself