Mythical Scotland: The Story of the Kelpies & Unicorns

Unicorns are usually associated with strength, purity and power in Celtic myths, which are fairly admirable features. They are also proud and untameable – words many would use to describe the Scots throughout history. Medieval legend suggests that only a King could hold a unicorn captive because of the danger it posed. Since the Middle Ages, many Scottish monarchs have used the unicorn in their coat of arms with Kings favouring the mythical beast as they considered it to be the representation of power, with William I being the first to do so. After James II wholeheartedly embraced the legend of the fabled creature during his reign in the 15th century, he officially made it recognised as Scotland’s national animal to show Scottish Kings’ nobility. This mythical beast was first introduced to the royal Scottish coat of arms around the mid-16th century and prior to the Union of Crowns in 1603. The coat consisted of two strong standing unicorns bound by a golden chain (as it was the strongest of all animals!), however, once King James VI became James I of England he replaced one of the unicorns with the English lion to demonstrate unity.

Do unicorns exist in Scotland? Of course they do! You just need to know where to look. Today, there are dozens of places to see the pure white creature at large across Scotland which blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality.

When exploring Edinburgh you will be able to spot a number of unicorns in all different shapes and sizes. One being on the heraldic shield at the gateway to the Royal Palace of Holyrood house which has strong links to many Scottish monarchs, and is the Queen’s official residence in Edinburgh. Spot the mythical creature carved into the walls and across plaster ceilings. The heraldic animals can also be seen throughout the military stronghold of Edinburgh Castle, above the fireplace in the Royal Apartments as well as being seated outside the National War Memorial and in front of St Margaret's Cathedral. As well, often overlooked, you can find a number of unicorns hidden among various Victorian wood carvings at St. Giles Cathedral. If you look closely, you’ll even find one which has an unusual fish-like tail!

Whenever you see a market cross in many of the towns and cities in Scotland you are likely to see a unicorn standing on top such as the ones in Glasgow, Culross, Prestonpans, Dunfermline and Falkland to name a few.

You can also find interesting examples of the Scottish unicorn veering north-west amongst the ‘Hunt of the Unicorn’ tapestries at Stirling Castle, which are seven hand-woven recreations of ‘The Unicorn Tapestries’, which was one of the most valuable artworks of the late Middle Ages; with the originals now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. And in Dundee the unicorn figurehead of HMS Unicorn is proudly displayed, which is one of the oldest warships in the world!

As well as the unicorn, the Kelpie is an integral part of Scottish folklore and although it is horse-like much like the unicorn, there are subtle differences. The Kelpie is in fact an evil water-spirit which has anciently haunted Scotland’s lochs and lakes.

The origins of the kelpies are believed to have stemmed in human sacrifices to the water gods, but that concept did eventually die out and the story of the mythical creatures was used to keep children from playing too near to Scottish lochs and dangerous rivers. Although they most often appear as a horse-like being, the kelpies can also shapeshift into a human form with many reports saying you could spot a human kelpie by looking for water weeds in their hair! The mysterious creatures are referenced in Rabbie Burns poem ‘Address to the Devil’ which reads:

When in horse form, the kelpie would stand by the river edge and as they are largely adhesive it makes it easy for them to drag their victims underwater. One particular story tells the tale of a group of children who met a kelpie, all climbing onto its back while the last child stayed on the riverbank. After petting the kelpies’ neck, he found his hand being attached to the creature, so he ended up cutting his hand off leaving him helplessly watching his friends being dragged into the depths of the waters. It is said that a Kelpie's victim of choice was young children, but in reality these stories were made up by parents to keep their children from venturing too close to the dangerous water.

To tame a kelpie, it is said that by removing the kelpie's bridle this allowed the person who took it to have control over the creature, and it was popular to put them to use for agricultural work as they were believed to have the strength of 10 horses. In other tales, Clan MacGregor claimed to have a kelpie that they had passed down through generations which was captured by an ancestor in Loch Slochd in the Scottish Highlands.

If you are not familiar with the mythical creature within Scottish folklore, you may have heard of 'The Kelpies' at Falkirk, two 30-metre high horse-head sculptures, designed and built to pay homage to Scotland's horse-powered heritage that goes back for centuries. The sculptures act as a gateway to the Forth and Clyde Canal, and there were even two miniature replicas created which travel around the world, further promoting Scotland's folklore culture.

We hope you enjoyed learning all about two of Scotland's most famous mythical creatures. Stay tuned for our next blog in the series all about the Fairies of Skye! If you have any tales of Scottish folklore, we would love to hear from you!