In traditional Scottish mythology, 'The Water Horse' aka 'Kelpie' is a terrifying people-eating "boogeyman." This beast appears in a pleasing form to lure unsuspecting victims (usually children) to play with it. Once the unfortunate soul had mounted the Kelpie, it would trap the victim with glue excreted from its skin, and drag him or her down to a watery death. Another kind of Kelpie took the form of a handsome man who targeted young women, analogous to the Dracula and Nosferatu of Eastern Europe. Society used these legends to protect young people by teaching them to be wary of adult strangers and dangerous natural formations. Kelpie stories come from all over Scotland, and are not exclusively associated with Loch Ness. It was only in the 1930s, after the popularity of early stop-motion dinosaur films such as
Le Monde perdu (1925) and
King Kong (1933), that the standard image of Scottish lake monsters was revised to be shaped like a dinosaur or a plesiosaur. Their nature was subsequently changed to become docile, cute and cuddly, because this image is more convenient for creating a tourist attraction. The association of these monsters with Loch Ness specifically, only came about because the first published photo of such a "creature" was made there, around 1933. After that picture (called the "Surgeon's Photo" and seen frequently in this film) became world-famous in 1934, several similar monsters were "sighted" in various locations across Canada, and given names such as Ogopogo and Cadborosaurus. During the Great Depression, happy novelties in the news were popular, so they were covered extensively. The fact that these "sightings" are so convenient for entertainment culture and the tourist industry, suggests that the phenomenon is commercial rather than biological.
