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kelpie
kelpie, kelpy, waterkelpie [cf. ScG colpach calpach, heifer, bullock, colt]. The fairy water-creature of Scottish folklore, initially thought to inhabit lonely, fast-moving streams and later any body of water. Usually thought to be a horse, sometimes human, the kelpie is most often described as at least mischievous and more likely malevolent. The creature entices travellers on to its back and then rushes into deep pools to drown them. His tail strikes the water in thunder and he disappears in a flash of lightning. In human form the kelpie is a rough, shaggy man who leaps behind a solitary rider, gripping and crushing him. Some stories depict a human-form kelpie as tearing people apart and devouring them. The kelpie might be forced, however unwilling, to serve mortal ends. A bold man named MacGregor captured a kelpie's magic bridle and refused pleas to restore it; instead, MacGregor used it to work magic. In a widely known story a nobleman named Graham of Morphie bridled a kelpie and obliged him to drag stones to build his new castle. When the castle was completed, Graham released the unhappy kelpie who dashed to the river, promising that the Laird of Morphie would never enjoy the fruits of his forced labour. And, indeed, misfortune dogged the Grahams of Morphie all their lives.
Although known all over Scotland, the kelpie appears to originate in Scottish Gaelic tradition and is clearly a counterpart of the Welsh ceffyl dwfr and afanc, the Irish and Scottish Gaelic each uisce/uisge, and the Manx cabyll-ushtey and glaistyn. Nevertheless the kelpie also has counterparts in the Norse-influenced islands north of Scotland, in Shetland: shoopiltee, and in the Orkneys: tangie, tang. Bibliography See Helen Drever , The Lure of the Kelpie (Edinburgh, 1937). |
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "kelpie." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES MacKILLOP. "kelpie." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-kelpie.html JAMES MacKILLOP. "kelpie." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-kelpie.html |
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kelpie
kelpie a water spirit of Scottish folklore, typically taking the form of a horse, reputed to delight in the drowning of travellers. The word (recorded from the late 17th century) may come from Scottish Gaelic cailpeach, colpach ‘bullock, colt’.
The later derived sense of a sheepdog of an Australian breed, originally bred from a Scottish collie, apparently comes from the name of a particular bitch, King's Kelpie (c.1879). |
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "kelpie." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "kelpie." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-kelpie.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "kelpie." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-kelpie.html |
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kelpie
kelpie, a sea spirit said to haunt the northern British Isles. Local mythology attributed several shapes to it, but it is mostly depicted as a horse. It was a malignant spirit whose chief delight was drowning seamen and travellers.
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"kelpie." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "kelpie." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-kelpie.html "kelpie." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-kelpie.html |
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kelpie
kelpie water-sprite of the Scottish Lowlands. XVIII. of unkn. orig.
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T. F. HOAD. "kelpie." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "kelpie." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-kelpie.html T. F. HOAD. "kelpie." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-kelpie.html |
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kelpie
kelpie •crappie, crappy, flappy, gappy, happi, happy, nappy, pappy, sappy, scrappy, slap-happy, snappy, strappy, tapis, yappy, zappy
•campy, scampi, vampy
•harpy, okapi, serape, sharpie
•raspy
•Giuseppe, peppy, preppy
•kelpie
•kempy, tempi
•Gillespie
•crêpey, kepi, scrapie
•creepy, sleepy, tepee, weepy
•chippy, clippie, dippy, drippy, grippy, hippy, Lippi, lippy, Mississippi, nippy, slippy, snippy, tippy, trippy, whippy, Xanthippe, zippy
•chickpea
•crimpy, gimpy, skimpy, wimpy
•crispy, wispy
•turnipy • recipe • praecipe • gossipy
•pipy, stripy
•choppy, copy, floppy, jalopy, moppy, poppy, sloppy, soppy, stroppy
•Pompey, swampy
•waspie, waspy
•photocopy • cowpea
•dopey, Hopi, Opie, ropy, soapy, topi
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Cite this article
"kelpie." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "kelpie." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-kelpie.html "kelpie." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-kelpie.html |
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