An eachy is a name given to a species of lake monster from a variety of locations in Northern England and Scotland. An eachy is typically a large humanoid being of gruesome and slimy appearance seen to occasionally emerge from the lake. An eachy was reported from Windermere in 1873 and Bassenthwaite Lake as late as 1973 when it was supposedly photographed twice.[1] A scientific expedition was launched to find the mystery creature when, in September 1961, three atomic scientists conducted an underwater exploration of the lake. However, they did not find the 13-foot-long (4.0 m), triple-humped, python-headed creature that had recently been sighted.[2]
Presumably the name comes from the Middle English "iker" or "eker" (from the older "niker", from the Old English "nicor", meaning "water-sprite" or "hippotamus"[3][4][5]), which was a type of sea monster. Although the name looks similar to the Scottish Gaelic each-uisge, the word is morphologically and phonetically dissimilar. The area of the each-uisge is traditionally quite distant from the traditional area of the eachy and the each-uisge was not anthropomorphic but instead a water horse.
References
- ^ http://home.online.no/~jackobse/gunnar/engl1973/bassthwt.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ 'Middle English Dictionary' By Hans Kurath
- ^ 'A Concise Dictionary of Middle English: From A. D. 1150 To 1580' By A. L. Mayhew, Mayhew, A.L. & Skeat, Walter W., Walter W. Skeat
- ^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=nixie
Further reading
- Gould, M. J. (1980) 'Folklore of Northern Britain.' Nix. Kendal.
- Lewis R. E. (1954) Middle English Dictionary. University of Michigan Press.