Police Wanted To Protect Loch Ness Monster

Scottish police in the 1930s believed the existence of the Loch Ness monster was “beyond doubt” and even sought to protect it from hunters.

A letter released by the National Archives of Scotland from Inverness County Police Chief Constable William Fraser in August 1938 shows police believed the only step they could usefully take to protect “Nessie” from hunters was to tell people that the monster’s preservation was “desirable.”

Fraser went on to say that a certain Peter Kent and Miss Marion Stirling of London were determined to catch the monster and that Kent had told local police he was having a special harpoon gun made to hunt the monster down.

“That there is some strange creature in Loch Ness seems now beyond doubt, but that the police have any power to protect it is very doubtful,” Fraser wrote in his letter to the Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office.

Fraser said he had had Kent warned of the desirability of having the creature left alone.

“…but whether my warning will have the desired affect or not remains to be seen,” he added.

World’s First Naked Ceilidh Set For Edinburgh

The world’s first naked ceilidh is to take place in Edinburgh later this month.

Organisers are looking for people over the age of 18 “of every shape and size” to bare all at the event in the Capital’s new traditional Scottish pub and ceilidh venue, Ghillie Dhu. Dances suggested include strip the willow and the “flashing” white sergeant.

The Sunday 28 March event is the brainchild of photographer Alistair Devine, and will also form the third in his series of “naked-art photo-shoots”.

Anyone interested in taking part should call 0141-270 4141.

Brazen Parrot Makes Off With Man’s Passport

Polly wants a passport — and isn’t above stealing one.

A brazen parrot, which spotted a Scottish man’s passport in a colored bag in the luggage compartment under a tour bus, nabbed the document and made off into dense bush with it, the Southland Times newspaper reported.

The bird — a parrot of the Kea variety — made its move while the bus was stopped along the highway to Milford Sound on South Island, New Zealand, and the driver was looking through the compartment. Milford Sound, which runs inland from the Tasman Sea and is surrounded by sheer rock face, is part of Fiordland National Park, a world heritage site and major travel destination.

Police told the newspaper the passport has not been recovered and is unlikely to be located in the vast Fiordland rain forest.

“My passport is somewhere out there in Fiordland. The Kea’s probably using it for fraudulent claims or something,” the passport owner, who did not want to be named, told the newspaper.