Loch Morar

Loch Morar in old Inverness-shire is the deepest stretch of water in Britain, measuring 1,045 feet at its deepest
point A monster with a long neck, large head and a
body with several humps, much the same description
as that of the Loch Ness monster, has been seen breaking the surface of the water In addition to the monster in the loch there are also the ‘Barking dogs of Morar’, a well-known legend in the district.

It is said that a man named MacDonald left his cottage at the head of Loch Morar to seek his fortune in Canada He was forced to leave his favourite black bitch in the care of a friend as he set out on his long journey. The bitch was due to have pups and she started to pine away after her master left. She did not take kindly to her new abode and one day she managed to escape She dived into Loch Morar and swam across to a little island where her pups were later born. There was plenty of food on the island in the form of rabbits and wild fowl, and in time the pups grew up to be great savage dogs and would not allow any person to land on the island.

About four years later the owner of the bitch returned from Canada, only to be told by his friend that the bitch had escaped and gone to live on the island with her offspring. Anxious to see his old bitch again, the man asked his friend to take him over to the island in his small rowing boat. The friend warned him of the danger from the wild dogs; despite the warning, the owner of the bitch insisted that be would be safe. He was then rowed over to the island. His friend waited beside the small rowing boat on the shore. When the bitch saw her old master she ran to him and started to make a great fuss of him. The other dogs of the pack became jealous of the affection their mother showed for this man. All at once they sprang upon him and tore him to pieces. The friend saw from the shore what had happened and macic his way back to the mainland to tell of the tragedy.

Ever since then, many local people and visitors to the
district have heard phantom dogs barking around the
disused cottage near the head of Loch Morar.

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