On this day…

In 1982 the Mary Rose was recovered from the deep.  I don’t remember that but, here is one person’s recollection

“I was 10. Our teacher made us sit through it on TV for the whole day. It was boring beyond belief” – thanks Dominic.  I do, however remember when it was finally restored for the public to see – I got a bit confused and thought it was the Blue Peter as oppose to being just on Blue Peter. The ship emerged to the surface after 437 years after it sank.  They had a bit of an accident when one of the pins holding the lifting frame broke and part of the 80 tonne frame smashed down on the hull.

After the accident, Prince Charles, President of the Mary Rose Trust spoke of his shock: “I was slightly horrified but I thought the best thing to do was to be British and not panic.”

Well done Charles.

In 1987 Nessie was not recovered from the deep.  In fact they decided they had enough evidence to say that the monster does not exist – some years before the Ted Danson film nightmare, didn’t they do their research?

The legend of the monster dates back to the 6th century but it was not until the 1930s that the myth really took off.  In 1933, Mr and Mrs George Spicer told newspapers they saw a monster, measuring 40 to 50 ft (12 to 15 m) long, crossing the road near the loch.

“Although I accelerated quickly towards it,” he said, “it had disappeared into the loch by the time I reached the spot. There was no sign of it in the water. I am a temperate man, but I am willing to take any oath that we saw this Loch Ness beast. I am certain that this creature was of a prehistoric species.”

A theory presented by Neil Clark, the curator of paleontology at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow has suggested that Nessie could merely be a swimming elephant, as there was a travelling circus passing through the area during the heyday of the sightings.

According to the Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren (1980), present day beliefs in lake monsters such as Nessie are associated with the old legends of kelpies. He claims that the accounts of loch monsters have changed over the ages, originally describing a horse appearance; they claimed that the “kelpie” would come out of the lake and turn into a horse. When a tired traveller would get on the back of the kelpie, it would gallop into the loch and devour its prey.  Oh blimey, I knew there was a reason apart from inverse snobbery for me never having gone riding.

He has also ascribed the difficulty of obtaining good evidence as due to something other than chance: either a psychological reluctance to accept the unwelcome truth (and therefore unconscious failures to operate equipment etc.) or some actual paranormal effect, and possible connection with UFOs.  What are you scientist or madman?

What other things will rise from the deep today? cue music

Der dum

Der dum

De de de de de de de

EEEEK EEK EEEEEK.

10 points for naming that tune.

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