Lexic.us

Definition of Kelpie

1. Noun. (Scottish folklore) water spirit in the form of a horse that likes to drown its riders.

Definition of Kelpie

1. n. An imaginary spirit of the waters, horselike in form, vulgarly believed to warn, by preternatural noises and lights, those who are to be drowned.

Definition of Kelpie

1. Noun. (context: Celtic folklore) A malevolent shapeshifting spirit, most often in the form of a horse, believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland. ¹

2. Noun. An Australian breed of sheepdog. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Kelpie

1. a water sprite [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Kelpie

Literary usage of Kelpie

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Scandinavian Folk-lore: Illustrations of the Traditional Beliefs of the by William Alexander Craigie (1896)
"This has been fulfilled, for there has always been prosperity on that farm, as far back as any one can remember. The kelpie. ..."

2. Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1900)
"THE kelpie. The kelpie that swells torrents and devours women and children has no ... The Water-horse haunts lochs, the kelpie streams and torrents. ..."

3. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"According to some stories the kelpie was so named because he lurked among the kelpie or sea-weed, which grows very nigh and tangled in many parts along the ..."

4. The Celtic Magazine by Alexander Mackenzie, Alexander Macgregor, Alexander Macbain (1887)
"THE water-kelpie is a personification of the power of streams, lakes, ... But whether the water-kelpie of our tales is a native Celtic growth or not, ..."

5. Low Tide on Grand Pré and Ballads of Lost Haven: Two Volumes in One by Bliss Carman (1897)
"... THE kelpie RIDERS BURIED alive in calm Rochelle, Six in a row by a crystal well, All Summer long on Bareau Fen Slumber and sleep the kelpie men; ..."

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