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Treated as a female pet name, Nessie is a humorous or affectionate appellation for the Loch Ness monster. (Coined in 1933, the expression Loch Ness monster designates a large creature said to live in the deep waters of Loch Ness, in Inverness-shire, Scotland.)
—Cf. also nineteenth-century deriding of the Loch Ness monster.
The name Nessie is composed of:
– Ness in Loch Ness;
– the suffix -ie, used to form pet names.
The earliest occurrences of the name Nessie that I have found date from January 1934 and are related to a drawing competition organised by the Daily Record and Mail (Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland). That newspaper announced the competition as follows on Friday 29th December 1933 [page 1, column 3]:
CAN YOU DRAW THE MONSTER?
PRIZES OFFERED.
No Art Skill Necessary.What is your idea of what the Loch Ness monster should be like—that is, if it is a monstrosity? Let your imagination run riot in drawing your conception.
Ability to draw will not be taken into consideration. The competition will be judged by our competition staff solely on the degree of fantasy displayed.
A first prize of a guinea and two prizes of ten shillings will be awarded for the best imaginative efforts.
Tell your children to enter.
Address your entries to
“Monster,”
“Daily Record,”
67 Hope Street,
Glasgow,
and send them in time to reach us by Tuesday morning.
The first two occurrences of the name Nessie that I have found are from the Daily Record and Mail (Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland):
1-: Of Thursday 4th January 1934 [page 5]:
“NESSIE” AS OUR READERS IMAGINE HER!
A few entries from our Loch Ness Monster Competition, which has produced probably the most fantastic crop of drawings ever assembled at one time. The decorative artists are represented below, but in to-morrow’s page the humourists [sic] come into their own.
2-: Of Friday 5th January 1934 [page 7]:
“NESSIE” THE HUMORISTS HAVE A SHOT AT HER!
A second batch of the highly original drawings entered for our Loch Ness Monster Competition. Now laugh these off!
The name Nessie then occurred in the following two texts, published in the Daily Record and Mail (Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland) of Monday 8th January 1934:
1-: [This Morning’s Gossip: page 13, column 5]:
Outclassed.
An item of news from Russia, if it ever gets to the Loch Ness monster’s ears, will make her curl up and die. A sea serpent, whose length was estimated at more than 300 feet, has been sighted off the coast near Eupataria [sic] 1. Three Ogpu 2 officials put out to sea to verify the report—and returned, so it is stated, “pale and stuttering.” And “Nessie,” in the whole course of her career, hasn’t induced pallor or succeeded in inspiring a single stutter.
1 Eupatoria is a city of Crimea.
2 In the former USSR, from 1923 to 1934, the Ogpu was the government’s secret-police organisation.
2-: [page 14, column 5]:
FISHY EPISTLE.
Sir,—While swimming in the Firth to-day I came across a page of your valuable paper containing some weird ideas of what “Nessie,” as you call her, looks like.
Poor “Nessie”—I want to tell you that I’m almost sure “Nessie” is my sister.
Some time ago, when my sister and I were much smaller, we were swimming about the Moray Firth, and thought we’d take a short cut through the Caledonian Canal to the West Coast. I never managed to get even the length of Loch Ness, but I lost touch with my sister, and I’m quite convinced it is she who is careering about in Loch Ness.
Poor soul, she’s quite harmless, and I’m sure would be very alarmed if she knew she was causing so much stir in the newspaper world.
I’m getting one of the mermaids to type this letter to you on one of our new “Underwave” typewriters, and will endeavour to get the “Glenagearie” to pick it up and post it in Ardrossan to you.
BASKING SHARK.
Firth of Clyde.
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