Fitheach

Ceud Mìle Fàilte

Thank you for dropping-by, I hope you enjoy your visit. The main content is to be found in the blog, where I discuss everything and anything, but, topics including: photography, nature, technology, food, movies, music, politics, and life in the Highlands of Scotland, make regular appearances.

I commonly write reviews of movies (or films, if you prefer). Some movie reviews are short, others will be discussed in more detail. The scope covered will be mainly mainstream English language movies from the 1930s until the present day.

About me

My name is Iain MacDonald, and I live in the Highlands of Scotland (although I have lived elsewhere in the past). I use Fitheach as my online pseudonym, on this website, on Mastodon, and on Matrix. I am a big fan of Free & Open Source Software, which I use both professionally and at home.

Computing and technology tend to infuse themselves into my other interests, as once you learn some skills in one area it is convenient to use them to solve problems in other spheres.

When not tinkering with computers, I am likely to be found repairing things because living in the countryside you learn to be resourceful.

Of course, man doesn't live by SSH tunnels and kerosene vapour burners alone, so, food, as a subject, makes regular appearances, too.

My latest Life articles

My most recent ramblings can be found in the Life section.

My latest Mastodon posts

Mastodon is a microblogging app that is part of the decentralised web known as The Fediverse. See this article for more details.

Fitheach

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:43:05 +0000

"This'll save a few pounds on granny's goodbye."

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Tue, 08 Sep 2026 12:18:29 +0000

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I'll draw your attention back to the screengrab in the first post of this thread. The quote from the Daily Mail came from October 19th, 1933. This was just after the Mackay and Spicers sightings, and just before the Gray sighting.

Research for the movie, at Loch Ness, was conducted by the movie writers in December '33. The movie was completed, and released in May 1934.

Clearly, the film makers were keen to capitalise on the recent media interest.

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Tue, 08 Sep 2026 11:47:59 +0000

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For around 1,400 years sightings of were infrequent, or, at least, not often recorded. The upgrading (1930s) of the A82 road from Fort Augustus to Inverness resulted in an increase of traffic, and of sightings.

In particular (and of import to this thread), were the Aldie Mackay, Spicers, and Hugh Gray sightings of 1933. The three sets of sightings, at fairly close quarters, created a media frenzy of interest in the monster.

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Tue, 08 Sep 2026 11:02:51 +0000

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That doesn't sound very much like the modern day Nessie.

Water beasts were common in Celtic mythology. This isn't surprising as rivers, lochs and the seas were all around. Some beasts were benevolent, and others (most) were evil.

The best known of these beasts now are the kelpies or each-uisge (literally water horse). They have shape-shifting powers and can appear human, although they usually look horse-like. They entice women into the water, and devour children.

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Tue, 08 Sep 2026 09:06:40 +0000

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The first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness monster was around 565AD, when St. Columba had an encounter when he was on his way to convert the Picts to Christianity. Unusually, the "water beast" was sighted in the River Ness, presumably close to Inverness. Nessie had already killed one Pict, and was about to do the same to one of Columba's followers when the saint made a sign of the cross & told the monster to flee.

movies

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Mon, 07 Sep 2026 21:12:12 +0000

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This might be interesting.

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