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Kelpies & Water horses
Let there be no mistake: kelpies and water horses are not the same, even though they are often confused. But they are most certainly not. One is more of a nuisance while the other is a lethal, yet very seductive creature. Their habitats are not the same; their purpose in life even less.
The water horse is a highland creature, residing in lochs and at sea. Close to Rannoch Station there is a loch where such an animal lived: Loch Eigheach. In Gaelic it was called each uisge and it was uttered with fear. Many Highland tales tell of the most gorgeous horses, grazing innocently on the pasture. When passers-by (grown-ups and children alike) touched or worse, climbed its back, the horse would run towards the loch with its victims glued to it. The only thing to surface the water again was the liver. 
It could even take human shape, usually as a handsome man out to seduce innocent women, but in The Quarterer and the Lengor, it took the shape of an evil woman.
When the water horse was stripped of its bridle, it was powerless and it became a regular, yet strong working horse. But never put the bridle back on, or it will race back to its loch, usually taking a few victims with it.
The kelpie is quite another matter. It favoured running water, the faster the better. It lived in Lowland streams and rivers where it would cause trouble for those trying to row their boats across the water. 
The kelpie would roar and splash the water, making it difficult to keep a boat steady. It did not intend to kill, but merely enjoyed irritating people.
The most famous kelpies now reside in Falkirk along the banks of the canal in the "Helix" park. It took eight years of planning, but in October 2013 they were finally completed. They were inaugurated in April 2014: the gigantic kelpie heads. 
Measuring a staggering thirty metres, the steal heads are the tallest equine statues in the world. The sculptor Andy Scott modelled them on the heavy horses previously working along the canal.
More information can be found over here.
