Loch Ness Monster x Files

The legendary Loch Ness Monster spotted on camera [REX]

Now previously unpublished documents can reveal that when London put a bounty on landing the Loch Ness Monster in the 1930s, big game hunters were not the only ones sharpening their harpoons for the kill.

In fact, the normally demure Natural History Museums of England and Scotland were also at each other’s throats... over who would get the carcass, while there concern among the newly re-emerging Scottish Nationalist movement that the monster’s dead body might be put on show in London.

The story has been uncovered by Sheffield based author David Clarke for his new book, Britain’s X-traordinary Files.

Clarke already knew about the Nessie Files in Edinburgh but was “astonished” to find another set at the Natural History Museum. “Many influential people, including MPs and famous naturalists like Sir Peter Scott, believed in the existence of Nessie and a lot of pressure were placed on the Scottish Office to give it special protection, ” he says.

Indeed when sightings began again after the war, the Duke of Edinburgh suggested calling in the Royal Navy to solve the mystery.

“During the 1930s the Monster became an important symbol for Scottish Nationalists who wanted the police to protect the creature from big game hunters, ” adds Clarke. “Nessie had become a Scottish icon, a symbol of national identity. There was genuine outrage at the possibility that the corpse of the monster might be taken for display in London.”

By 1934, both the Natural History in Museum in London and the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh wanted Nessie, dead or alive. Yet while Scotland hoped that the bounty hunters could be kept at bay long enough to get new laws passed to protect the creature, London preferred it shot on sight.

The Scottish Office opened a file on the monster in December 1933 after being bombarded with inquiries from the Press.

Shoot him on the spot and send the carcass to us in cold storage

Now “Nessie Files” have also been found at the Natural History Museum, and the recently revealed contents do no favours for Anglo Scottish relations.

In March 1934 an unnamed official at the National History Museum, responding to a question about the museum’s policy on Nessie, made no bones about how they thought bounty hunters should deal with the creature.