The story of this Scottish cryptid dates back to the 1100s. An ancient legend told of a terrifying huge man-eating worm that frightened people in the village of Linton, Roxburghshire, in the southern highlands of Scotland.
According to legends, the Linton worm was quite large and reached 3-4 meters in length, the dimensions are certainly not particularly gigantic, but very large for a worm or even a snake. And if it was a real creature, these dimensions virtually exclude any known British animal - wild or domestic - that could be the source of these legends.
Also, the legends said that the worm had two houses or two lairs. One of them was in the middle of an area called Linton Loch - a small swampy area, the perfect place for a monster to hide from people. His other abode was at Linton Hill, which even today is sometimes called the Worm's Den.
Linton Loch these days.
This animal, apparently, could swim and also move on land, and also, besides the fact that he ate people, he ate everything he stumbled upon: cows, sheep, pigs, vegetables - everything was food for the monster. It was only natural that the people of Linton were constantly in a state of intense fear. People were afraid to leave their homes once again, and doors and windows were always locked. Even farmers tried to be at home more often than to work in the fields.
This continued until a man named John de Somerville appeared in Linton. He is also known as Laird Lariston. When John decided to kill the worm, a local blacksmith forged a razor-sharp spear for him. During the battle with the monster, John drove this spear into the very throat of the worm.
In agony, the worm rushed into its lair and furiously wriggled its whole body, crawling over the hills. When he reached Linton Hill, he hid in his burrow underground and was never heard or seen again.
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After this battle, a bas-relief was erected on the local church in honor of the victory over the worm. Nowadays, there is little to be seen on this bas-relief; only the general outlines of objects are visible.
On it you can see a rider in armor on a horse, which with a long thick spear hits some creature in an open mouth. Next to the worm, the outlines of another living creature are visible, as it is believed - a lamb.
Today Linton is visited mainly by tourists and the legends about the huge worm have become an important part of local folklore. But who this worm or snake was is difficult to understand. Maybe a reptile from the time of the dinosaurs that survived to the human era?