kelpie
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
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The dog breed derives from the name shared by the first two breeding bitches (dam and pup), which name derives from the mythological spirit.
Noun
kelpie (plural kelpies)
- (Celtic mythology) A malevolent shapeshifting spirit, most often in the form of a horse, believed to haunt the rivers and lochs of Scotland.
- 1828, James Hogg, The Brownie of the Black Haggs:
- He was a boy in form, and an antediluvian in feature. Some thought he was a mule, between a Jew and an ape; some a wizard, some a kelpie, or a fairy, but most of all, that he was really and truly a Brownie.
- An Australian breed of sheepdog.
- 1979, Thea Astley, Hunting the Wild Pineapple, Nelson, page 28:
- There was no sound but the endless noise of forest and river, and the sleep-whimper of his kelpie.
- 1993, Tim Winton, Land's Edge, Picador, published 2014, page 4:
- Gulls scatter before the blur of my insane kelpie.
Translations
spirit
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sheepdog
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