Am Fear Liath Mòr

Description

Although there have been many purported encounters with Am Fear Liath Móre, few eyewitnesses have seen the creature. Those who have describe it as an extremely tall figure covered with short hair, or as an unseen presence that causes uneasy feelings in people who climb the mountain. Other eyewitnesses describe it as a large humanoid standing over ten feet tall and having olive toned skin with long arms and broad shoulders. Evidence of the existence of this creature is limited to various sightings and a few photographs of unusual footprints. Due to its abnormal size compared to other ape-like beings, ctrypozoologists have placed it under a separate group consisting of similar primates aptly named "True Giants", a term coined by cryptozoologist Mark A. Hall. It is traditionally seen as a supernatural being, but Am Fear Liath Mòr has been compared to the Yeti of the Himalaya and the Sasquatch or Bigfoot of North America. References to wild 'Greymen' in Scotland and similar creatures elsewhere in Europe, sometimes called Wudewas or 'Wood Men', date back to the 13th century, and are believed by some to represent relict hominids.

Sightings

The first recorded encounter with Am Fear Liath Mòr was reported in 1891 but wasn't made public until 1925. In 1925, the noted climber J. Norman Collie recounted a terrifying experience he had endured while alone near the summit of Ben MacDhui some 35 years before. "I began to think I heard something else than merely the noise of my own footsteps. For every few steps I took I heard a crunch, and then another crunch as if someone was walking after me but taking steps three or four times the length of my own." Collie was unable to make out the source of the noises because of mist, and continued "... [as] the eerie crunch, crunch, sounded behind me, I was seized with terror and took to my heels, staggering blindly among the boulders for four or five miles."

Collie's account was reported in the local press and followed by a correspondence on the subject. Norman G. Forbes reported that he had heard a mysterious clanking noise while climbing Braeriach in summer mist. It proved to be two deer. He noted that the Cairngorms “have an uncanny power of inducing a feeling of eeriness” and "the mind, alone in lonely places, creates many things out of its imagining".

However, some climbers have also reported similar experiences, many describing uncontrollable feelings of fear and panic, some seeing a huge grey figure behind them, and others only hearing sounds. For example, in 1904 climber Hugh D. Welsh heard unexplained "slurring footsteps" near the summit of Ben Macdhui and had "an eerie feeling of apprehension", while in 1945 Peter Densham, a mountaineer and rescue worker, heard “a crunching noise” and was “overcome by a feeling of apprehension” and in 1948 Richard Frere, a climber, wrote about his sense of “a Prescence, utterly abstract but intensely real” on the mountain and heard “an intensely high singing note”.

Explanations

Illusions, hallucinations or misinterpretation of natural stimulus brought on by exhaustion or isolation have been proposed by psychologists. Infrasound, which can be generated by wind, can cause feelings of uneasiness and anxiety in some people and is frequently connected to paranormal sightings.

An optical illusion known as the Brocken spectre is a plausible explanation for some visual elements of the Big Grey Man legend. A Brocken spectre, "mountain spectre" can occur in certain atmospheric conditions when the sun is at a particular angle. The subject's shadow can be cast onto a cloud bank around them, creating the illusion of a large shadowy humanoid figure.

British mountaineer Frank Smythe stated he had observed his shadow cast as a Brocken Spectre across the mist on Ben Macdhui.

Popular Culture

The Fear Liath is referenced in Captive, the first book in K.M. Fawcett's Survival Race series. In the book it's revealed that the Fear Liath is a member of an alien species called Hyboreans.