| 释义 |
▪ I. kelpie1, kelpy Sc.|ˈkɛlpɪ|
[Of uncertain etym.; Gael. calpa, cailpeach, bullock, heifer, colt, has been suggested, but positive evidence is wanting.]
The Lowland Scottish name of a fabled water-spirit or demon assuming various shapes, but usually appearing in that of a horse; it is reputed to haunt lakes and rivers, and to take delight in, or even to bring about, the drowning of travellers and others. Also water-kelpie.
The beliefs relating to the kelpie are essentially the same as those connected with the Danish and Norw. nøkken, and the Icel. nykur or nennir; but in Scotland the kelpie was sometimes held to render assistance to millers by keeping the mill going during the night.
1747Collins Pop. Superst. Highlands 137 Drowned by the kelpie's wroth. 1792Burns Let. to Cunningham 10 Sept., Be thou a kelpie, haunting the ford or ferry. 1805Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxiii, But the Kelpy rung, and the Mermaid sung, The dirge of lovely Rosabelle. 1813Hogg Queen's Wake 192 The darksome pool..Was now no more the kelpie's home. 1881Gregor Folk-lore 66 (E.D.D.) The wife..tried to dissuade him under the fear that Kelpie would carry him off to his pool.
▪ II. kelpie2 Austral.|ˈkɛlpɪ|
[f. the name of an early specimen of the breed.]
A smooth-coated, prick-eared, Australian sheep-dog, which may be black, black-and-tan, blue, or red; first bred from imported Scottish collies about 1870.
1907R. Leighton New Bk. Dog 472/2 The Kelpie..is not perhaps an example of high, scientific breeding; but he is a useful, presentable dog. 1934Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Feb. 40/2 Lassie was, like all kelpies, highly strung, with brains under her broad, thin-boned skull. 1946[see barb n.3 3]. 1971F. Hamilton World Encycl. Dogs 74 Kelpies were bred back in the early days of settlement from the Collie type dogs which came to Australia with the early farmers. 1972Southerly XXXII. 9 A kelpie and a blue cattle dog had raced to meet them, barking frantically. |