Webster's 1913 Dictionary
KELPIE; KELPY
Kel "pie, Kel "py, n.; pl. Kelpies. Etym: [Cf. Gael. cailpeach,calpach, colpach, a heifer, steer, colt, colpa a cow or horse. ] (Scotch Myth. )
Defn: An imaginary spirit of the waters, horselike in form, vulgarly believed to warn, by preternatural noises and lights, those who are to be drowned. Jamieson.
New American Oxford Dictionary
kelpie
kel pie |ˈkelpē ˈkɛlpi | ▶noun 1 a water spirit of Scottish folklore, typically taking the form of a horse, reputed to delight in the drowning of travelers. 2 a sheepdog of an Australian breed with a smooth coat, originally bred from a Scottish collie. ORIGIN late 17th cent.: perhaps from Scottish Gaelic cailpeach, colpach ‘bullock, colt. ’ Sense 2 apparently comes from the name of a particular bitch, King's Kelpie ( c. 1879 ).
Oxford Dictionary
kelpie
kelpie |ˈkɛlpi | ▶noun 1 a water spirit of Scottish folklore, typically taking the form of a horse and reputed to delight in the drowning of travellers. 2 a sheepdog of an Australian breed with a smooth coat, originally bred from a Scottish collie. ORIGIN late 17th cent.: perhaps from Scottish Gaelic cailpeach, colpach ‘bullock, colt ’. Sense 2 apparently comes from the name of a particular bitch, King's Kelpie ( c. 1879 ).
The Wordsmith Dictionary