Mermaids were supernatural sea creatures, their lower half being a fish’s tail and the upper half a woman, usually with very long blond hair. To see a mermaid was a sign of bad luck, and like witches, they were also considered to be evil, causing natural events like storms and floods, though in some stories they helped people in difficulties. As mythical creatures, they occur worldwide and have been linked to the sirens of ancient Greek mythology. Stories and legends about mermaids crop up all round the coast of Britain, with several from Cornwall.
The lure of the mermaid
On the Cornish Atlantic coast, just west of St Ives, lies the small village of Zennor, where in times past the inhabitants made a living from farming, fishing, mining and quarrying. Nowadays, tourism is predominant, and the attractions include a Museum of Cornish Life and the romance of the mermaid legend. What was probably a much older story was first published in 1873 by William Bottrell, an early collector of folklore, in his book Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall.
It began with a beautiful and richly dressed young woman attending local churches – sometimes Zennor, sometimes Morvah, 5 miles along the coast. Her visits were irregular, but she always enchanted the congregation with her fine looks and exquisite singing. Nobody knew where she came from, and as the years passed, they puzzled over why she did not age. When she took notice of a young man called Mathey or Mathew Trewella, the best singer in the parish, he followed her after one service, and neither of them were seen again.
The story might have ended there, but for an incident some years later. A ship dropped anchor off the coast nearby, and shortly afterwards a mermaid swam alongside and hailed the ship. She told the captain that she was returning from church but could not reach her children, because his anchor was resting on the door of her dwelling. Mindful that the appearance of a mermaid was a bad omen, the crew hurriedly raised the anchor and moved the ship.
When the story reached the people of Zennor, they realised who the mysterious young woman had been, and in commemoration, they carved her likeness as a mermaid on a piece of oak kept in the church. That, at least, is the legend!
Mermaid bench end from Zennor
At the church of St Senara in Zennor, only two original bench ends survive. On one is carved a mermaid holding a mirror and a comb, an image which is also known from other bench ends in some inland churches. It probably had a pagan origin, though the Christian interpretation is that it symbolises vanity. The Zennor story was most likely invented to make sense of the old carving in the church once its original use as a bench end had been forgotten. The church, with its legendary carving, is now much visited by tourists.
Belief in the existence of mermaids was once widespread, and debates about whether they were real or mythical continued well into the 19th century. Various forgeries were exhibited, and sightings of creatures thought to be mermaids were frequently published. In 1829 it was reported in the Royal Cornwall Gazette that the famous scientist, Sir Humphry Davy, had joined the argument:
Mermaids– Sir Humphry Davy proves that such an animal as the mermaid cannot possibly exist. ‘Wisdom and order,’ he says, ‘are found in all the works of God, and the parts of animals are always adapted to certain ends consistent with the analogy of nature; and a human head, hands and breasts are wholly inconsistent with a fish’s tail.’
He went on to point out the difficulties such a creature might face if living in the sea, and then added: ‘Such an animal, if created, could not long exist.’ This appeared in the newspaper in January 1829, taken from Davy’s book on fly fishing, which had been published the previous year. By a strange irony, a few weeks after this newspaper piece Davy suffered a stroke. He never properly recovered and died three months later at the age of 50.
For various monsters of the deep, see the piece we wrote for the LLoyd’s Register Foundation called ‘Here Be Monsters’ here.