HISTORY OF THE MERMAID

The Web's most complete source for cited information regarding the history of merfolk.

First Century AD:

"In the time that Tiberius was Emperour, there came unto him an Embassador from Ulyssipon, sent of purpose to make relation, That upon their sea coast there was discovered within a certain hole, a certain sea goblin, called Triton, sounding a shell like a Trumpet or Cornet: & that he was in forme and shape like those that are commonly painted for Tritons. And for the Meremaids called Nereides, it is no fabulous tale that goeth of them: for looke how painters draw them, so they are indeed: only their bodie is rough and skaled all over, even in those parts wherin they resemble a woman. For such a Meremaid was seene, and beheld plainely upon the same coast neere to the shore: and the inhabitants dwelling neer, heard it a farre off, when it was a dying, to make piteous mone, crying and chattering very heavily. Moreover, a lieutenant or governour under Augustus Cæsar in Gaule, advertised him by his letters, That many of these Nereides or Meremaids were seene cast upon the sands, and lying dead. I am able to bring forth for mine authors divers knights of Rome, right worshipfull persons and of good credite, who testifie that in the coast of the Spanish Ocean neere unto Gades, they have seene a Mere-man, in every respect resembling a man as perfectly in all parts of the bodie as might bee. And they report moreover, that in the night season he would come out of the sea abourd their ships: but look upon what part soever he setled, he waied the same downe, and if he rested and continued there any long time, he would sinke it cleane. "

-- Pliny the Elder

Fifth Century AD:

Physiologus in his Bestiary describes the real mermaid with the upper body of a woman and the lower of a fish, split at about the navel. The book is a study of animals and their natures and remains influential until the 18th century.

558:

A mermaid is caught in Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland. Three hundred years earlier she had been a little girl named Liban, whose family died in a flood. She lived for a year beneath the waves, gradually being transformed into a mermaid. The mermaid eventually gave herself away by singing beneath the waves. She was overheard, and a party of men rowed into the lake and caught her in a net. They called her Murgen, which means "sea born," and displayed her in a tank of water for everyone to see. She was baptized, and when she died, she was called St. Murgen. Many miracles were attributed to her.

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

1167:

''At Orford, Suffolk, in 1167, Men fishing in the sea caught in their nets a wild man. He was naked and was like a man in all his members, covered with hair and with a long shaggy beard. He eagerly ate whatever was brought to him but if it was raw he pressed it between his hands until all the juice was expelled. He would not talk, even when tortured and hung up by his feet. Brought into church, he showed no signs of reverence or belief. He sought his bed at sunset and always remained there until sunrise.

He was allowed to go into the sea, strongly guarded with three lines of nets, but he dived under the nets and came up again and again. Eventually he came back of his own free will. But later on he escaped and was never seen again."

-- The abbot Ralph Coggeshall, 1207

c. 1250:

"A monster is seen also near Greenland, which people call the Margygr. This creature appears like a woman as far down as her waist, with breast and bosom like a woman, long hands, and soft hair, the neck and head in all respects like those of a human being. The hands seem to people to be long, and the fingers not to be parted, but united by a web like that on the feet of water-birds. From the waist downwards, this monster resembles a fish, with scales, tail and fins. This prodigy is believed to show itself especially before heavy storms. The habit of this creature is to dive frequently and rise again to the surface with fishes in its hands. When sailors see it playing with the fish, or throwing them towards the ship, they fear that they are doomed to lose several of the crew; but when it casts the fish, or, turning from the vessel, flings them away from her, then the sailors take it as a good omen that they will not suffer loss in the impending storm. This monster has a very horrible face, with broad brow and piercing eyes, a wide mouth, and double chin."

-- Speculum Regale

1398:

"She is a beast of the sea, wonderfully shapen as a maid from the navel upward and a fish from the navel downward. With sweetness of song she maketh shipmen to sleep. Then she goeth into the ship and bringeth one out into a dry place. And she maketh him lie with her and if he will not or may not she slayeth him and eateth his flesh. ... But the truth is that they are strong whores" who lead men "to poverty and to mischief."

-- Bartholomew Angelicus, in his book De Propietatibus Rerum, published in 1398

1403:

According to Petit's work, the Low Country Commonwealth, as translated by Ed. Grimston in 1609, a "wyld woman" was washed through a broken dike and was found by some milkmaids. "She suffered herself to be cloathed, fed with bread, milk, and other meats, and would often strive to steal again into the sea, but being carefully watched she could not: moreover she learned to spin, and perform other petty offices of women; but at the first they cleansed her of the sea-moss which did stick about her. She was brought from Edam to Harlem, where she would obey her Mistris, and (as she was taught) kneel down with her before the crucifix, never spake, but lived dumb and continued alive (as some say) fifteen years; then she died."

1531:

"Another creature of the same species was captured in the Baltic in 1531, and sent as a present to Sigismund, King of Poland, with whom it lived three days, and was seen by all the Court."

-- Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, M.A., 1868

1560:

"In 1560, near the island of Mandar, on the west of Ceylon, some fishermen entrapped in their net seven mermen and mermaids, of which several Jesuits, and Father Henriques, and Bosquez, physician to the Viceroy of Goa, were witnesses. The physician examined them with a great deal of care, and dissected them. He asserts that the internal and external structure resembled that of human beings."

-- Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, M.A., 1868

1608, June 15:

"This morning, one of our companie looking over board saw a mermaid, and calling up some of the companie to see her, one more came up, and by that time shee was close to the ship's side, looking earnestly upon the men: a little after, a Sea came and overturned her: From the Navill upward, her backe and breasts were like a woman's.., her body as big as one of us; her skin very white; and long haire hanging down behinde, of colour blacke; in her going down they saw her tayle, which was like the tayle of a Porposse, and speckled like a Macrell."

-- Henry Hudson, near the coast of Nova Zembla, writing in his journal

1610:

"Now also I will not omit to relate some thing of a strange Creature, which I first saw there in the yeere 1610, in a morning early, as I was standing by the water side, in the Harbour of Saint Iohns, which very swiftly came swimming towards mee, looking cheerfully, as it had been a woman: by the face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, eares, necke, and forehead, it seemed to bee so beautifull, and in those parts so well proportioned, hauing round about vpon the head, all blew strakes, resembling hayre, downe to the Necke, (but certainly it was no haire), yet I beheld it long, and another of my company also yet liuing, that was not then farre from mee, saw the same comming so swiftly towards me: at which I stepped backe; for it was come within the length of a long Pike. Which when this strange Creature saw, that I went from it, it presently thereupon diued a little vnder water, and did swim towards the place before I landed; whereby I beheld the shoulders & back down to the middle, to be so square, white and smooth as the backe of a man; and from the middle to the hinder part, it was poynting in pro- [/D4/]portion something like a broad hooked Arrow: how it was proportioned in the forepart from the necke and shoulders, I could not well discerne; but it came shortly after, to a Boat in the same Harbour (wherein one William Hawkridge then my seruant was,) that hath been since a Captaine in a Ship to the East Indies, and is lately there so imployed againe by Sir Thomas Smith, in the like voyage; and the same Creature did put both his hands vpon the side of the Boat, and did striue much to come in to him, and diuers then in the same Boat; whereat they were afraid, and one of them strucke it a full blow on the head, whereby it fell off from them: and afterwards it came to two other Boates in the said Harbour, where they lay by the shore: the men in them, for feare fled to land. This (I suppose) was a Marmaid. Now because diuers haue writ much of Maremaids, I haue presumed to relate what is most certaine, of such a strange Creature that was thus then seene at New-found-land, whether it were a Maremaid or no, I know not; I leaue it for others to iudge."

-- Capt. Whitbourne

June 15, 1610:

"This morning, one of our company looking overboard saw a mermaid, and calling up some of the company to see her, one more came up and by that time she was close to the ship's side looking earnestly upon the men. A little after, a sea came up and overturned her.

From the navel upward, her back and breasts were like a woman's, her body as big as one of us; her skin very white, with long black hair hanging down her back. When the mermaid finally went down under the waves, her tail was observed, which was like that of a porpoise and speckled like a mackerel. Their names that saw her were Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner."

-- Henry Hudson, writing in his journal on June 15, 1610

Of this incident the eminent Victorian naturalist Philip Grosse remarked, "Seals and walruses must have been as familiar to those polar mariners as cows to a milkmaid. Unless the whole story was a concocted lie between the two men, reasonless and objectless, and the worthy old navigator doubtless knew the character of his men, they must have seen some form of being as yet unrecognized."

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

1614:

Captain John Smith, while off the coast of Massachusetts, sees a mermaid. He writes that "the upper part of her body perfectly resembled that of a woman, and she was swimming about with all possible grace near the shore." It had "large eyes, rather too round, a finely shaped nose (a little too short), well-formed ears, rather too long, and her long green hair imparted to her an original character by no means unattractive." Smith continued, saying that he had "already begun to experience the first effects of love" when the creature rolled suddenly, revealing that "from below the waist the woman gave way to the fish."

1688:

The Aberdeen Chronicle claimed that mermaids can be seen and heard singing hymns at the mouth of Scotland’s River Dee on May 1, 13 and 29.

1700:

Christian missionaries in Africa were deeply concerned when they discovered, in 1700, that native Angolans were catching mermaids and eating them. The discovery raised a nagging theological question: since mermaids are at least half-human, should acts of cannibalism against them be punishable by the Church?

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

Very late 1600's:

"About two years and a half or three years ago, there was a boat passing with several gentlemen of the Country in it, and by way of the Voe of Quarf, through which they went, there appeared something unto them with its head above the water, which as they could discern had the face of an old Man, with a long bear hanging down; first it appeared at some distance from them, and then coming nearer to their boat, they had a clear sight of it; the sight was so strange and affrighting, that all in the Boat were very desirous to be on land, the day was fair and the sea calm; a gentleman declaring, (as a minister in the company with them, and saw this sight informed me), that he never saw the like, tho he had travelled through many seas.”

--John Brand,  A New Description of Orkney, Zetland, Pight- land, Firth, and Caithness

Very late 1600's:

“About five years hence, a boat at the Fishing drew her lines, and one of them, as the Fishers thought, having some great fish upon it, was with greater difficulty than the rest raised from the Ground, but when raised it came more easily to the surface of the water upon which a creature like a woman presented itself at the side of the boat, it had the face, Arms , breasts, shoulders etc. of a woman, and long hair hanging down the back, but the nether part from below the breasts, was beneath the water, so that they could not understand the shape thereof.

The two fishers who were in the boat being surprised at this strange sight, one of them unadvisedly drew a knife, and thrust it into her breast, whereupon she cried, as they judged, Alas, and the hook giving way she fell backwards and was no more seen: The hook being big went in at her chin and out at the upper lip. The man who thrust the knife into her is now dead, and , as was observed, never prospered after this, but was still haunted by an evil spirit, in the appearance of an old man, who, as he thought, used to say to him, “Will ye do such a thing who killed the Woman”.

The other man then in the boat is yet alive in the isle of Burra.

Hence are the accounts given of those Sea Monsters, the Meerman and Meermaids, which have not only been seen but apprehended and kept for some time.”

-- John Brand,  A New Description of Orkney, Zetland, Pight- land, Firth, and Caithness

1717:

"In a splendidly illustrated work with plates coloured by hand, 'Poissons, écrevisses et crabes de diverses couleurs et figures extraordinaires, que l'on trouve autour des Isles Moluques,' dedicated to King George of England, and published by Louis Renard at Amsterdam, in 1717, is a curious account of a mermaid. This book was the result of thirty years labour, in the Indian seas, by Baltazar Coyett, Governor of the Islands of the Province of Amboine and President of the Comissioners in Batavia, and by Adrien Van der Stell, Governor Regent of the Province of Amboine. In the 2nd volume, p. 240, is the picture of a mermaid here reproduced, and the subjoined description :---

'See-wyf. A monster resembling a Siren, caught near the island of Borné, or Boeren, in the Department of Amboine. It was 59 inches long, and in proportion as an eel. It lived on land, in a vat full of water, during four days seven hours. From time to time, it uttered little cries like those of a mouse. It would not eat, though it was offered small fish, shells, crabs, lobsters, &c. After its death, some excrement was discovered in the vat, like the,secretion of a cat." The copy from which I have taken the representation for this work is thus coloured : hair, the hue of kelp; body, olive tint ; webbed olive between the fingers, which have each four joints ; the dringe round the waist orange, with a blue border ; the fins green, face slate-grey ; a delicate row of pink hairs runs the length of the tail."

-- Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, M.A., 1868

Deeply touched by the illustration, the Russian Czar Peter the Great traveled incognito to Amsterdam in 1717 to ask the publisher of 'Poissons, écrevisses et crabes de diverses couleurs et figures extraordinaires, que l'on trouve autour des Isles Moluques' for verification of the facts surrounding the mermaid's captivity.

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

1723:

A Danish Royal Commission set out to lay the [merfolk] issue to rest; if it found merfolk were mere fantasy, then those who continued to speak of them would find themselves in trouble with the law. Free expression about such masters was preserved, however, when members of the commission themselves spotted a merman near the Faroe Islands. On the approach of their ship, it sank into the water but surfaced shortly afterwards to stare intently at them with its deep-set eyes. A few minutes of this scrutiny proved so unsettling that the ship effected a retreat. As it was doing so, the merman puffed out his cheeks and emitted a "deep roar" before diving out of sight.

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

c. 1739:

"The crew of the Halifax, Manly, newly arrived at London from the East Indies, say that in the island Mauritius they ate of the mermaid, and that its taste is not unlike veal. It is a large fish of about three or four hundredweight ; the male having a beard four of five inches long, and the female a short neck and breasts exactly human. When they are first taken, which is often on the grass, they cry and grive with great sensibility. It is amphibious.

They write from Vigo in Spain that some fishermen lately took on that coast a sort of monster, or merman, five foot and a half from its foot to its head, which is like that of a goat. It has a long beard and mustachoes, a black skin somewhat hairy, a very long neck, short arms, and hands longer and bigger than they ought to be in proportion to the rest of the body; long fingers like those of a man, with nails like claws; very long toes, joined like the feet of a duck, and the heels furnished with fins resembling the winged feet with which painters represent Mercury. It has also a fin at the lower end of its back, which is twelve inches long and fifteen or sixteen broad."

-- Scots Magazine, 1739, i. 183

c. 1752:

"About a mile from the coast of Denmark, near Landscrona, three sailors, observing something like a dead body floating in the water, rowed towards it. When they came within seven or eight fathoms, it still appeared as at first, for it had not stirred; but at that instant it sank, and came up almost immediately in the same place. Upon this, out of fear, they lay still, and then let the boat float, that they might the better examine the monster, which, by the help of the current, came nearer and nearer to them. He turned his face and stared at them, which gave them a good opportunity of examining him narrowly. He stood in the same place for seven or eight minutes, and was seen above the water breast-high. At last they grew apprehensive of some danger, and began to retire; at which the monster blew up his cheeks and made a kind of lowing noise, and then dived from their view. In regard to his form, they declare in their affidavits, which were regularly taken and recorded, that he appeared like an old man, strong limbed, with broad shoulders, but his arms they could not see. His head was small in proportion to his body, and had short, curled black hair, which did not reach below his ears; his eyes lay deep in his head, and he had a meagre face, with a black beard; about the body downwards, this merman was quite pointed like a fish."

-- Bishop Erik Pontoppidan, Natural History of Norway

1761 June:

"The Mercure de France, for April 1762, relates, that in the month of June 1761, two girls of the island of Noirmontier, seeking shells in the creavices of the rocks, discovered, in a kind of natural grotto, an animal of a human form, leaning on its hands. One of the girls, having a long knife, struck it into the animal, which, upon being wounded, groaned like a human person. The two girls cut off its hands, which had fingers and nails quite formed, with webs between the fingers. The surgeon of the island, who went to see it, says it was as big as the largest man; that its skin was white, resembling that of a drowned person; that it had the breasts of a full-chested woman; a flat nose; a large mouth; the chin adorned with a kind of beard, formed of fine shells; and over the whole body, tufts of similar white shells. It had the tail of a fish, and at the extremity of it a kind of feet."

-- Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Chronicle. From January to June, 1823. Volume XCIII.

c. 1797, According to a letter written by a William Munro to the London Times, published in its September 8, 1809 edition:

"About twelve years ago when I was Parochial Schoolmaster at Reay, in the course of my walking on the shore of Sandside Bay, being a fine warm day in summer, I was induced to extend my walk towards Sandside Head, when my attention was arrested by the appearance of a figure resembling an unclothed human female, sitting upon a rock extending into the sea, and apparently in the action of combing its hair, which flowed around its shoulders, and of a light brown colour. The resemblance which the figure bore to its prototype in all its visible parts was so striking, that had not the rock on which it was sitting been dangerous for bathing, I would have been constrained to have regarded it as really an human form, and to an eye unaccustomed to the situation, it must have undoubtedly appeared as such. The head was covered with hair of the colour above mentioned and shaded on the crown, the forehead round, the face plump. The cheeks ruddy, the eyes blue, the mouth and lips of a natural form, resembling those of a man; the teeth I could not discover, as the mouth was shut; the breasts and abdomen, the arms and fingers of the size in which the hands were employed, did not appear to be webbed, but as to this I am not positive. It remained on the rock three or four minutes after I observed it, and was exercised during that period in combing its hair, which was long and thick, and of which it appeared proud, and then dropped into the sea, which was level with the abdomen, from whence it did not reappear to me, I had a distinct view of its features, being at no great distance on an eminence above the rock on which it was sitting, and the sun brightly shining.

Immediately before its getting into its natural element it seemed to have observed me, as the eyes were directed towards the eminence on which I stood. It may be necessary to remark, that previous to the period I beheld the object, I had heard it frequently reported by several persons, and some of them person whose veracity I never heard disputed, that they had seen such a phenomenon as I have described, though then, like many others, I was not disposed to credit their testimony on this subject. I can say of a truth, that it was only by seeing the phenomenon, I was perfectly convinced of its existence.

If the above narrative can in any degree be subservient towards establishing the existence of a phenomenon hitherto almost incredible to naturalists, or to remove the scepticism of others, who are ready to dispute everything which they cannot fully comprehend, you are welcome to it from,

Dear Sir,

Your most obliged, and most humble servant,

WILLIAM MUNRO"

c. 1797:

In 1797 a Dr. Chisholm visited the tiny island of Berbice in the Caribbean. He spent time with Governor Van Battenburgh and others who told him of repeated sightings, in the island's rivers, of strange creatures known to Indians as mene mamma (mother of waters). In his 1801 book Malignant Fever in the West Indies, Chisholm wrote:

" I probably hazard the implication of credulity by the following note:—In the year 1707, happening to be at Govenor Van Battenburgh's plantation, in Berbice, the conversation turned on a singular animal which had been repeatedly seen in Berbice river, and some smaller rivers. This animal is the famous Mermaid, hitherto considered as a mere creature of the imagination. It is called by the Indians mene mamma, or mother of the waters. The description given of it by the Governor is as follows:—The upper portion resembles the human figure, the head smaller in proportion, sometimes bare, but oftener covered with a copious quantity of long black hair. The shoulders are broad, and the breasts large and well formed. The lower portion resembles the tail-portion of a fish, is of immense dimension, the tail forked, and not unlike that of the dolphin, as it is usually represented. The colour of the skin is either black or tawny. The animal is held in veneration and dread by the Indians, who imagine that the killing it would be attended with the most calamitous consequences. It is from this circumstance that none of these animals have been shot, and, consequently, not examined but at, a distance. They have been generally observed in a sitting posture in the water, none of the lower extremity being discovered until they are disturbed; when, by plunging, the tail appears, and agitates the water to a considerable distance round. They have been always seen employed in smoothing their hair, or stroking their faces and breasts with their hands, or something resembling hands. In this posture, and thus employed, they have been frequently taken for Indian women bathing."

1804:

Two girls in Scotland claimed they saw a green-haired mermaid swimming in the sea off Caithness.

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

1807, January 12:

"On January 12, 1809, two women standing on a beach at Sandside, Caithness, in remote northeastern Scotland saw what looked like the face of young woman -- 'round and plump and of a bright pink hue' -- in the sea. It then disappeared into the water, to reappear a short time later. When they were able to observe more of the top part of its body, they could see that it had well-formed human breasts. From time to time it lefted a long, thin white arm above the waves to toss back its long green hair."

-- Jerome Clark, Unexplained! (1999)

October 13, 1811:

In 1811, a young man, named John McIsaac, of Corphine, in Kintyre, in Scotland, made oath, on examination, at Cambletown, before the sheriff-substitute of Kintyre, that he saw, on the afternoon of the 13th of October, in that year, on a black-rock on the sea-coast, an animal, of the particulars of which he gives a long and curious detail.

He states, that the upper half of it was white, and of the shape of a human body; the other half, towards the tail, of a brindled or reddish-grey colour, apparently covered wish scales; but the extremity of the tail itself was of a greenish-red shining colour; that the head was covered with long hair; at times it would put back the hair on both sides of its head; it would also spread its tail like a fan; and, while so extended, the tail continued in tremulous motion, and, when drawn together again, it remained motionless, and appeared to the deponent to be about twelve or fourteen inches broad ; that the hair was long and light brown ; that the animal was between four and five feet long; that it had a head, hair, arms, and body, down to the middle, like a human being; that the arms were short in proportion to the body, which appeared to be about the thickness of that of a young lad, and tapering gradually to the point of the tail; that when stroking its head, as above mentioned, the fingers were kept close together, so that he cannot say whether they were webbed or not; that he saw it for near two hours, the rock on which it lay being dry; that, after .the sea had so far retired as to leave the rock dry to the height of five feet above the water, it tumbled clumsily into the sea; a minute after he observed the animal above water, and then he saw every feature of its face, having all the appearance of a human being, with very hollow eyes.

The cheeks were of the same colour with the rest of the face; the neck seemed short; and it was constantly, with both hands, stroking and washing its breast, which was half immersed in the water; he, therefore, cannot say whether its bosom was formed like a woman's or not. He saw no other fins or feet upon it, but as described. It continued above water for a few minutes, and then disappeared. The Minister of Campbeltown, and the Chamberlain of Mull, attest his examination, and declare that they know no reason why his veracity should be questioned.

-- The London Mirror of November 16, 1822

A Rev. Dr. George Robertson, Rev. Norman MacLeod, and James Maxwell, Esq., Chamberlain of Mull wrote that they were, "satisfied that he was impressed with a perfect belief, that the appearance of the animal he has described was such as he has represented it to be."

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

October 13, 1811:

"In presence of Duncan Campbell Esq., Sheriff-Substitute of the district of Kintyre, compeared Katherine Loynachan, daughter to Lachlan Lonychan, herd in Ballinatunie, who, being examined and declared, That on the afternoon of a Sunday, about three weeks ago [October 13, 1811], she was herding cattle for her father at the seaside. That, as she was turning towards home and being at the time very close to the seaside, she observed some creature sliding upon its belly, off one of the rocks very near her, into the sea; that she observed this creature had a head covered with long hair of a darkish colour; That after sliding from the rock, it dissapeared under the water again, about six yards further out, and turned about with a face to the shore, where the declarant was standing, and having laid one hand, which was like a boy's hand, upon another rock that was near the first rock it came nearer to the shore than it was: That at this time the declarant saw the face of it distinctly which had all the appearance of the face of a child and as white, and at this time the animal was constantly rubbing or washing its breast with one hand, the fingers being close together. Declares that, after this animal continued to look towards the declarant for about half a minute, it swam about and dissapeared, but in a very short time appearing above the water again, and swimming away south towards the farm of Corphine, but soon after disappeared, and the declarant saw it no more. Declares that she thought it was a boy that had fallen out of a vessel passing by, and was swimming inshore for his life upon which she went home in a hurry and told her mother what she saw at the shore as aforesaid."

Campbell interviewed, and secured sword testimony from, the witness's [sic] father, who recalled his daughter's running home to tell him about a strange boy who was swimming along the shore. The father, mother, and daughter all went to look but saw nothing.

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

August 11, 1812:

In 1812, Mr. Toupin, of Exmouth, published the following account of his having seen a Mermaid: "The day (August 11)," says he, " being very fine, I joined a party of ladies and gentlemen in a sailing excursion. When we had got about a mile to the southeast of Exmouth-bar, our attention was suddenly arrested by a very singular noise, by no means unpleasant to the ear, but of which it is impossible to give a correct idea by mere description. It was not, however, unaptly compared by one of our ladies to the wild melodies of the AEolian harp,* combined with a noise similar to that made by a stream of water falling gently on the leaves of a tree. In the mean time we observed something about one hundred yards from us, to windward.  We all imagined it to be some human being, though at the same time we were at a loss to account for this, at such a distance from the shore, and no other boat near. We hailed, but received no reply, and we made toward this creature as soon as possible; when, to the great astonishment of us all, it eluded our pursuit by plunging under water. In a few minutes it rose again, nearly in the same place; and by that time  we had got sufficiently near for one of the boatmen to throw into the water a piece of boiled fish, which he had in his locker. This seemed to alarm the animal, though it soon recovered from its fears, for we presently observed it to lay hold of the fish, which it ate with apparent relish. Several other pieces were thrown out, by which the creature was induced to keep at a short distance from our boat, and afforded us the opportunity of observing it with attention, and found, to our astonishment, that it was no other than a Mermaid. As the sea was calm, and in a great degree transparent, every part of the animal's body became in turn visible. The head, from the crown to the chin, forms rather a long- oval, and the face seems to resemble that of the seal, though, at the same time, it is far more agreeable, possessing a  peculiar softness, which renders the whole set of features very interesting. The upper and back part of the head appeared to be furnished with something like hair, and the forepart of the body with something like down, between a very light fawn and a very pale pink colour, which, at a distance, had the appearance of flesh, and may have given rise to the idea that the body of the Mermaid is, externally, like that of the human being. This creature has two arms, each of which terminates into a hand with four fingers, connected to each other by means of a very thin elastic membrane. The animal used its arms with great agility, and its motions in general were very graceful. From the waist it gradually tapered so as to form a tail, which had the appearance of being covered with strong broad polished scales, which occasionally reflected the rays of the sun in a very beautiful manner; and, from the back and upper part of the neck, down to the loins, the body also appeared covered with short round broad feathers, of the colour of the down on the fore-part of the body. The whole length of the animal, from the crown of the head to the extremity of the tail, was supposed to be about five feet, or five feet and a half. In about ten minutes, from the time we approached, the animal gave two or three plunges, in quick succession, as if it were at play. After this, it gave a sudden spring, and swam away from us very rapidly, and in a few seconds we lost sight of it."

-- The London Mirror of November 16, 1822

Summer 1814:

"Our curiosity has been greatly excited by the appearance of a Mermaid on this coast.

I daresay you will give an incredulous smile; but really we have had such distinct accounts of it from different people, that we can have no doubt of the fact, though we. are all very anxious, you may be sure, to have ocular demonstration.--

The last time she is seen was nearly a fortnight ago; since that the weather has been very stormy. When it settles we may have a chance of seeing, or at least having more accounts of this strange animal, which I hope has not left our shores.

"It is some time since she was first seen, very early one morning, by a lad lying on the shores of Ardsheal. He was at a considerable distance, and thought it was some person hiding himself in the sea weed, with an intention of frightening him, but coming nearer he saw that thought the upper part was like a human being, the lower part was like an immense fish. He was so frightened that he ran off; and when he mentioned what he had seen, people only laughed at him, and thought no more about it. Near a month afterwards some children were gathering blackberries, on the top of a rock immediately above the sea, about a mile further down than Ardsheal; they thought that they saw a soman drowning, and trying to get on the rock; some of them ran home to tell, and the rest staid to see what would become of the woman as they thought; but, on looking more attentively, they discovered that it was not a human being; they gave a very distinct account of what they saw. The upper part was exactly like a woman, the skin appeared very white, and a good deal of colour in the cheeks, and a very darkish looking hair; the arms were very well proportioned above, but tapered very much towards the hands, which were no larger than a child's of eight or 10 years old, the tail was like an immense cuddy fish or scith [?saithe], in colour and shape. By the time the people of the farm came, it was about a gunshot from the shore, sitting quite upright on the water. One of the men proposed to shoot her, but the rest opposed this, so he did not do it; he whistled, on which she turned round, but did not go away; she remained in sight about two hours, at times making a hissing noise like a goose. When she disappeared she laid herself very gently down on the water, and swam away, the head only appearing above the water. She was seen a little distance from the shore twice after this, always early in the morning and when the sea was calm."

The above letter was dated "Ardsheal, Argyllshire 2nd August cut. (14 miles from Fort William)," and appeared in the September 1st, 1814, edition of the York Chronicle.

August 15, 1814:

"To the Editor of the Caledonian Mercury.

Sir -- As the existence of mermaids is a point that had long been disputed iof adhuc sub judice lis est, and as it may contribute in some degree to settle a point of so great importance to the naturalist, I send you the following account, which I received from two fishermen residing at Port Gordon, a small fishing village in that parish, whom I believe to be of undouted veracity, and respectable enough in their station of life. As these men (Thomas Johnstone and William Gordon) were returning from their fishing, about three or four o'clock yesterday afternoon, about a quarter of a mile from the shore, the sea being perfectly calm, they observed, at a small distance from their boat, with its back towards them, and half its body above the water, a creature of a tawney colour, appearing like a man sitting with his body somewhat bent. Surprized at this, they approached towards him till they came within a few yards, when the noise made by the boat occasioned the creature to turn about, which gave the men a better opportunity of observing him. His countenance was swarthy; his hair short and curled, large, and his arms of an extraordinary length. Above the waist he was shaped like a man, but, as the water was clear, my informants could perceive that, from the waist downwards, his body tapered considerably; or, as they expressed it, like a large fish without scales, but they could not see the extremity. The men, however, had not long time to observe him, for, after looking steadfastly at them for about a quarter of a minute, he suddenly dived, but rose again at some distance from the boat, accompanied by another, whom the men supposed to be a female, as they could perceived she had breasts, and her hair was not curled, but reached to a little below the shoulders; the skin of this last one too was fairer than the other's. By this time the men had become considerably alarmed, and made to shore as fast as possible, and for some time they could perceive the mermaids looking after them. Soon after their arrival they called on men, and gave the above account, without the slightest variation, between them; which, if you think proper, I shall be glad to see in your paper as soon as convenient.

I am, Sir, your's, &c.,

Geo. McKenzie, Schoolmaster

School-House of Raffan, Aug. 16, 1814"

-- York Chronicle, 1st Sept., 1814

Autumn 1819:

It must be in the recollection of most persons, that in the autumn of 1819, a creature appeared on the coast of Ireland, about the size of a child of ten years of age, with a bosom as prominent as a girl of sixteen, having long dark hair, and full dark eyes. We shall not transcribe the account, as it will doubtless be well remembered; but it may be right to add, for the satisfaction of those who have not seen it, that a spectator endeavoured to shoot it, but on the report of the musket, it plunged into the sea, with a loud scream.

-- The London Mirror of November 16, 1822

1830, a farm woman in the Outer Hebrides, washing her feet in the sea, saw a fish-like creature that resembled "a woman in miniature" turning somersaults. Several men failed to capture the creature as it splashed away, but a boy struck her in the back with a rock. Days later, its dead body washed up on the shore. Naturally, it attracted a large crowd. A careful examination was performed and documented by local officials. Everyone agreed that this was a mermaid and therefore partly human. As a result, tThe chief magistrate of the island was said to have had a coffin made for the mermaid, which was buried on the shore. The detailed examination of "The Mermaid of Benbecula" was published solemnly in 1900 by the distinguished Gaelic scholar Alexander Carmichael, who reported in his Carmina Gadelic, citing "persons still living who saw and touched this curious creature,"  that "the upper part of the creature was about the size of a well-fed child of three or four...with an abnormally developed breast. The hair was long, dark and glossy, while the skin was white, soft, and tender. The lower part of the body was like a salmon, but without scales."

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

Early July 1833

"In the presence of Arthur Nicholson of Lochend, J.P. -- William Manson, Daniel Manson, John Henderson, residing in Cullivoe in the parish of North Yell, who being sworn deposit -- That, in the beginning of July last, they at the deep-sea fishing from 30 to 60 miles from land, and about midnight took up a creature attached by the back of the neck to a hook, which was about 3 feet long, and bout 30 inches in circumference at tje broadest part, which was across the shoulders. From the navel upwards it resembled a human being -- had breasts as large as those of a woman.

Attached to the side were arms about 9 inches long, with wrists and hands like those of a human being, except that there were webs between the fingers for about half their length. The fingers were in number and shape, like those of a man. The little arms were close on the outsides of the breasts and on the corner of each shoulder was placed a fin of a round form which, when extended, covered both the breasts and the arms.

The animal had a short neck, on which rested a head, about the length of a man's but not nearly so round; and somewhat pointed at the top. It had eyebrows without hair, and eyelids covering two small blue eyes, somewhat like those of a human being -- not like those of a fish. It had no nose, but two orifices for blowing through. It had a mouth so large that when opened wide it would admit a man's fist. It had lips rather thicker than a man's of a pure white color. There was no chin, but they think the lower jaw projected a little further than the upper ones. There were no ears.

The whole front of the animal was covered with skin, white as linen, the back with skin of a light-grey color, like a fish. From the breasts the shape sloped towards the tail close to which was only about 4 inches in circumference. The tail was flat, and consisted of two lobes which, when extended, might be 6 inches together in breadth, and were set at right angles with the face of the creature; it resembled the face of a halibut.

The animal was very nearly round at the shoulders. It appeared to have shoulder bones and a hollow space between them. The diminution of size increased most rapidly from the navel, which might be 9 inches below the breasts. There was between the nostrils a thing that appeared to be a piece of gristle about 9 inches long, and which resembled a thick bristle. There was a similar one on each side of the head, but not so long, which the animal had the power of moving backwards and forwards, and could make them meet on top of the skull.

When the men spoke the animal answered, and moved these bristles, which led them to suppose that the creature heard by means of them. They did not observe what sort of teeth the creature had, nor the parts of generation. There was no hair upon any part of its body which was soft and slimy.

There is an old opinion among fishermen that it is unlucky to kill a mermaid and therefore, after having kept it in the boat for some time, they slipped it.

All of which is the truth, so help me God."

A man who interviewed the boat's skipper as well as the crewmen forwarded an account to Edinburgh University's Natural History Department:

"Not one of the six men dreamed of a doubt of its being a mermaid, and it could not be suggested that they were infulenced by their fears, for the mermaid is not an object of terror to fishermen, it is rather a wecome guest, and danger is apprehended from its experiencing bad treatment. . . . The usual resources of scepticism that the seals and other sea-animals appearing under certain circumstances operating upon an excited imagination and so producing ocular illusion, cannot avail here. It is quite impossible that six Shetland fishermen could commit such a mistake."

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

1857, June 4:

"We, the undersigned, do declare, that on Thursday last, the 4th June 1857, when on our way to the fishing station, Lochindale, in a boat, and when about four miles S.W. from the village of Port Charlotte, being then about 6 p.m., we distinctly saw an object about six yards distant from us in the shape of a woman, with full breast, dark complexion, comely face, and fine hair hanging in ringlets over the neck and shoulders. It was about the surface of the water to about the middle, gazing at us and shaking its head. The weather being fine, we had a full view of it and that for three or four minutes."

-- John Williamson, John Cameron, as reported in Scotland's Shipping Gazette

1870:

"As late as 1870 a man claimed to have spoken with a mermaid near the Bullers of Buchan, a pair of gigantic rocks off the Aberdeenshire coast."

-- Lewis Spence, The Minor Traditions of British Mythology (1972), citing H. (Horace?) Reid's work, Past and Present

1882:

“It is in the Shetland Tales that we hear a great deal of creatures partly more than human, partly less so, which .appear in the interchangeable shape of men and seals. They are said to have often married ordinary mortals, so that there are, even now, some alleged descendants of them, who look upon themselves as superior to common people. The fabulous ancestral forms in question are reckoned among the Trows, or semi-divine figures.

In Shetland, and elsewhere in the North, the sometimes animal-shaped creatures of this myth, but who in reality are human in a higher sense, are called Finns.

Their transfiguration into seals seems to be more a kind of deception they practise. For the males are described as most daring boatmen, with powerful sweep of the oar, who chase foreign vessels on the sea. At the same time they are held to be deeply versed in magic spells and in the healing art, as well as in soothsaying.

By means of a “skin” which they possess, the men and women among them are able to change themselves into seals. But on shore, after having taken off their wrappage, they are, and behave like, real human beings.

Anyone who gets hold of their protecting garment has the Finn in his power. Only by means of the skin can they go back to the water.

Many a Finn woman has got into the power of a Shetlander and borne children to him; but if a Finn woman succeeded in re-obtaining her sea-skin, or seal-skin, she escaped across the water.

Among the older generation in the Northern Isles persons are still sometimes heard of who boast of hailing from the Finns; and they attribute to themselves a peculiar luckiness on account of their higher descent.”

-- Dr. Karl Blind, The Contemporary Review, Volume XL. July-December, 1881

1947:

"But I end up with a report which Mr Calum I. Maclean, of The School of Scottish Studies, was good enough to give me. He told a meeting of The British Association at Glasgow in I958 that an old fisherman of the Hebridean Island of Muck, averred that in 1947 he saw a mermaid. Mr Maclean says that the old fisherman, who died recently, looked up to see a mermaid about twenty yards from the shore, sitting, combing her hair, on a floating herring-box used to preserve live lobsters. Unfortunately, as soon as she looked round, she realized that she had been seen, and plunged into the sea. But no questioning, says Mr Maclean, could shake the  old fisher- man's conviction: he was adamant that he had seen a mermaid. So one never knows!"

-- Sir Arthur Waugh, The Folklore of the Merfolk (1960)

Summer 1978:

In the summer of 1978, Filipino fisherman Jacinto Fetalvero let slip the secret of his recent fish success. One moonlit night he had met a beautiful mermaid, with "amiable bluish eyes, reddish cheeks, and green scales on her tail." She helped him "secure a bountiful catch." A torrent of ridicule ensued, and Fatalvero thereafter refused to discuss the subject.

-- Source unknown. Please contact me if you know where this story came from.

1988:

"ENCOUNTERS WITH STRANGE sea creatures were nothing new to Robert Froster, a thirty-five-year-old professional scuba diver from Australia. Over the years the Aussie had tangled with sea snakes, sharks, poisonous eels, barracuda, and even a giant manta ray. Still, none of his adventures had prepared him for what came charging at him through the clear blue waters of the South Atlantic one afternoon in 1988. Although he survived without a scratch, the ordeal has left him with emotional scars and a deep fear of the sea. Since the incidence he refuses to go back into the water.

   It all began with a request from a friend to help explore and photograph some strange rock formations several miles off the coast of Florida. Froster had probed the shallow continental shelf there several times before, because he too believed that the mysterious undersea formations might be the ruins of an ancient city--perhaps even Atlantis.

   On this particular afternoon, however, Froster was diving alone. He knew he was violating the most sacred rule in his dangerous business--always dive with a buddy--but when his companion had been unable to accompany him on the trip, he decided to go it alone. It was a decision that nearly cost him his sanity--and his life.

   Everything had been going find until he noticed a disturbance in the water behind him. When he turned to look, he saw a vague, shadowy figure slashing toward him. All around him the water had begun to churn wildly, and clouds of sediment were swirling.

   He knew it wasn't a shark; the creature was too lean, too lithe. As it rushed toward him, it appeared to undulate, rather than glide directly like a fish. When the fast-moving form got within twenty yards of him, he noticed something else odd about it. Appendages, like arms, seemed to be reaching out toward him, and at the end of each arm appeared to be sharply taloned hands.

   Seconds later the creature came into full view. That's when Froster saw the unmistakable pair of breasts, long flowing hair, smooth skin, and scaled tail from the waist down. Froster nearly dropped his mouthpiece.

   'The thing came straight at me,' he told a Florida newspaper. 'It was a mermaid, all right--half woman and half fish, with female breasts and upper torso and a fish-like tail below. That creature had one thing on its mind--to kill me because I had seen it. I've never seen such evil hate in the eyes of any human or animal before.'

   Before the apparition could reach him, however, Froster shot up toward the surface. Several times before he reached the boat, he thought he felt the curl of cruel talons on his flippers and ankle. Fortunately, he was able to scamper over the side of his craft to safety. He never saw the creature again.

   'But it's still down there, I suppose, guarding the secrets of that ancient city,' theorized a bewildered Froster."

-- Great Southern Mysteries, by E. Randall Floyd, 2000