The illustrations on this page are by W Heath Robinson and are taken from 'Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales' by Hans Christian Andersen 1913.

Mermaids, and Mer-folk in general, exist in the mythologies of virtually every country that has a seafaring tradition. Even in land-locked countries, there are tales of lake and river sprites and strange half-human beings that inhabit swamps and bogs. For this purpose of this website, we will confine ourselves to the traditional sea-going Mermaids of Cornish legend.

Mer-folk have been with us for thousands of years. As Chandra Beal points out in her excellent essay 'Can You Hear The Mermaids Singing?' (First Published In Llewellyn's 1998 Magical Almanac), as long ago as 8BC, the Babylonians worshipped a god with a fish's tail and a man's body called Oannes or Ea. Around the same time the Syrians and Philistines worshipped a Moon goddess called Atargatis or Derceto. Moon goddesses were associated with the ebb and flow of the tides and were naturally portrayed as Mermaids. Greek and Roman mythology are often placed together as the two are very similar and it is in the literature from these cultures that one finds the first literary descriptions of Mermaids. Homer mentions the Sirens during the voyage of Odysseus but he fails to give a physical description. Ovid on the other hand writes that the Mermaids were born from the burning galleys of the Trojans where the timbers turned into flesh and blood and the 'green daughters of the sea'. The sea gods Poseidon and Neptune were often depicted as half-man and half-fish but the most popular motif of the ancient world that depicts Mermen was the representations of the tritons, Triton being the son of the powerful sea-god.

During the rise of Christianity, the Mermaid/Moon goddess (along with many other pagan deities) was seen as a threat to the Church. Therefore, she was 're-badged' as a symbol of sin, particularly feminine vanity and beauty. This is probably the origin of the image of the Mermaid holding her comb and mirror.

Mermen feature less frequently in folklore other than in the guise of pagan sea deities. However, they do appear in Celtic folklore and are described as having green teeth and hair, pig-like eyes, a red nose, webbed fingers and a weakness for brandy. Perhaps it's no wonder that Mermaids seemed to prefer handsome sailors and fishermen as their lovers!

In time, the Mermaid crossed over from folklore into the realm of faerie tales and children's stories. Thus we have stories about Melusine, the double-tailed Mermaid who married a knight and gained a soul. When the knight fell in love with another woman, Melusine's soul was lost and she had to return to the sea. This story is nearly identical to that of Undine, a German water sprite who also marries a knight. Then, of course, there is Hans Christian Anderson's famous Little Mermaid, in which the Mermaid Ariel gains her soul through being faithful.

With the growth of science, the scientifically-minded did their utmost to dispel the myth of the Mermaid, claiming that all the recorded sightings were simply sightings of seals, porpoises, dugongs or manatees by men who'd been at sea for too long. But sightings have continued to the present day, some outlandish and some by well educated and well respected professionals. There have also been frauds, such as P T Barnum's freak show attraction, the Feegee Mermaid, which turned out to be the torso of a monkey stitched together with a fish tail.

Cornish Mermaids

The Cornish Mermaid, or Merrymaid, was a capricious creature. Some lured men to their deaths on rocky coasts with their beautiful song, while others rescued sailors from shipwrecks and protected ships during ferocious storms. The Mermaid of Padstow is said to be responsible for the Doom Bar outside the port, upon which hundreds of ships have foundered. And yet The Mermaid of Zennor was a regular visitor to church and seemed to enjoy human company. Certainly, the Old Man of Cury enjoyed a lasting and valuable friendship with his Mermaid. Some accounts tell of men who fell in love with Mermaids, or went to live in the sea with their new aquatic brides. But if they were spurned, Heaven help the man who suffered the Mermaid's Vengeance.

You can read all of their stories here.