THE MERMAID. 21 



herself Isbrandt, and held several conversations with a 

 peasant at Samsoe, in which she foretold the birth of 

 King Christian IV., " and made the peasant preach repen- 

 tance to the courtiers, who were very much given to 

 drunkenness." Equally " idle " with the above stories is, 

 in his opinion, another, extracted from an old manuscript 

 still to be seen in the University Librar}^ at Copenhagen, 

 and quoted by Andrew Bussaeus (1619), of a merman caught 

 by the two senators, Ulf Rosensparre and Christian Holch, 

 whilst on their voyage home to Denmark from Norway. 

 This sea-man frightened the two worshipful gentlemen so 

 terribly that they were glad to let him go again ; for 

 as he lay upon the deck he spoke Danish to them, and 

 threatened that if they did not give him his liberty " the ship 

 should be cast away, and every soul of the crew should 

 perish." 



"When such fictions as these," says Pontoppidan, "are 

 mixed with the history of the merman, and when that crea- 

 ture is represented as a prophet and an orator ; when they 

 give the mermaid a melodious voice, and tell us that she is 

 a fine singer, we need not wonder that so few people of sense 

 will give credit to such absurdities, or that they even doubt 

 the existence of such a creature." The good prelate, how- 

 ever, goes on to say that '' whilst we have no ground to believe 

 all these fables, yet, as to the existence of the creature we 

 may safely give our assent to it," and, " if this be called in 

 question, it must proceed entirely from the fabulous stories 

 usually mixed with the truth." Like Valentyn, he argues 

 that as there are " sea-horses," " sea-cows," " sea-wolves," 

 "sea-dogs," "sea-hogs," etc., it is probable from analogy, 

 that " we should find in the ocean a fish or creature which 

 resembles the human species more than any other." As 

 for the objection "founded on self-love and respect to our 



