MrrmtiJ. 



MERMAID. 



throughout the body, of a clear olive colour. The 



57 



eyes resembled those of a cod ; and both the cutting 

 teeth sod grinder* were long, and shaped 



lour, were small, as also the nose. The mouth was M*rmiH. 

 large ; and, from the jaw bone, which was straight, > " - "V 11 *' 

 , like pins, the face was apparently short. One of the arms was 



The arm* were of the natural proportion, and each of frequently extended over the head of the animal, as if 

 the five fingers connected by a large web. The neck to frighten a bird, which, hovering about it seemed to 



distress it much. When this had no effect, the crea- 

 ture turned round several times successively. 



was short, the shoulders high, and the breast and back 

 exactly resembling those of a man. Olafsen considers 

 the peculiarities of this animal to be demonstrated in 

 the hair, teeth, and finger*. Hut, from the rapid 

 change taking place in the stomach of a shark, and 

 the great distance it can speedily traverse, he is almost 

 inclined to believe that these were human remain*. 

 Vet the islanders were differently impressed ; for all 

 firmly credited this creature to be the marmenill, by 

 which name the mermaid is known among them. Olaf- 

 sen I'oyogt f Itlamlr, torn. iii. p. 223. 



The attention of the public ha* been more lately at- 

 tracted to accounts of mermaids, supposed to have been 

 seen on the coast of Scotland and Iceland. Accenting 

 to old historians, some remarkable animal* were taken on 

 the coast of England, which were called " a triton, or 

 man fish;" but no accurate and authentic description baa 

 been transmitted, from which we are enabled to deter- 

 mine regarding their nature. In the coarse of last 

 century, also, a plate was engraved, we have under- 

 stood, of a marine animal, by the same denomination, 

 which was taken about the year 17*6 or 17 r It it 

 generally credited, among the inhabitants of the north, 

 era coast of Scotland, that the mermaid inhabits the 



Thuno. a!lirm< tht afxnjt the year 17 C !: n!,-,-rM.-l a 

 gore, like a naked female, sittmg on a rock projecting 

 :.e sea, at Sandaide Head, in the parisn of Rey 

 It* bead was covered with long duck light brown hair, 

 flowing down on the shoulders. The forehead was 

 round, the face pfamp, and the cheek* ruddy : the 



some 



here, and in the former instance, the sun shone bright, 

 and the object* were sufficiently near the observers. 



Nearly three years afterwards, in October 1811, a 

 singular creature is said to have been seen on another 

 part of the coast of Scotland, remote from the former. 

 A peasant made oath in presence of a magistrate, that 

 about four miles south of (,'ampbeltown, his attention 

 was attracted by a white object on a black rock. He 

 crept through a field of com, and then advanced among 

 the rocks on the shore, until he approached within 12 

 or 15 paces of it The upper part was white, and resem- 

 bled the human form, and tapered gradually towards 

 the tail, which terminated like a fan !'_' or' U inches 

 broad. The under half was of a brindled or reddish 

 grey, apparently covered with scales ; but the extremi- 

 ty of the tail itself was of a greenish-red shining colour. 

 Its whole length appeared to be four or five feet, and it 

 was of the thickness of a youth. The head, hair, arms, 

 and body down to the middle, resembled those of a hu- 

 man being ; but as the creature lay flat on the rock, anil 

 with its head towards the sea, and was constantly strok. 

 ing and washing it* breast, the peaunt could not dis- 

 cover whether or not the bosom was formed like that of 

 a woman. The neck and arms seemed short in pro- 

 portion to the body. Long light brown hair covered 

 the bead, which being sometimes raised over it by gusts 

 of wind, the animal leaned towards one side, and with 

 her hand on the other stroked h back, then shifting its 

 position, adjusted it in the same manner on the oppo- 

 site side. During two hours it remained thus exposed 

 to observation ; bat the tide having receded, so asto 

 leave the rock dry five feet above the surface of the 

 water, the animal, leaning forward on one arm, then on 

 :rew it* body.towards the edge, and tumbled 

 eWBaeily nto the sea. Now for the first time the face 

 was distinctly seen, having all the appearance of the 

 human aspect, with very hollow eye*, and the checks 

 of the same colour as the rest of die face. 



i more lately it ha* been affirmed, that in the 

 eoum of autumn, 1819, a creature appeared on the 

 coast of Ireland, about the size of a girl of ten years 

 of age, with a bosom a* prominent as that of one of six- 

 teen, havmg a profusion of long dark brown hair, and 

 1 dark eyes. The hands and arms were formed 

 like those of man, with a slight web connecting the 

 upper part of the fingers, which were frequently em- 

 ployed in throwing heck and dividing the hair; and the 

 tail appeared like that of a dolphin. This creature re- 

 mained basking on the rocks during an hour, in the 

 sight of numbers of people, until fri- ,- the f!ah 



f amutket, when it plunged with a scream into the sea. 



' regard- 

 man figure. But a question nsturally arises, what were 

 these animals? Had they actually some of the parts 

 ami proportion* of man, or do they belong to another 

 order, on which credulity and inaccurate observation 

 have bestowed a false character - 



U c are, no rfoobl, very imperfectly acquainted with a 

 multitude of animal*, enpecially those of the aquatic 



_ . ... . ... w. tribes; and the learned Bishop of Berjren iuitlv exclaim* 



J^SlTT^ ^^rf-^rTco, - Were HpomiWe that the ^JbeWnrfofTu 



. . arently in the act of 

 with it* finger*, which seemed to af- 

 ford it plesMtre; and it TsmaiiuJ thus occupied daw 

 faff some minutes, when it dropped into the sea. 

 The observer did not remark whether the finj.au 

 were webbed. On the whole, he infer* that this was 

 a marine animal, of which be had a distinct and satis. 

 faetary view, and that the portion saw by him bora a 

 ' resemblance to the human form. But for the 



si afsjsaf&flsi It IBM! rlw^^n MW! i. - mm , , ,. 

 *^^^w, ss**j sss ssBssearari re 



the wave*), he would have supposed it a wo. 

 man Twelve yean later, and not very distant from 

 the ""> ("*. * * conjectwe, several persona ob- 

 served what waa soppeaed a mermaid. It floated at 

 the distance of only a few yards from them, and re- 

 mained in sight about an hour. Nothing except the 

 * ** visible ; and as the sea run high, the 

 sunk gently under the waves, and then re-ap. 

 The head was very round; the 



face was 



"V *"***! 'PP*"" 1 trouble. These are some of 'the most recent . 

 lure's face by the ing marine animals, that had a resem! 



thrown ovrr _ VJ ^ 



As they receded, it removed its hair with 

 both to hands, which, a* well as the arms and fingers 



.. 

 bed. Tfcsj forehead, nose, and chin, were white, and 



the whole tide face of a bright pink colour ; the throat 

 was also white, slender, and smooth ; and the smooth. 

 <be skin, on which neither hair nor scales were 

 particularly attracted attention. The face 



