Islandmagee, County Antrim (1814)

A MERMAID CAUGHT, AND ALIVE!
(From the Belfast Chronicle, 1st October.)

Yesterday we recieved the following letter, through the Carrickfergus Post-office. Though we have made some inquiry in town, we have not had time to ascertain the authenticity of the letter, nor what degree of truth there is in this extraordinary account. All we at present know is, that a very respectable man of the name of McCLELLAND, lives, as stated, in island Magee; and the persons who are mentioned as having also seen the Mermaid, are not unknown in Belfast. We, therefore, lay before our readers the letter as it has reached us, and having instituted an inquiry as it has reached us, and having instituted an inquiry into the facts of our case, shall communicate the result in our next:--

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BELFAST CHRONICLE.
SIR- I beg leave to inform you, for the benefit of the curious, that I am happy that I have it in my power to set the public mind at rest, respecting the existence of this wonderful animal, having been so fortunate as to take one yesterday morning, which is now alive, and in my possession-- The mode in which I took it, was as follows: - Yesterday morning, about six o'clock, I went to set my lines on the Turbot-bank, on this place; I had not proceeded a quarter of a mile from the shore, when I saw what I at first thought a seal, appear above water; but, on coming near it, to my great surprize, it looked like a Christian, making motion with its hands and head.

I immediately thought it to be a mermaid, having seen accounts in the Papers of two or three seen in Scotland. I then told the boys in the boat, if they would try and catch it, it would make all their fortunes; but JAMES HILL, and the other two boys, were terribly frightened, and said we should make for the shore, as it might sink the boat. Finding they were cowardly, I called to a large water-dog I had in the boat, and hunted him at it; when the dog was swimming to it, I fired at it a musket loaded with large pellets, which wounded it in the body and tail, and in a little time the dog caught it by the hair and held it, though it often pulled him under the water. The boys seeing this, gathered courage, and we rowed the boat up to it, and with the assistance of a herring net, we surrounded it and the dog, and brought both into the boat - it had lost a great deal of blood, and was weak when we brought it in: it struggled hard and kept a noise like a young child. We had to tie it with ropes.

When we came on shore, I drew up one of the boats and filled her with salt water, into which I put the animal, and in which I keep it. Its wounds are better. It eats fish, but likes herrings better than any other kind. Its hair is above a yard long, and a dark green; red eyes, a flat nose, and a large mouth. It has but three fingers and a thumb on each hand, and they are taper to the point. It is five feet four inches from the crown of the head to the tip of the tail, and like a woman from the haunches up; the skin is nearly white, except the tail, which is the shape and colour of a cod fish.

It has been seen and examined by Mr. NASH and Mr. A.H.COATS, two of the coast officers, who happened to be here this morning, Mr. MURPHY, our Minister, and several others, our neighbours. I will endeavour to keep it alive for a short time, for the benefit of the curious, who are welcome to come and see it.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
WM. McCLELLAND.
Portmuck, Island-Magee, 29th Sept. 1814.



FROM THE BELFAST CHRONICLE.-- By advices from our Correspondent in Larne, we are informed, that the letter sent to us under the signature of "WM. McCLELLAND," is a forgery; no animal having been taken to Island-Magee at all answering the description there given. -- Means are adopted for endeavouring to detect the writer of the letter.

From the Morning Post, October 8th, 1814.



THE MERMAID HOAX

Some facetious wag, desirous of discovering what number of simple fry could be taken in the neighbourhood (Belfast), baited a hook so dextrously on Sunday, the 1st inst., that he succeeded in making a great haul the next day. For this purpose he dressed up a very plausible story respecting a Mermaid having been taken alive and brought on shore at Portmuck, Island Magee, where it was kept in a boat filled with salt-water for the inspection of the curious. Minute particulars were stated, and the names of several respectable persons were given who had seen it. To finish the deception, the letter signed, William McClelland, who stated himself to have been very active in taking this rare fish, assisted by other two persons, and a water-dog.

The circumstances thus detailed were transmitted in a letter addressed to the Editor of the Belfast Chronicle, bearing the Carrickfergus post mark, and was inserted in that paper on the 1st inst.; the Editor, however, very properly stating how he had received it, and leaving the public to judge for themselves. The wag gained his point, the bait was greedily swallowed, and the Mermaid was, even in these gloomy times, the whole subject of conversation through the day. The most fastidious sceptics gave in, and no one accused his neighbour of credulity, for the facts were so distinctly stated, that the veracity of WILLIAM McCLELLAND could not be doubted.

Next morning all was bustle; gigs, coaches, cars, equestrians and pedestrians, thronged the roads for many miles round, so attractive were the charms of his sea nymph. Arrived at the wished-for spot, every one enquired for the Mermaid. The people there looked at their visitors with astonishment, and wondered what they meant. The crowd continuing to increase, "still the wonder grew;" till the dupes of the stratagem becoming ashamed of their credulity, looked on each other with such a vacant stare, as to exhibit the most ludicrous picture imaginable. Each man blushed for himself, vowing the most terrible vengeance on WILLIAM McCLELLAND and the printer's devil. Their penance, however, did not finish here, for those who returned by Carrickfergus had to pass through a long lane of the inhabitants, who cheered them with loud huzzas, preceding their march with a large cod fish  and a horse's tail hung to its back. And so ended the wonderful story of WILLIAM McCLELLAND's Mermaid.

From the Morning Post, October 12th, 1814.


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