The circumstance of a creature of this description having been actually brought to the metropolis, makes it at the present moment a subject of much interest. With some, the fact of this animal being produced will be indisputable evidence of the truth of all the tales of the old writers, whilst others will carry their incredulity so far as to imagine this Mermaid a mere peice of animal patchwork, like the dragon that Sir Joseph Banks dissected. In throwing together a few of the best evidences upon the subject, I have been actuated by a desire of discovering, and imparting truth, rather than encouraging controversy; and as Mermaids are assuredly a fair subject for a Ladies' Magazine, I shall not apologize for intruding upon the attention of my readers.
Before I enter upon this subject, I must take leave to mention, that though this supposed animal is always spoken of as a Mermaid, all the writers on this subject concur in the belief of a Merman also. However, at the first view it may seem improbable, that an animal should exist in the water, with the formation external and internal of the human species; yet when we look around us, and perceive apes and baboons among animals resembling man, so closely as to have been mistaken for him, we are led to believe it possible that our prototypes may be also found among fishes.
The authorities on this subject are innumerable. That they have existed, if we do not entirely reject human testimony, (and what else have we to rely upon) we must believe, that they do exist recent circumstances tend to show. I would here beg to remark, that the non-existence of an animal at present, is by no means a proof that it never did exist. Our fertile plains were at one period the haunts of wolves - their numbers were boundless - their race, however, was exterminated - not by a migration, but by the hands of the natives, might not then the race of mermaids by some means have become extinct? Pliny says, "that the ambassadors to Augustus from Gaul, declared that sea-women were often seen in their neighbourhood. Solinus, and Aulus Gellius, speak also of their existence."
There are innumerable facts in history, not nearly so well attested, that have never been called in question, which this subject on which every nation has some tradition, has been continually doubted. It is related in the Histoire d'Angleterre, part 1, page 403, that in the year 1187, a Merman was "fished up" in the county of Suffolk, and kept by the governor for six months; it was exactly like a man in every respect, and wanted nothing but speech. He never could be brought to any understanding of his nature or situation, and at length made his escape, and was seen to plunge into the sea, from whence he returned no more.
In 1430, in the great tempests which destroyed the dykes in Holland, some women at Edam, in West-freezeland, saw a Mermaid, who had been driven by the waters into the meadows which were overflowed. They took it, and (as it is said,) dressed it in female attire, and taught it to spin. It fed on cooked meat, but all efforts to teach it to speak, proved ineffectual, though Parival says, "it had some notion of a deity, and made its reverences very devoutly when it passed a crucifix. (Admitting this to be true, it might arise from the habit of imitation so powerfully displayed in apes and other animals). It was taken to Haelem, where it lived some years, but it ever retained an inclination for the water. At its death it was allowed christian burial.
In 1560, on the coast of Ceylon, some fishermen caught at one draught of their nets, 7 Mermen and Mermaids. (This family party of Mermen, &c. seems rather doubtful, when we consider the weight they would be in the act of drawing in merely, to say nothing of the increasing difficulty that must be occasioned by their resistance. The coast of Ceylon seems by this number, a nursery for them, unless we are to suppose they had assembled for some mystical purpose peculiar to themselves, and this opinion is strengthened by the remembrance of their being a magical number - 7). They were dissected, and found made exactly like human beings. For a full account of this last circumstance, see the Histoire de la Compagnie de Jesus, part 2d. t.4. No. 276.
In 1531, a Merman, caught in the Baltic, was sent to Sigismond, king of Poland, with whom, says the account, he lived three days, and was seen by the whole court; but whether he died or escaped at the end of that period, we cannot say. But in some tracts published by John Gregory, A.M. and chaplain of Christ Church Oxford, in 1650, this identical Merman is described, "as a huge animal of the human form, but very much resembling a bishop in his pontificals." A German engraving of this being I have seen, it is extremely curious.
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| source of image |
Maillet in his Teliamede, speaks of a Merman which was seen by the whole of a French ship's crew, off Nowfoundland, in 1730, for some hours. The account was signed by all the crew that could write, and was sent to the Comte de Maurepas on the 8th September, 1725.
This story we must either give implicit credit to, or we must believe in the possibility of a large body of men wantonly asserting a falsehood, from which they could reap no possible advantage. Two or three men might have their senses deceived by some false appearance, or such a number might confederate to propagate an untruth; but the testimony of a ship's crew, when we consider the usual want of unanimity, and the utter impossibility of their being deceived, we cannot doubt.
Some writers imagine, that the Trichecus or Walrus, is the animal that has been mistaken for, or called a Mermaid; there is one species of Walrus that seems to come near the general conception of these animals, it has two fore feet, but no hind ones, but has a tail like a whale's, and frequents the African and American seas; the females have two teats near the arm pits, with which (says Steller,) they suckle their young; there are many varieties of the species, and they differ in size from 8 to 23 feet. The natives of America, it is said, tame them, and they delight in music, (from this circumstance, an ingenious French writer supposes them to be the dolphins of the ancients.)
Peter Martyr speaks of one that lived on the lake of Hispaniola for twenty-five years, which was so tame, that it would come to the edge of the shore, if called, and perform the part of a ferry, carrying several persons at a time on its back to the opposite shore. In answer to this, it may be observed, that no writers that have treated on this subject, ever pretended that Mermaids were larger than the human species; whereas, the smallest Walrus is supposed to be full 8 feet; besides the Walrus is a clumsy and disgusting looking animal, the Mermaid has been always described as very beautiful; the Walrus has two tusks in its head, the Mermaid, long flowing hair.
At the same time it may be remarked, that there is an animal, (though I cannot agree in calling it a species of the Walrus, as some mazologists have done,) called the manati, or sea-ape, or according to others, the siren, its length about 5 feet, its head like that of a dog, the eyes large, the body round and thick, tapering downwards, it will swim and play round a vessel, but dives upon the least alarm. Steller speaks of one he saw, who gazed awhile at his ship, sitting erect with one-third of its body above water, then darted under the vessel, and appeared on the other side, repeating this many times.
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| A pretty manatee, perhaps with golden hair. Image by Shankar S. |
It is the misfortune of those who labor to support a new theory, that they are attacked by ridicule, instead of argument. Writers of learning have been stigmatized for their credulity, even where the evidence on which they relied, has been irrefragable. The differences between the Walrus, Manati, and Dugong, and the accounts of the Merman or Mermaid, are so many, that I own I feel surprised an intelligent man should suppose any of them to be this wonder creating animal.
In a work called a Discourse on Newfoundland, the writer says, "I saw a strange creature come swimming towards me, looking cheerfully on my face, as it had been a woman, by the face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears, neck, and forehead, it seemed to be so beautiful, and in those parts so well proportioned, having about the head blue streaks, resembling hair, but certainly it was not hair; the shoulders and back were square, white, and smooth, as the back of a man, and from the middle to the end, it tapered like a broad-hooked arrow." With this description, (excepting with regard to the hair,) almost all the accounts I have met with, seem to agree. In 1670, one seen off the Faroe Islands, is described as having "long hair, hanging from her head round her, to the surface of the water."
In 1716, a creature was seen 15 feet long, exactly like a man in all other respects, who traversed the sea-beach, so that all persons feared him, he appeared many days, and endeavoured to catch some women who approached him, but he at length returned to the sea. (This account may be found in the newspapers of that year, and is well worthy the perusal of the curious, it is attested by numerous eye witnesses. Lord Monboddo has also, I believe, mentioned this circumstance. I own I have been restrained from referring to his lordship's works, from the circumstance of his having been generally considered as a wholesale dealer in the marvellous, but this opinion is illfounded. His lordship was an able metaphysician, and an accomplished scholar. Those who may have been misled by the received notion of the tendency of this author's works, will find themselves agreeably undeceived, on perusing his "Ancient Metaphysics" and his "Origin of Language," the subject of the present essay, he has treated in a masterly manner, The puny critics of the day, who delighted in endeavouring to reduce to their own intellectual level, the productions of genius, are now in their graves: so, alas! is his lordship; but their venom, like the poison of the adder, remains after the reptile is no more. As this is an age of improvement, and not of prejudice, we trust this author will receive the justice so long denied him. He was an able writer, a learned and upright judge, a fosterer of genius, and above all, a charitable and good man.)
Valentyn describes a Mermaid he saw in 1714, on his voyage from Batavia to Europe, sitting on the surface of the water, with its back towards them, the body was half above water, and was of a grizzly color, like the skin of a codfish, it had breasts, and was shaped like a woman above the waist, and from thence downwards went tapering off to a point.
The existence of this animal is firmly believed in the northern parts of Scotland, and in the year 1797, a school master of Thurso, affirmed that he had seen one, apparently in the act of combing its hair with its fingers, the portion of the animal which he saw, was so near a resemblance to the form of a woman, that but for the impossibility of a female so long supporting herself in the waves, he should have preseumed it to be one. Twelve years afterwards, several persons observed near the same place a like appearance.
I shall now proceed to more recent instances.
in 1811, the following deposition was made by one John McIsaac, (and it was corroborated by the evidence of a child, who was too young to plot a tale, to deceive the skilful interrogators by whom he was examined.)
"That on Sunday, the 13th October, having taken a walk towards the sea side, he came to the edge of the precipice above the shore, from which he saw the appearance of something white upon a black rock, at some distance from him. That having approached nearer to the rock, he observed this white object moving, which excited his curiosity so much, that he resolved to get as near to it as possible unperceived; that in order to accomplish this purpose, he crept upon all fours through a field of corn, till he got among the rocks near to the white object above mentioned, and then from rock to rock, until he came within 12 or 15 paces of the rock on which it lay; that, upon looking at this object with attention, he was impressed with great surprise and astonishment at its uncommon appearance; that it lay flat on the rock, seemingly on its belly, with its head towards the sea; that the upper part of it was white, and the shape of a human body, and the other half, towards the tail, of a brindled or reddish grey color, apparently covered with scales, but the extremity of the tail itself was of a greenish red shining color.
"That the head of this animal was covered with long hair, and as the wind blew off the land, it sometimes raised the hair over this creature's head, and every time the gust of the wind would do this, the animal would lean towards one side, and taking up the opposite hand, would stroke the hair backwards, and then leaning on the other side, would adjust the hair on the opposite side of its head in the same manner; that at the same time the animal would put back the hair on both sides of its head in this manner; it would also spread or extend its tail, like a fan to a considerable breadth, and while so extended, the tail continued in tremulous motion, and when drawn together again, it remained motionless, and appeared to be about 12 or 14 inches broad, laying flat upon the rock.
"That the hair which was long, and light brown in the color, attracted his particular notice, that the animal upon the whole, was between 4 and 5 feet long, as near as he could judge; that it had a head, hair, arms, and body, down to the middle, like a human being, only 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 at the time it was stroking its head, as above mentioned, the fingers were kept close together, so he could not say whether they were webbed or not; that he continued concealed looking at the animal for near two hours, the part of the rock on which it lay being dry all that time; that after the sea had so far retired as to leave the rock dry, to the height of 5 feet above the surface of the water, the animal leaning first on one hand and arm, and then upon the other, drew its body forward to the edge of the rock, and then tumbled clumsily into the sea; that the deponent immediately got upon his feet, from the place of his concealment, and in about a minute after, he observed the animal appearing above water, very near to the said rock, and then for the first time, he saw its face, every feature of which he could distinctly mark, and which to him, had all the appearance of a human being, with very hollow eyes, (and being particularly interrogated depones) that the cheeks were of the same color with the rest of the face; that the neck was short, and the animal was constantly with both hands stroking and washing its breast, which was half immersed in water, and of which, of course, he had but an imperfect view; that for this reason, he cannot say whether its bosom was formed like a woman's or not. That he saw no other fins or feet, upon the said animal, but as above described.
"That this animal continued above water, as aforesaid, for a few minutes, and then disappeared, and was seen no more by him; that one of his reasons for lying so long concealed, as above described, was from the expectation that the ebb tide would leave the rock, and that part of the shore dry, before the animal would move from it, and that he would be then able to secure it."
In August, 1812, a Mermaid was seen about one mile S.E. of Exmouth-bar; (for an account of which, see the Exeter paper of that time).
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. I 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 differences observed in the accounts of this animal, are usually as to color, and its being with or without hair. I confess it does not seem unreasonable to me, to presume these circumstances to be the effect of climate; and the difference between the male and female. It will be observed, that we have accounts of this animal in all parts of the globe, therein approaching man, who is the only creature that is found in every climate. When we perceive that of most animals, there are several species, by a parity of reasoning, we may conceive there are several of this; and this may reconcile many incongruities that occur in different relations.
The Merman of 1187. That, sent to the King of Poland in 1531, and the creature seen in 1716, differ from others, inasmuch as they do not end in a tail like a fish; for this, I own myself incapable of assigning a reason. I can only exclaim, "behold the evidence."
The existence of the Unicorn, was long reckoned a fable, and yet the head of an animal recently imported, bears so close a resemblance to the relations of this animal, that our most skilful naturalists have pronounced it to be the same. If for so many hundred years, the existnece of a quadruped, has been a matter of speculative enquiry, when man has the power of traversing the place of its habitation, and by the progress of the arts of piercing its deepest recesses; how much more probable is it, that a creature should exist in the bosom of the ocean, with which we are not perfectly acquainted. When we consider that in the depths of the waters, we have no reach, no power of visual observation, or means of pursuing enquiry; it is an abyss, which may contain unheard of treasures, but it is one, that cannot be irradiated by the beams that would disclose them to man.
Since penning the above, we have paid a visit to the exhibition of the Mermaid, lately imported to this country. It appears that the captain of a Dutch merchantman, anchoring at one of the Molucca islands for commercial purposes, found the inhabitants in possession of this phenomenon, which he purchased of them in its present dried state.
The account given of this extraordinary animal by its captors is, that it was cast on their shore several years since. They positively assert having often seen these animals on the coast of Japan, but have never succeeded in taking one alive, and were much surprised when informed of the doubts prevalent in Europe, as to the existence of such a creature, with whose form they seemed perfectly familiar.
For the satisfaction of our provincial subscribers, we present them with the annexed engraving, as an exact representation of the Mermaid now publicly shewn. The creature is exhibited in an erect position, placed on a revolving pedestal, which the spectator turns at his option by brass nobs; the body is contained in a glass case, and is about three feet in length, the hands perfectly human, the arms very long in proportion to the size of the animal, and must have possessed great muscular strength, the teeth long and sharp, and the neck very short.
There is a small quantity of hair on one side of the head; but time may have shorn her locks, as the lady appears to have been advanced in age; the countenance is frightfully distorted, as if the animal had died in excruciating pain. It is very dry and mummy like, of a brown color, and our print gives a complete idea of it as viewed.
The proprietor informed us, that the purchase money and aggregate expenses incurred in bringing this beautiful maid to England, have cost him £1000, and he values his lovely prize at £10,000. The exhibition attracts many visitors, and notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, it has produced to the owner from £15 to £16 daily, at an admission of one shilling from each spectator.
It is certainly a curiosity worth seeing, and if an imposition, we do not imagine its immediate propietor to be concerned in it. We understand it is the intention of a gentleman of high professional abilities, to lay before the public an anatomical description of this wonderful lusus naturae.
It may be proper to observe, that several medical professors who have viewed the body, declare, that according to external appearances, it actually seems to be what the owner intimates, namely, that long deemed fabulous creature, a MERMAID.
From 'Le Belle Assemblee, or Bell's Court and Fashionable Magazine Addressed Particularly to the Ladies' November 1st, 1822.
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