a b Martin, Greg (21 October 2018). "Inside the abandoned Cornwall house full of dark secrets". CornwallLive. Local World . Retrieved 19 January 2021. Mathy Trewhella, my husband, of course,” she said. “Now haul away, if you please.” The captain did not stay to argue, but brought up the anchor immediately. And with a swish from her long gleaming tail she was gone, diving down to the sea-bed and her family. Not many people in this day and age have enjoyed extensive reading of Botrell’s original work, it having been somewhat lost to the obscurity of time. Most people who know the tale of the Mermaid of Zennor, particularly young children with a keen interest in mermaids, are familiar with Charles Causley’s book The Merrymaid of Zennor, complete with captivating illustrations by Michael Foreman. As the story begins: ‘On the rugged Cornish coast, where the land meets the sea, lies the village of Zennor. Here, there are stories and whispers of a villager capturing the heart of a mysterious and beautiful stranger – a stranger from the sea – a mermaid!” [7]

But rather than focusing on the oft-told tale of the Mermaid of Zennor, let’s focus on the chair itself and the symbolism of these watery sirens of the deep. In 2014 singer/songwriter Martha Tilston released her album The Sea featuring the song "Mermaid of Zennor". It is believed that the mermaid took Mathey Trewella into a cave in Pendour Cove (now often called Mermaids Cove) or into the sea to live with her. Some claim that when there is a storm coming in, you can hear a bell ringing, coming from the sea and that it is Mathey Trewella warning his friends in the village that bad weather is coming. When someone tells you to do something and you do it immediately, you don’t need to be asked twice. For example, maybe you try to steal sweets from a shop, and the man who works there is very frightening. He sees you stealing and says, ‘Get out or I’ll call your parents!’ In that case, you don’t need to be asked twice. You run away before he can do that. If you wait for him to ask twice, then it’s too late and he’ll actually call them. A variety of fish-tailed gods were worshipped by the first civilisations of the Middle East. The earliest known of these was Oannes, Lord of the Waters, who appeared some 7000 years ago. There are also fish-tailed gods in one form or another found in the legends and beliefs of countries as diverse as India, China, Japan and Greece.Home - National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain". www.nationalbrassbandchampionships.com. Visitors are drawn to Zennor Church from all over the world by the legend of the Zennor Mermaid and by the magical story of the ancient Mermaid Chair. Carved on the medieval bench-end is the figure of a mermaid holding a mirror in her right hand and a comb in her left. The date of the carving is unknown but thought to be from the fifteenth century. At that time the symbol of a mermaid was used to teach people about the two natures of Christ – human and divine. Mermaids and mermen were often portrayed in carvings and paintings in Cornish churches, but this is one of the very few which have survived. The legend of the fish-tailed beauty stems from a piece of furniture in the church. The Mermaid’s Chair, which is thought to be over 600 years old, features a carving of a mermaid holding a mirror and a comb. Kidd, Sue Monk (3 February 2011). The Mermaid Chair. Headline. p.33. ISBN 978-0-7553-8518-8 . Retrieved 13 April 2012. The Mermaid Chair is in fact constructed from bench or pew ends carved in the 15th century. The two ancient bench ends were at some stage adapted to make a simple chancel chair.

Zennor is a great place to stay if you are looking to stay in a quieter part of Cornwall and love walks through fields with stunning coastal views and coves and caves. Pritchard, George. "The Mermaid of Zennor". Cornish Legends Saints, Mermaids & Phoenicians . Retrieved 14 June 2012. I first saw the Mermaid Chair when I was a teenager in the 1990s. At the time I was just discovering my passion for our unique and quirky Cornish culture. Now, some twenty-five years later the chair has lost none of its mystery or its ability to stir the imagination. Visitors are drawn to Zennor Church from all over the world by the legend of the Zennor Mermaid and by the magical story of the ancient Mermaid Chair.

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This hauntingly beautiful poem is just over 100 lines long, and the simple alternating rhyme pattern has the effect of imitating the movement of waves breaking gently onto sand. A particularly interesting aspect of the poem is that it is structured as a dialogue between Matthew Trewhella and the mermaid herself, whereas in most incarnations of the tale, whether prose, poetry, or song, the narrative is from the perspective of either one character (usually Matthew) or, more commonly, an outside narrator. Watkins’ poem has a much sadder and darker tone than Causley’s cheerfully magical book, reflecting how the same story can have a hundred different meanings depending on the telling. Jenner, Henry (1922). "Castle-an-Dinas and King Arthur". Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. New Series. Plymouth and Falmouth. 4: 100–101.

Indie originals ensure Kernow's in The Hit Parade". 19 June 2014. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014 . Retrieved 21 June 2014. One day, for reasons that are not clear, she was shot from a visiting boat. She dived for a moment but then re-appeared to make a vow. Five or six times this unknown lady came to Zennor church, always on a fine day, and always she sat far apart from the congregation, watching Mathy and listening to every note he sang. Her eyes seemed to look right through him, and her gaze somehow reminded him of the dim light in caves under sea. He determined that somehow he would find out who she was. All of these things to do in and around Zennor are all things that you can incorporate into a walk. Visit The Tinners Arms After casting anchor, the captain heard something strange. It was a beautiful voice singing, although he could not tell if it was a man’s or a woman’s. And most mysteriously, it was coming from the water, where the anchor had fallen.After a service one Sunday, the lady had smiled at Mathew Trewella so he had decided to follow her as she made her way off and towards the cliffs. The "mermaid chair" at St. Senara's Church can be seen to this day, and together with the accompanying legend, is one of the popular attractions mentioned in tourist guides to Cornwall. [3] The story of the mermaid is retold in later collections of Cornish folklore, generally following the original accounts collected by Bottrell. [4] In The Fabled Coast, the "mermaid chair" is described as a fifteenth-century carving. Kingshill and Westwood suppose that the bench itself inspired the legend, rather than the other way around, as the villagers related. [5] There are many reasons as to why there might have been a mermaid carved into a chair at a church, as mermaids represented two things to medieval Christians. They were thought to be a symbol of lust, due to their connection with the Greek goddess Aphrodite, and they were also thought to be an illustration of Jesus Christ, because of their fish-human form, for, just as mermaids are both human-like and fish-like, Jesus can be both human and divine. [6] Adaptations [ edit ]