The Mermaid of Zennor

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Dennys, The folk-lore of China, and its affinities with that of the Aryan Semitic races [electronic resource], London: Trübner, 1876, p. In some versions of the legend, the mermaid was spotted several years later by a fisherman who had weighed anchor off the coast. When Senara became pregnant, the king’s mother falsely accused her of infidelity and the king cast her into the sea. You are hereby invited to attend the next Full Council Meeting of Zennor Parish Council which will be held at Zennor Village Hall on Monday 12thFebruary 2024 commencing at 7pm. 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.

It’s even more unsettling, then, that a creature of the sea could reach up into a holy ark itself and pluck out the most gifted there for a watery death. This is the story of how the infamous sandbank at the mouth of the River Camel between Padstow and Rock came to be. 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. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site.

But when the villagers heard of this, they concluded that the mermaid was the same lady who had long visited their church, and that she had enticed Mathey Trewella to come and live with her. William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Second Series (Beare and Son, Penzance, 1873). He would sing soft and high if the day was to be fair, deep and low if Llyr was going to make the seas rough.

For a more poetic outlook on the story, one must look to Vernon Watkins’ poem from the 1960s, The Ballad of the Mermaid of Zennor. However one day, the handsome Matthew noticed his mystery admirer, and being as enchanted with her as she was with him, after church he followed her. From a young age Eleanor spent much of her time chasing Piskies and seeking out Mermaid s in the woods and waters around her home in Probus Cornwall.Tales of men falling for mermaids and selkies (no, autocomplete, I did NOT mean selfies) are pretty common. From his songs, the fishermen of Zennor knew when it was safe to put to sea, and when it was wise to anchor snug at home. The proper or modern form of the name would be Matthew Trewella or Trewhella, which are found in some versions of the story. Above the altar is a window with stained glass depicting naval scenes, commemorating Admiral Borlase, who is buried in the churchyard.