Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-07-03
Mermalds...Their Appearance at Sea.

In 1877, according to Scottish maga-
zine, the crew of ship newly arrived
in the Thames river from the East
Indies, reported that in the island OF
Mauritius they had partaken of mer-
maid, the flesh Of which was q great
deal like veal. The mermaid weighed
three or four hundred $eight-rather a
buion specimen The head was par
ticuiarly large, and so were the features,
which differed but little from those of a
man or woman. The story tells of two
of them, one with a beard four or five
inches long, the other much more femi.
nine. "When they are first taken"
the narrator proceeds to say, (which is
often on the ground, they cry and
grieee with great sehsibiity." About
the same time story came from Vigo,
in Spain; to the effect that some fisher
men on that coast had caught sort of
tnerman, five feet and half from
head to foot. The head was like that
of goat, with long beard and mus
tache, black skin, somewhat hairy, a
very long neck, short arms, hands
longer and larger than they ought to be
in proportion, and long fingers, with
nails like claws; %ebbed toes, and fin
at the lower part of the back.
The magazines for 1775 gave an ac-
count of mermaid which was captured
in the Levant and brought to London.
One of the learned periodicals gravely
told its readers that the mermaid had
the complexion and features of a Euro
pean, like those of young woman
that the eyes were light blue, the nose
small and elegantly formed, the mouth
small, the lips thin, "but the edges OF
them round like those of Goldfish )"
that the teeth were small, regular, and
white that the neck was well rounded,
and that the ears were like those Of the
eel; s'but placed like those of the human
species, with gllls for respiration, which
appear like curls." There was no hair
on the head, but trolls, which, at q dis
tance, might be taken for curls." There
was fin rising pyramidally from the
temples, "forming foretop, Like that
of lady's head-dress." The bust was
nearly like that of young damsel, q
proper orthodox mermaiden, but, alas !
all below the waist was exactly like a
fish. Three sets of fins below the
waist, one above the other, enabled her
to swim. Finally, "It is said to have
an enchanting voice, which it never ex-
erts except before astorm." The writer
in the annual Register probably did
not see this mermaid, which the Gen
tleman's Magazine described as being
only three feet high. 1t was afterward
proved to be a cheat, made from the
skull of the angle shark.
A Welsh farmer named Reynolds,
living at Pen-y-hold in 1882, saw a
something which he appears to have
believed to be a mermaid he told the
story to DR.. George Phillips, who told
it to Mrs. Moore, who told it to young
lady pupil of hers, who wrote out an
accountof it for Mrs. Morgan, who in
serted it in her Tour to Milford Haven. !"
How much the story gained on its trav-
els-like the Three Black Crows, or the
parlor game of Russian Scandal-we
are left to find out for ourselves (; but
its ultimate form was nearly as follows: {:
One morning, just outside the cliff,
Reynolds saw what seemed to him to be
person bathing in the sea, with the
upper part of the body out of the water.
On nearer view, it looked like the upper
part of person in tub, youth, say,
of sixteen or eighteen years of age,
with nice white skin sort of brown
ish body and tail were under the
water. The head and body were human
in form, but the arms and hands thick
in proportion to length, while the nose,
running up high between the eyes, ter
minated rather sharply. Themysterious
being looked attentively at Reynolds,
and at the cliffs, and at the birds flying
in the air, with wild gaze, but uttered
no. cry. Reynolds went to bring some
companions to see the norman or mer-
maid, but when he returned it had dis
appeared. If We like to suppose that
Reynolds had seen some kind of seal,
and that the narration had grown to
something else Dy repeating from
mouth to mouth, perhaps we shall not
bevery far wrong.-ANthe Year Round.