St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-04
dugong is named By the Dutch little
STORIES All McrInaids

man.
Stories Of Mcrlnafds
singing or talking may have arisen from
hearing the cries of seals, which resenl-
BILE those of children somewhat. In a
learned report respecting a mermaid
caught in Denmark, who was taught to
: knit. DIR. kerSchur describes the Great
ure as having apretty face, mild eyes,
small nose, fingers joined by cartilage
like goose's foot and breasts round
and hard. He asserted that mer-
maids and mermen constitute a sub
mOrine population, which, partaking of
the skill of the ape and the beaver, build
gIottoes of stone in places inaccessible to
divers. In 1911 a sea woman was taken
alive near the Island and Boro. She
was five feet long. After surviving
four days she died, not having eaten
anything. Her head was like that of
hair sea green. The upper
parts of her body were al
most as white as wOman's. but the
lower part was like the tail of fish. 1t
is related that in 1893 mermaid SWIM
mer in the Zuyder Zee during period
OF tempest and very high tides was car
ried through hole in broken dyke
and could not find her way out again.
She was captured and taken to the town
of Edam, where she was washed and
cleansed from the sea moss which had
grown about her. She then appeared
like any woman of the land, adopting
proper dress and partaking of ordinary
food. She tried often to escape and to
make her way to the water, but was
closely guarded. People came from
great distances to see her. Surprising
this story to be true, the woman was
either fraud or a demented outcast.
In the Farce Islands
it is believed that on every ninth night
the seals cast off their skins, assume
human forms and dance OH the beach.
But If they lose their sealskins in any
way they cannot resume the shapes of
seals. Numerous instances are related
of these people of the sea having car
ried off human beings. conveying them
to their pearl-lined grOttoes in the
depths. Mermen have in this manner
often obtained human girls for brides,
while mermaids not intrequently seek
to secure for husbands good-loOking
youths from dry land. Sometimes the,
individuals who are entrapped or Sc
duced into taking up submarine man
ner of life have found it much more
enjoyable than their former terrestrial
existence, but in majority of the cases
Oh record they have sought to escape,
sooner or later. In Denmark one day
norman enticed maiden to the
bottom of the ocean. She became his
wife and bore him several children,
but she always felt longing to go up
when she heard the bells in the steepIes
OF her native village. Finally her hus-
band permitted her to 90, on promise
that she would return, but she never
did come back, and his walls from the
nnnfhc A rob he No
lieve that certain fishermen live on
islands in the Indian ocean and eat
drowned people. In Japanese story
boy has his fishhook carried off by a
large fish. A norman appears and sets
him afloat in basket, in which he sinks
to the palace of the sea dragon, whose
daughter he falls in love with and mar
ries.
In the tale of the Lord of Dunkerron
he encounters mermaid.
For beautiful spirit of ocean. it's said.
The Lord OF Dunkerron would win to his bed,
When by moonlight the waters were hushed
to repose
That beautiful spirit of ocean arose.
Her hair, full of luster. just fioated and fell
Ger her bosom, that heayed with billowy
SWELL" ~ls-s -
1t is said that a mermaid asked
ScOtchman. who was reading the Bible,
if there was any comfort in the book for
her. He replied that there was mercy
for the sons and daughters of Adam.
whereupOn she screamed and disap-
peared. In the year 1919 two councillors
of Christian w., of Denmark, while
sailing between Norway and Sweden,
discovered me rman swimming about
with bunch of grass on his head. They
threw out hook and line, bailed with
slice of bacon, which the norman
seized. Being caught, he threatened
vengeance so loudly that ne was thrown
back into the sea. One extraordinary
tale relates of a maiden who, while on
voyage, is seen and beloved by mer-
man. He bores hole in the ship and
transforms her into serpent, thus en-
abllng her to
Escape Through the Hole,
after which he changes her into a mer-
maid, and makes her his wife. In
Sicilian story maiden treacherously
thrown into the sea is carried off by
norman, ana chained to his tail On
one occasion peasant is said to have
chalked cross upon water spirits
back, preventing him from going into
his natural element until the cross was
removed. A party of fishermen once
found lump of ice in the sea, and gave
it to st. TheObald, their bishop, to cool
his equity feet. He heard voice iii
side, and succeeded by saying thirty
masses, in liberating and saving the
soul of the spirit within. Every lake,
river and pond in Germany is Inhabited
by water spirits. Some are good and
others are bad. They often come
ashore, when they may be known by the
wet hem of their garments. Norwegian
sailors believe in mysterious water
goblin who singes their hair while they
are asleep, knots ropes, and commits all
sorts of absurdities. He is small man,
with fiery red hair and green teeth,
dressed in yellow breeches, tall boots
and steeple-crowned hat. He often
helps the sailors in their work, but to
see hiu is certain death. -.