Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1907-12-07
MERMA|DS OF LEGEND
Sea Women That Were Vouched
For by Ancient Writers.
ORIGIN OF THE DELUSlON'

These Traditional Creatures were
Probably Duqones and Manatees.
Seal Maidens Of Fable-Mermaids OF
Fiction and the Seal Of Fact.
There Is q decided fascination ABOUT
the mermalds of legend. Considering
their traditional form. it does not seem
unite certain whether they can be IN
cluded among the fair "humanities' OF
old religion, but 1t would be extremely
interesting TO see one. In all serious
ness the truths and poetry underlying
and inherent in the old myths are wen
worth attention, but apart from these
there is something distinctly entertain
ing in the quasi-historical accounts
| thot we have of mermaids and the ne
roic attempts at rationalistic expiana-
ton. The fancy has taken hrmer noiu
on popular imagination than many Vi
the old legends. OF course they are
recoqnized as nonexistent; but, unlike
the majority of NEUROLOGICAL beings
they are invested collOQuially Win
sort Of humorous reality.
| A History of the Netherlands gives
q clrcumstantial account of great
tempest which washed ashore near
uoorlem q "sea woman" as she was
swimming about. She was captured
ond cIeansed from the 'sea moss that
|. had grown about her" and became
unnamed creature, except that sne
was always trying to escape into the
; woter And it is added MANY persons
| worthy of credit have JUSTIFIED IN tneir
Q writings that they had scene her IN the
cold towne Of HARLEM" In the SIX
teenth century off Ceylon some sailors
y contured "seven mermen and mer-
maids" several priests and physicians
u testifying to the fact and the iat'eh
leaving il on record that after examl-
J nation and dissection they found the
external and internal structures resein-
70 hled those of human beings. HUDSON
p the famous navigator, declared tha'
le his ship's company had seen mer'
maid. the upper part of her pouy IKE
70 woman. skin very white and long
10 black hair. An old lcelanu h's'oi
tolls of one near Greenland, the necH
a and head in all respects like human
heing" The Norwegian Bishop Ponup
o. indian. who wrote in the eighteenth cen
- turv. records the appearance OF
~ mermaid which was deposed 10 on oau
~ by the observers" And not TO mui'l
% nIv quotations proving the BELIEF eVel
~ the learned in the actual existenc
WI of the mermaids, Pliny asserts authoi
lis itatively that las for the meremaiueh
II Is no fabulous tale that goeth U
! them. for locke how painters ui"'
at them, so thay are indeed. -.
II seems hard after all these weight
to testimonies that we should be assure
tbot the historical mermaids wei
ar only dugongs or manatees, seals
nd sea lions. especially as some OF tneS
'ur interesting creatures measure SUI
ce- eighteen feet in length and are py
III means attractive in appearance oon
me thing in the shape Of the head ana u
rlt- breast Is relied on by the rationals'
er scientists as explaining the deluslo
=" but one is at loss to understand no
this can account for the circumsta
tial descriptions that have come ooV
RI us. Coevals Of those old write
ace have proved to US by their paintln
us. that they held very much the sal
aei views as to what constitutes temihi
the hoortv as we have, and we shou
oiS certainly not discover In the dugong
VAS manatee anything whatever to sugg'
anu In the very faintest degree the ldea
y" q pretty woman. Yet there Is genel
'ne " the implication Of comeliness In
verbal pictures the old writers q
w of their mermaids, though Column
Nv who reported that he had seen TWO
nas three. admitted that he saw no Dea'
ais' in them. The seal explanation pern'
'urs does the least violence to ones ira
lna' tional ideas. as, whatever may
out thought of its resemblance to
pope man, 1t is in itself graceful and Its Il
and eyes are pleasing.
tion There is. at any rate, rather
nu' gestjve coincidence in the view I
'ne the mermaid of fiction Is the seal
'ieA' fact. for closely allied If not ldent
with mermaids were the seal mi
ems" of q thousand fables. Inc
cented tradition was that these mi
d., ems assumed the form Of seals. WI
eieu tbev could relinquish at any MON
u'o' nv diyesting themselves OF the s
lns skins. Only If while they were
US porting themselves In quasi hul
~ puise their seal integuments were
- on or hidden they would have 10
Ane main as "madens" and could not
DaoH sumo the form of seals. We know
M the authority of many a song
rev legend that willingly or unwilling
was iee0Hu
49,, man has been
married to a mermaid
ieni' At the bottom of the deep blue sea
Int In the case Of the fortunate
1oiner of a seal maiden's TROUBLES
disguise" there was no need 1or
marine descent. She couid quile
fortably live on land and, indeed
une N unless she found her sealskin al
Ito" though always longing, like the
|nv maid of HARLEM, to become
"a" dweller once more. There is there
~ unquestionably a certain poetic
III ~ priety in the scientific identihcat(
him plle! - 9TH tho seal -Lo
10 up oio'o' ---
lldn't Her Helpful Hint.
Some The honeymoon had waned' ant
away. cupboard was bare.
Iifflo | CTNoo,t worry Mabel said IN