Merrows

## Introduction

When Albion became King of the Seelie Court, he made it a more comfortable place for sea fae to live, particularly merrows. No named merrows appear in the canon, but it's implied they formed a principal part of the sea fae Albion brought in to help him rule the Seelie Court.

## Folklore/Mythology

Merrows are merfolk from Irish folklore.

'The merrow-maiden is a beautiful half-human from the waist up, and fish-like below, with 'her lower extremity "covered with greenish-tinted scales". . . She has green hair which she fondly grooms with her comb. She exhibits slight webbing between her fingers, a white and delicate film resembling "the skin between egg and shell".

Said to be of "modest, affectionate, gentle, and [benevolent] disposition," the merrow is believed "capable of attachment to human beings," with reports of inter-marriage. One such mixed marriage took place in Bantry, producing descendants marked by "scaly skin" and "membrane between fingers and toes". But after some "years in succession" they will almost inevitably return to the sea, their "natural instincts" irresistibly overcoming any love-bond they may have formed with their terrestrial family. And to prevent her acting on impulse, her 'cohuleen druith' (or "little magic cap") must be kept "well concealed from his sea-wife".

O'Hanlon mentioned that a merrow may leave her outer skin behind in order to transform into other beings "more magical and beauteous", [b]ut in Croker's book, this characteristic isn't ascribed to the merrow but to the merwife of Shetlandic and Faroese lore, said to shed their seal-skins to shapeshift between human form and a seal's guise (i.e., the selkie and its counterpart, the *kópakona*). Another researcher noted that the Irish merrow's device was her cap "covering her entire body", as opposed to the Scottish Maid-of-the-Wave who had her salmon-skin.

Yeats claimed that merrows come ashore transformed into "little hornless cows". One stymied investigator conjectured this claim to be an extrapolation on Kennedy's statement that sea-cows are attracted to pasture on the meadowland wherever the merrow resided.

Merrow-maidens have also been known to lure young men beneath the waves, where afterwards the men live in an enchanted state. While female merrows were considered to be very beautiful, the mermen were thought to be very ugly. This fact potentially accounted for the merrow's desire to seek out men on the land.

Merrow music is known to be heard coming from the farthest depths of the ocean, yet the sound travels floatingly across the surface. Merrows dance to the music, whether ashore on the strand or upon the wave.

. . . The *merrow* which signifies "sea maiden" is an awkward term when applied to the male, but has been in use for a lack of a term in Irish slang for *merman*. One scholar has insisted the term *macamore* might be used as the Irish designation for merman, since it means literally "son of the sea", on authority of Patrick Kennedy, though the latter merely glosses *macamore* as designating local inhabitants of the Wexford coast. Gaelic (Irish) words for mermen are 'murúch fir' "mermaid-man" or 'fear mara' "man of the sea".

. . . Merrows wear a special hat called a 'cohuleen druith', which enables them to dive beneath the waves. If they lose this cap, it is said that they will lose their power to return beneath the water.

The normalized spelling in Irish is 'cochaillín draíochta', literally "little magic hood" ('cochall' "cowl, hood, hooded cloak" + '-ín' diminutive suffix + gen. of 'draíocht'). This rendering is echoed by Kennedy who glosses this object as "nice little magic cap".

. . . An analogue to the "mermaid's cap" is found in an Irish tale of a supernatural wife who emerged from the freshwater Lough Owel in Westmeath, Ireland. She was found to be wearing a salmon-skin cap that glittered in the moonlight. A local farmer captured her and took her to be his bride, bearing him children, but she disappeared after discovering her cap while rummaging in the household. Although this "fairy mistress" is not from the sea, one Celticist identifies her as a 'muir-óigh**'** (sea-maiden) nevertheless.

The Scottish counterpart to the merrow's cap was a "removable" skin, "like the skin of a salmon, but brighter and more beautiful, and very large", worn by the Maid-of-the-wave.'

## References

1. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 21: Fracture. Accessed 21 May 2021.
2. ↑ "Merrow". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merrow. Accessed 21 May 2021.