May 27, 1721.
Mr. Bagnall,
PR A Y resolve me in your next week’s paper whether there be any such thing in nature as mermen and mermaids, I being not yet satisfied in the verity thereof, notwithstanding the reports of seamen and others who have maintained the affirmative. And if you can make it appear there has been such, whether they may be thought to have more reason than other fishes, in which you will oblige,
Your humble servant
and customer, N. B.
S I R, I am a little surprised at your sudden demand in so curious a question, which more properly belongs to a learned casuist than a newsmonger; however, to oblige a friend, I shall insert such unquestionable instances as may in some measure gratify the curiosity of the inquirer, and accordingly shall first show you what may be thought of their nature and production. Some think them not to be creatures ab initio, but monsters begotten since by unnatural copulation; some think them to be very devils, from the strange effects attributed to them; some that, when the angels fell, those that alighted in the sea were turned into mermen; and some, that the devils begat them upon fishes; some that fishes, generating in the Deluge and seeing drowned men, by strength of imagination produced something like them.
But we see no reason why they may not have been created at first, among that infinite number of other fishes in the sea, which bear some resemblance to the creatures on earth. Alexander ab Alexandro affirms he has known a merman steal a woman causa concubitus, which, if true, strengthens the argument. Ferdinand Alvares, Secretary to the Storehouse of the Indians, says he saw a young merman come out of the water to steal fish from the fishermen and eat them. Olaus Magnus says many things of them, but his credit is questionable. Philosoph. Tract. mentions a merman taken in a river in Virginia with a pyramidal head and fish tail. In our English chronicles, ‘tis affirmed a man-fish was taken at Orford in this county of Suffolk, kept six months on shore, and then stole away again to sea. But the most authentic and particular relation we meet with is in the history of the Netherlands, viz.:
The dikes were broken down near Campen by an inundation in 1403, and when the waters returned, a merwoman was left in Dermert Mere. The milkmaids, who used to cross the mere with boats when they went to milk, saw a human head above the water, but believed their eyes deceived them, until the repeated sight confirmed their assurance. Thereupon, they resolved one night to watch her and saw that she repaired to a seggy or flaggy place, where it was ebb and near the side. Early in the morning, they got a great many boats together, enclosed the place in the form of a half-moon, and disturbed her. She attempted to get under the boats, but, finding her way blocked by staves and other things fastened on purpose, began to flounce and make a hideous, deafening noise, and with her hands and tail sunk a boat or two. But at last, she tired out and was taken.
The maids treated her kindly, cleansing the sea moss and shells from her, and offered her water, fish, milk, bread, etc., which she refused. Yet, with good usage, in a day or two, they got her to eat and drink, she endeavoured to make her escape again to the sea. Her hair was long and black, her face human, her teeth very strong, her breasts and belly to her navel were perfect, but the lower part of her body ended in a strong fish tail. The magistrates of Harlem commanded her to be sent to them, for the mere was within their jurisdiction.
When she was brought thither, she was placed in the town-house and assigned a dame to teach her. She learned to spin and showed devotion at prayer. She would laugh, and when women came into the town-house to spin with her for diversion, she would signify by signs that she understood their meaning in some sort, though she could never be taught to speak. She would wear no clothes in summer. Part of her hair was filleted up in a Dutch dress, while part hung long and naturally. She always kept her tail in water, and a tub of water was placed under her chair for that purpose. She ate milk, water, bread, butter, and fish. She lived thus, out of her element (except her tail), for fifteen or sixteen years.
Her picture was painted on a board with oil and still hangs in the town-house of Harlem, with a subscription in letters of gold, giving an account of when she was taken, how long she lived, when she died, and in what churchyard she was buried. Their annals mention her, and their books have her picture, while traveling painters drew her likeness from the original.
By the above-mentioned relation, the querist may be satisfied that she exceeded all other creatures in cunning and docility that have ever yet been known. And probably, by her burial, she may have been reckoned among the class of rational beings, by the magistrates who knew her life and permitted her interment in consecrated ground.
Disclaimer: This article has been lightly edited for readability while preserving its original meaning.
Republished from The ipswich journal, ipswich, suffolk, england, May 27, 1721, Page 4.
