A most strange and true report of a monsterous fish, who appeared in the forme of a woman, from her waste vpwards.

Museum Notes

By A. L. LEACH, F.G.S., Hon Curator.

A TALE OF THE SEA.

A few weeks ago these Notes contained an account of the Merman of Linney Head, taken from a strange story related by a farmer who claimed to have seen the creature in December, 1781. An earlier story of one of these perplexing appear∣ances has now come to light according to Mr. H. M. Vaughan, who writes as follows:

A MERMAID AT PENDINE.

A curious and indeed unique little pamphlet recently purchased by the National Library of Wales, is an account of the appearance of a Mermaid off the coast at Pendine over 340 years ago. This pamphlet, which was unknown at the British Museum, where the authori∣ties are greatly interested in its discov∣ery, consists of four leaves octavo with the text in black letter and a picture of the Mermaid on the title page. It is shown as "Imprinted at London, 1603, for W.B." The title runs "A most strange and true Report of a Monsterous Fish that appeared in the form of a Woman from her waist upwards, seene in the Sea by divers men of good repu∣tation on the 17 of February 1603, near Gylmanes poynt in the parish of Pendine in the Countie of Carmarthen."

The account of the Mermaid is con∣tained in a letter by "Mr. P. G." to his cousin "Mr. H. P." in London, and from internal evidence it appears to be based on a careful enquiry made by Mr. William Sandars, of Pendine, a magis∣trate and otherwise a person of local influence, but he did not make his inves∣tigation until several weeks after the event. Many witnesses were then exam∣ined and the report contains the names of thirteen of these in full. Here is the substance of the story.

The creature was first observed by one Thomas Raynold, yeoman, who after watching it for two hours, fetched several friends and neighbours so that they might see the weird object and bear witness to its reality. It had "the shape of a lively Woman from her waist up∣wards which was all above the water; her collour browne: a very large and fayre [head of] Haire: her breasts round and very white with two fayre handes: everything formally as a Woman." This description tallies with the figure on the title page. Various people watched the strange obect until darkness set in: then it was lost to sight and was not seen or heard of again.

What did all these people see? Was it a dugong or manatee or other visitor from tropical seas, or was it, as the picture seems to suggest, an unusually large seal? The chief hindrance to an acceptance of these naturalistic explana∣tions arises from the very human hands and arms. Much imagination would need to be called into play to convert a seal's paddles into the "two fayre handes" shown in the drawing. But

apart from these features the figure might be interpreted as a representation of a seal.

I hope to obtain from the National Library a photostat facsimile of this rare if not unique pamphlet concerning the Mermaid. This copy will be placed in the Library of the Tenby Museum.

It is a curious coincidence that the nar∣ratives of the Pendine Mermaid and the Linney Head Merman both begin with stories told by local farmers, Raynold and Reynold respectively, bearing names so unusual in this district that neither of them appears in the current list of Electors in the parish of St. Mary's-in-Liberty. Again in each case the creature had human hands and arms, and the descriptions of its ap∣pearance were written not by the chief witnesses but by local persons of impor∣tance. May it not be that the Linney Head story is a distorted version, told long afterwards, of the Pendine event and that this may have arisen from an exaggerated and imaginative account of a very large seal?

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