The Mermaid of Zennor

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Craig Weatherhill wrote the Mermaid of Zennor into his novel Seat of Storms (Tabb House, 1997), giving her the name Azenor, as the previous tellings never name her. Long ago, a beautiful and richly dressed woman occasionally attended services at St. Senara's Church in Zennor, and sometimes at Morvah. The parishioners were enchanted by her beauty and her voice, for her singing was sweeter than all the rest. She appeared infrequently for scores of years, but never seemed to age, and nobody knew whence she came, although they watched her from the summit of Tregarthen Hill. After many years, the mysterious woman became interested in a young man named Mathey Trewella, "the best singer in the parish." One day he followed her home, and disappeared; neither was ever seen again in Zennor Church. Welcome to Easy Stories in English, the podcast that will take your English from OK to Good, and from Good to Great.

Ignored by her callous parents and bullied by her peers at school, the young girl finds herself quite alone. Nobody wants to talk to her save Aislinn, her bubbly classmate, and Mrs Khoury, the school's councillor - but, even then, Lilac suspects they only do so out of pity. So Cornish pasties are like a kind of pie that you can carry. They’re bigger than empanadas and smaller than calzones, but like a calzone, a Cornish pasty can be an entire meal. So it’s kind of like a pie that you can carry around like a sandwich, and any Cornish person will tell you, any person from Cornwall will tell you, that you really have to go to Cornwall to get the best Cornish pasties, even though they are sold throughout the country.The Mermaid of Zennor is a poem by Charles Causley, published (with further content about the legend) in a book of the same or a similar title -- some early editions are called 'The Merrymaid of Zennor'. It is illustrated by Michael Foreman; [10]

Not many people in this day and age have enjoyed extensive reading of Botrell’s original work, it having been somewhat lost to the obscurity of time. Most people who know the tale of the Mermaid of Zennor, particularly young children with a keen interest in mermaids, are familiar with Charles Causley’s book The Merrymaid of Zennor, complete with captivating illustrations by Michael Foreman. As the story begins: ‘On the rugged Cornish coast, where the land meets the sea, lies the village of Zennor. Here, there are stories and whispers of a villager capturing the heart of a mysterious and beautiful stranger – a stranger from the sea – a mermaid!” [7] Finally, she came to the cliffs that overlooked the ocean. Mathew went and stood beside her, and they talked for a while. A carving on one of the church's chairs depicting the Mermaid of this tale is said to have been etched into the wood to warn every church-going man of the dangers of mermaids and how easy it is to be led astray by their beauty. From: William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall Volume Two (Beare and Son,1873)A big thank-you to my new patrons: Magdalena and Silvia Mazzeo. Thank you so much. Your support really means a lot to me. Built in 1271, the pub is over 700 years old and was built by the same masons that built St Senara’s Church.

So it was a bit strange, because usually your first date happens a bit earlier, and usually your first date doesn’t last a whole week. her, she continued to look so young and fair. No one knew whence she came nor whither she went; yet many watched her as far as they could see from Tregarthen Hill. In the choir were some fine singers, but none finer than Mathy Trewhella, a handsome young man who sang a clear high tenor: his voice could be heard all over Zennor Churchtown when he wished. As the choristers sang their hymns and psalms Mathy became aware of the stranger staring at him with those emerald-green mysterious eyes; when he looked at her it seemed to him that a queer faint smile hovered on her face. After the service she was the first to leave the church, and those who went out after her thought it strange how rapidly she had disappeared, as they could not see her anywhere outside.After a service one Sunday, the lady had smiled at Mathew Trewella so he had decided to follow her as she made her way off and towards the cliffs.

The legend of the fish-tailed beauty stems from a piece of furniture in the church. The Mermaid’s Chair, which is thought to be over 600 years old, features a carving of a mermaid holding a mirror and a comb. This hauntingly beautiful poem is just over 100 lines long, and the simple alternating rhyme pattern has the effect of imitating the movement of waves breaking gently onto sand. A particularly interesting aspect of the poem is that it is structured as a dialogue between Matthew Trewhella and the mermaid herself, whereas in most incarnations of the tale, whether prose, poetry, or song, the narrative is from the perspective of either one character (usually Matthew) or, more commonly, an outside narrator. Watkins’ poem has a much sadder and darker tone than Causley’s cheerfully magical book, reflecting how the same story can have a hundred different meanings depending on the telling.V. Watkins, Affinities, London: Faber and Faber, 1962. See http://literaryballadarchive.com/PDF/Watkinson_Mermaid _of_Z_f.pdf There are several other stories of mermaids from around the Cornish coast including Seaton, between Downderry and Looe. Here, where now only exists a sandy beach, was once a thriving fishing town. One day a local man insulted the mermaid and she cursed the town to be swallowed by the sands. For centuries, a church dedicated to St. Senara has stood in the village of Zennor in Cornwall. The stone structure was built between the 13th and 15th centuries, and includes a tower and a small graveyard. Inside, visitors can find one of the most intriguing features: a bench-end with carvings of fish on the seat and a woman admiring herself in a mirror; this is the “Mermaid Chair.” One day, the mysterious woman noticed Mathew. After church ended, she smiled at him, and looked at the door. He followed her, and this time she walked slowly, so that he did not lose her. However, he could still not work up the courage to walk beside her.