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The Mermaid of Zennor

The Mermaid of Zennor

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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. All of these things to do in and around Zennor are all things that you can incorporate into a walk. Visit The Tinners Arms

saw the premier of "The Mermaid of Zennor" by Philip Harper, a work for brass band. [19] Commissioned for the Cornwall Youth Brass Band, it was chosen for the National Brass Band Championship regionals in the same year (second section). [20] Others say that while she was out on the ocean a-fishing of a Sunday morning, the anchor was dropped on the trap-door which gave access to her submarine abode. Finding, on her return, how she was hindered from opening her door, she begged the captain to have the anchor raised that she might enter her dwelling to dress her children and be ready in time for church. The church was dedicated to Saint Senara who legend has it was a Breton Princess also known as Asenora. Historical fact records little of her, but legends claim Asenora’s husband, a Breton King, suspected her of infidelity when she became pregnant. As a harsh punishment he had her nailed into a barrel and cast out to sea, where she eventually washed up on the Cornish shore. Notwithstanding she founded the church in Zennor so to bring Christianity to the local Celtic people, before moving on to Ireland to spread the word of God. It is fitting that the church is named after a woman who came to Cornwall from the sea, as St Senara’s Church is also the resting place of the last surviving relic of another local legend – The Mermaid of Zennor. The ‘Mermaid Chair’, which sits alone in a darkened corner of the church, is a seat made from two medieval bench ends. One of these ends bears a carving depicting a woman with long flowing hair and a fish tail. Locals say the carving was made around 400 years ago in memory of a man named Matthew Trewhella, who, so the story goes, ran off to sea with a mermai. [2] Special Operations Executive intelligence officer Vera Atkins was cremated after her death and the ashes scattered in the churchyard. Her memorial plaque, shared with her brother Guy, has the inscription: "Vera May Atkins, CBE Légion d'Honneur Croix de Guerre". [16] Culture and amenities [ edit ] Late Cornish language use [ edit ] According to local lore, in times long, long ago a beautiful and richly dressed woman would occasionally attend services at the church. She would appear from time to time over the course of many years, but never seemed to age. Locals noted her beauty and her lovely singing voice, but no one knew where she came from. Eventually, the mysterious woman came to fancy the churchwarden’s son, a young man named Mathew Trewella. One day Matthew followed her home, and the two were never seen again.

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Zennor lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with similar status and protection as a National Park. The Tinners Arms is a great place to grab a bite to eat with a large number of local ingredients, such as fish from local fishermen and meat from the fields around Zennor. They also have Moomaid of Zennor Ice-cream that is made nearby at Tremedda farm. Some of the people in the town thought it was a mermaid who had taken Mathew Trewella, all those years ago, and the captain didn’t like how this creature looked.

Rita Tregellas Pope, Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly (Landmark Visitors Guide, Hunter Publishing, 2006), p. 127. Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Vol. 2, by William Bottrell, [1873], at sacred-texts.com Zennor is a small village near the north coast of Cornwall to the South West of St. Ives. It sits on the coastal road (the B3306) that runs from St. Ives all the way down to St. Just and then on to Sennen, where it meets the A30 and heads down to Lands End. In most versions of the legend, she is named ‘Morveren’, however, in his novel ‘Seat of Storms’ Craig Weatherhill includes a mermaid of Zennor named ‘Azenor’. This is most likely derived from ‘Asenora’, the original Breton name of St Senara who founded the church in Zennor. Interestingly Pendour Cove is closer to Zennor than Porthzennor Cove and Zennor Beach, both of which are a little further north up the coast. Visit Chysauster Ancient VillageBetween 1915 and 1917, writer D. H. Lawrence lived near the village with his new wife Frieda. It was during this time that he finished Women in Love. The couple were later accused of spying and signalling to German submarines off the Cornish coast and in late 1917, after constant harassment by the armed forces authorities, Lawrence was forced to leave Cornwall at three days' notice under the terms of the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 (DORA). This persecution was later described in an autobiographical chapter of his Australian novel Kangaroo, published in 1923. In September 2016 events were held to celebrate the centenary of Lawrence's connection with Zennor. [9] The captain looked more closely and saw that, under the water, it was not a person at all. They had a tail! It had to be a mermaid. The Mermaid Chair is in fact constructed from bench or pew ends carved in the 15th century. The two ancient bench ends were at some stage adapted to make a simple chancel chair.

There are many old and new versions of this much-loved tale and probably just as many images. The general consensus is that it was first written down in 1873 by William Bottrell who was a keen collector of Cornish folklore. Interestingly, he did not include the story in his first volume (1870) of stories from West Cornwall but in the second, a few years later. A different version appears in his third volume of 1880. An earlier book by Robert Hunt in 1865, ‘Popular Romances of the West of England’ mentions other Cornish mermaids but not our own ‘Morvoren’. There is some discussion as to whether Bottrell constructed the whole legend having seen the ancient carved Mermaid bench-end in Zennor Church and spent some time in The Tinners Arms deep in conversation with the locals. Another view is that the bench was carved because of the story being passed down by word of mouth through the generations, long before Bottrell took up his pen and recorded it. His 1873 version is included here. In Bottrell’s An Vorvoren a Senar (that’s The Mermaid of Zennor in Cornish if you hadn’t already translated / worked it out) a choir boy and local squire’s son called Matthew Trewhella would sing in St Senara’s church every Sunday. The legend of the mermaid of Zennor concerns a mermaid that visits St Senara's Church and entices local parish singer Mathey Trewella away. The legend was probably inspired by a 15th-century carved bench-end in the church that shows a mermaid. [19] In the churchyard are a pair of Celtic crosses and a cross head on a rough plinth. On the south wall is a sundial dated to 1737 decorated with crossed bones, (for death), and an angel head and wings (for immortality).

Which came first?

Diller, Antoni. "The So-called Tregerthen Horror | Antoni Diller". www.cantab.net. Antoni Diller . Retrieved 19 January 2021. The Mermaid of Zennor story centres on St Senara’s Church in the village, which is worth a visit in its own right.



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