MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES:SOME NOTES ON THE MERMAID PART TWO

Hello again!

Today I`m continuing my extracts from The Deep Deep Ocean concerning knowledge of animals thought to be related to the mermaid. Unless you are a believer in the mermaid, this gives a view of the distribution of seals and dugongs (?) or other similar animals around the British Isles several hundred years ago.

'Two years later [than 1556, see Part One of this blog] there is another printed notice of “a moste true and marvellous strange wonder, the lyke hathe seldom been seene, of xvii monstrous fishes, taken in Suffulke, at Downham Brydge, within a myle of Ipswiche, the xi daye of October,in the yeare of our Lorde God 1568 [I love this olde worlde language! Anyone for a Facebook Group? Let uss revivee olde worlde English?] Stow, in his “Annales,” gives a particular description of this “wondrous draught of fishes” some of them being “eight and twentie foote in length at least”.'

Woolfe, in 1586, printed a broadside containing an account of a monster fish found in the stomach of a horse! The registers of the Stationers` Company contain an entry in 1604 of 'a strange reporte of a monstrous fish that appeared in the form of a woman from the waist upwards, seene in the sea.'

Even in 1822 a so-called mermaid was publicly exhibited in London, and continued to be shown to the curious in these matters for many months. But the monster was found to have been constructed of the members of various animals, dexterously put together. Some amusing lines appeared at the period, which I will transcribe:

There then appear 5 verses, I will mention the first and last below:

'Come, mistress mermaid, tell us, for you`ve seen
The deeps and things proud Science pines to see;
Be kind, and say if you have ever been
In worlds the poets deck with imagery.
Say, as you floated on the green sea`s billow,
Didst e`er see Neptune`s car, or Amphitrite`s pillow?...

'Farewell, dumb thing! perhaps the next we find
So long a time may not require to woo,
`T will speak, perchance, and haply prove most kind,
And tell us all we`ve useless sought of you-
Rare information yielding on the morning
She`s clapped within the glass case you`re adorning.' (1)

1. W.Jones The Broad Broad Ocean p.266-267

Talking Heads Air

Air…Air
Hit me in the face
I run faster,
Faster into the air
(I say to myself)
What is happening to my skin?
Where is that protection that I needed?
Air can hurt you too
Air can hurt you too
Some people say not to worry about the air
Some people never had experience with….

LINDSAY CONTRIBUTES TO THE BIG FISH PROJECT

'Lough Ness Monster' terrorising ducks at beauty spot
Mar 31 2010 By Isaac Ashe

VISITORS to the serene Stonebow Washlands might not guess at the terrors lurking in the depths of the beauty spot's placid lagoons... Stonebow Jaws! At least three adult ducks have been seen dragged beneath the water and devoured by what is believed to be a monster pike living in the lakes - leading to a warning being issued to users of the Washlands not to go into the water. Local school children have been told not to go pond-dipping at the site, and dog owners are being asked not to let smaller animals swim in the waters. One eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said: I was walking with my dog around the larger lake on Monday, and there were two mallards on the pond. There was quite a commotion with the female making a lot of noise, and while I was looking she just disappeared. The male was just sitting there, so I walked round to get a better view and he just went down - all I could see was a ripple and three feathers on the water. Councillor Roy Campsall said: The number of ducks at Stonebow Washlands has been going down, and now we know why. Its pretty scary actually - to take a duck down its got to be monstrous. Mark Graham, wildlife development officer at Charnwood Borough Council, said there were no plans for the authority to hunt down Stonebow Jaws: Pike are a natural part of the ecology of our lakes, a native fish that have lived alongside wild fowl for thousands of years.This one would have to be a pretty big pike that's recently been put in. They aren't supposed to be there and people aren't supposed to fish at Stonebow Washlands. We do take out all the introduced fish from time to time to stop people fishing, but we can only do that during the winter. The longest Northern pike, the species native to England, ever recorded was 152cm and weighed 28kg. Have you seen Stonebow Jaws?


Call reporter Isaac Ashe on 01509 635820 or e-mail Isaac_Ashe@MRN.co.uk

Source: http://www.loughboroughecho.net/news/loughborough-news/2010/03/31/lough-ness-monster-terrorising-ducks-at-beauty-spot-73871-26146078/

It appears monster fish are alive and well in the UK! It must be some size to take down a duck!