The Celtic Compendium of Merfolk

The British Isles, Home too many a strange creature. Ireland home of the Banshee, Pooka, and Leprechauns; Scotland home of Nessie, Brownies, and Doonie, the shape shifting fairy; England home of Jenny Greenteeth, Hob Goblins, and Changelings.  Born in the States and impressed upon by my very British Grandparents, these creatures are quit familiar to me, but it is the creatures of the water that peek my interest.  I come from a long line of sailors, seamen, fishermen, and dockside workers; basically my family lived and died on the waters of the North Sea. I have a strong tie to these places and these stories and I hope that I can give you a little of that old world magic that I grew up with.

The Selkies

Selkies, one of the most recognized of the water creatures.  Hailing from the Orkney Isles of Scotland across the Irish Sea and into Ireland, Selkies are also known as Seal People. When in the water Selkies look just like common seals, but they can shed their seal skins to walk on land. 

Often times a fishermen will stumble across a female Selkie in human forum, if he hides her seal coat she will be his forever, unless she can get her seal coat back. Often times the Selkies will fall in love with the lands people, they give birth on land and after seven years they return to the water, unless their Seal Coat has been hidden.  I have heard some tales state that if the Selkie’s Husband comes for her while she is on land; she is powerless and must return with him.  

It is said that when an Irish child is born with dark hair and eyes, they are of Selkie blood.  (I am of European descent, Scottish and Spanish with dark eyes and dark hair, this part of the legend always fascinated me! It’s fun to think that I could from Selkie Blood.) Selkie Males are said to be very handsome and can seduce a human woman with ease and grace.

If a woman wants to catch a male Selkie for a mate, she must shed seven tears into the oceans water. The more the women are unhappy in their marriages or dissatisfied with their lives, the more tempting their tears become. Selkies males will seek out these women, to seduce and ravish, if it is only for one night, it will be a night she will never forget!

The Kelpies

Kelpies, also known as the Water Horse, dark creatures hell bent on devouring anyone who attempts to ride them.  Kelpies are known throughout the rivers and Lochs of Scotland and Ireland, they are said to be seen wandering the banks.  

They will appear as lost ponies along the river banks and shorelines, if you attempt to ride one, you better hold on tight! Sometimes Kelpies look like normal horses and if you can bridle one he will do your bidding but if you drop or loosen the reins he will drag you to your watery death.  Other times Kelpies are easier to spot, they are described as having pale blue or white skin, the easiest way to identify Kelpies is by their hair and skin.  Their mane always seems to be dripping water and their skin is similar to seal skin and is cold to the touch.  

Horses in general play a big part in Scottish history, recently a Sculptor out of Glasgow, Scotland created these two 100 feet tall horse heads out of 600 tons of steel and can be seen from the M9 (major highway). Out of reverence for the working horses of Scotland and their rich folklore, there two have been named THE KELPIES. 

The Merrows

Merrows are a large race of fairy like mermaids hailing from Ireland and Scotland. Merrows are all female their male counterparts, the mermen are rarely seen and for good reason! It is said that the male Merrow are extremely ugly with pig like features, sharp pointed teeth and scaly green skin.  The females however are said to be extremely beautiful, often described as having green, or white skin, and sea-colored hair. They have delicate white webbing between their fingers and their feet are flatter than humans when on land. The have impressive mermaid tails and a few articles of clothing to allow them to travel at great distance and depths underwater.

Merrows are most recognized and known for their red caps or cape; this allows them to dive beneath the waves and at great depths with ease.  If they lose this cap or cape, it is said that they will lose their power to return beneath the water. This magic cap is sometime made from red feathers other times red fabric and it is called a cohullen druith, in Irish Gaelic. Much like the Selkies, Merrow’s must remove their cap or cloak to come on land in human form. If a mortal finds her cap or cloak, he may hide it and claim her as his bride.  This is fortunate for the man, because Merrows are often extremely wealthy, she will have much wealth do to all the shipwrecks she has plundered over the years! However, like all Merfolk the Merrow will recover her cap or cape and return to the sea leavings her human husband and children behind.

There underwater home is known as The Land beneath the Waves (Tir fo Thoinn) Merrows are cousins to the Fairy World, they are members of the Sidhe or people of the mounds. The Sidhe are descendants from the "Tuatha de Danann" who settled in Ireland eons ago. They were defeated by one of the three warring fairy clans, the Milesians (this is where my blood line comes into play) after their defeat some retreated to the mounds and fairy hills and others retreated to the sea.  Ireland has a two sides to their history, in the beginning it was the fairy clans who fought which eventually gave away to fairy and human interact and soon the human tribes where adapting the fairy names into words of their own. The Milesian tribe became the Milne Clan and that is one of my family names. My Great-Great Grandmother was of the Milne’s; perhaps she knew a Merrow or Fairy in her day! However, I should say that not all Merrows are welcome visions or happy lovers in some parts of Ireland seeing a Merrow can mean death and doom.  

The Dinny Mara

The best I could find to represent the Dinny Mara, sigh...
Source: http://hundredmythologyhaiku.blogspot.com/

Dinny Mara also spelt Dooinney Marrey means “man of the sea”, they are the mermen from the Isle of Man, nestled in the northern waters of Ireland and Scotland. Dinny Mara are only male, from what I can find, there are no females in this tribe. Dinny Mara speak the Manx or Manx Gaelic language, it is a dying language that only a few humans still speak on the Isle of Man.  It is told that these Mermen are kind benign creatures despite their horrible appearance.  Much like the male Merrows the Dinny Mara have pig like eyes and noses, their noses are usually bright red from drinking too much of the Brandy they salvage from sunken ships.  

Their breath has a pungent smell at all times from all the raw fish they consume.  These Mermen are known to be kind and one source said they make good fathers, however I have not been able to corroborate that info yet. It is a known fact of the Dinny Mara is sensitive to the sound of humans whistling, the pitch of the whistle will anger them. The Dinny Mara will raise a terrible wind to try and rock them off course or sink the ship, all to get rid of the noise.  A sailing ship called The Boys Boat was manned by seven young men; each day they set sail they also gave an offering of fresh herring to the Dinny Mara. In return the crew was blessed with heavy fishing nets and a warning of an impending storm that saved the ship and the crew, when all other fleets were lost, it was said that the Dinny Mara appeared to their favorite ship in order to save them.

The Wildman of Orford

Artist: Michael Wickwar

In England off the Suffolk Coast, there is a land completely shaped and reliant on the sea, over the century’s whole villages and towns have been overtaken by the sea while other areas like Oxford are almost completely landlocked. It is a place of many curious happens, but none have been more curious then the Wildman of Orford. In the 12 century a merman or Wildman was caught in the nets of a fishing vessel, the crew hulled the merman a board and brought him to Orford Castle (built for Henry II) where he was imprisoned as an oddity.

Orford Castle

 He was observed and tortured; he never spoke not even during torture. The Wildman had the strange eating habit of only eating fish by pressing it between his hands to drunk the juices and then eat the raw fish.  He was noted to be quit hairy with a long straggly beard and wore no clothes, he also showed no reverence for God or the Church when he was brought in to the local church.  After some time passed the merman’s captures decied to let him go for swim, they hung nets round to keep him from swimming away. Thinking was a safe bet, they let the Wildman frolic and swim, a few moments later he jumped the nets and was free in the open water.  Some stories tell of him never returning to the Suffolk coast and others still that say he returned twice for short visits and then was never seen again.  What remains is rich history that the local people adore, if you travel to the area you will find a memorial to him on the Market Square, he is featured in a famous local restaurant, and can be seen on the busy streets in many forms.

The Wildmann of Orford

There are also a few wild looking men on the font in St Bartholomew’s Church, which I find very interesting since the man who imprisoned and tortured the poor merman was named Bartholomew de Glanville.
 In 2003 a local artist, Michael Wickwar, created a life sized depiction of the Wildman of Orford. The statue was displayed for a series of events held in celebration of the merman in and around Orford Castle.

The Book of Kells

The Book Kells housed at Trinity College

Book of Kells was written around 800 AD, it is an opulent, yet unfinished manuscript containing the four gospels of the New Testament. Full of incredibly detailed illustrations, this book is considered to be Ireland's finest National Treasure.
 I mention this book for two reasons, if you have never seen it, you must! The other is of course a mermaid. I have talked in previous blogs about how the Church took over the mermaid image and used her to represent the impure woman. However, the Book of Kells is much older and the mermaid image still held a great fascination. It is believed that mermaid depicted in the Book of Kells is to represent two of the contributors, Iona and Columba. It is found on a page about genealogy, swimming up the center of the page. (Page (Folio): 213r)

The Mermaid Song by: Great Big Sea

Click here for video! 

Seeing how this blog is all about Celtic Folklore, I thought I would close with this song. Not traditional but a great drinking song, give it a listen and you might get a laugh! I wanted to have this finished by St. Patrick’s Day, but life gets in the way, so here is my day late and dollar short season’s greetings! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you who are Irish but once a year and to those who are Irish all year! May the luck of the Dinny Mara raise to meet you and may the love of the Selkies always be in your heart.

Love, Peace, & Mermaids,

 Meridian

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