The Mermaid of Zennor
In the tiny village of Zennor, West Cornwall, there once lived a chorister named Matthew Trewhella who was renowned for his sweet singing. A beautiful woman often attended the church where he sang, and Matthew found himself falling in love with this mysterious stranger. One day, desperate to discover her identity he stole after her as she walked along the cliff tops. Matthew was never seen again, although people claimed his singing could be heard drifting in from the sea on calm nights.
Some years later a ship dropped anchor off Pendower Cove, near Zennor. To the Captain’s surprise a mermaid surfaced and requested the anchor be pulled up as it was resting against the door to her underwater home, and she was anxious to return to her husband Matthew Trewhella and their children.
When the Captain repeated this story back in Zennor a figure of a mermaid was carved on the end of a pew (some say the same pew the lady sat on as she watched Matthew sing) – as a warning to other sweet-voiced choristers about mysterious sea-maidens.
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