Merrow (from Irish , Middle Irish or ) is a mermaid or merman in Irish folklore. The term is of Hiberno-English origin.
The merrows supposedly require a magical cap (; Hiberno-English: cohuleen druith) in order to travel between deep water and dry land.
Overview
The term appears in two tales set in Ireland published in the 19th century: "Lady of Gollerus", where a green-haired merrow weds a local Kerry man who deprives her of the "magical red cap" (); and "The Soul Cages" where a green-bodied grotesque male merrow entertains a fisherman at his home under the sea.
These tales with commentary were first published in T. C. Croker's Fairy Legends (1828). William Butler Yeats and others writing on the subject borrowed heavily from this work. "The Soul Cages" turned out not to be a genuine folktale, but rather a piece of fiction fabricated by Thomas Keightley.
A number of other terms in Irish are used to denote a mermaid or sea-nymph, some tracing back to mythological tracts from the medieval to the post-medieval period. The Middle Irish is a siren-like creature encountered by legendary ancestors of the Irish (either Goidels or Milesians) according to the Book of Invasions. This, as well as and are terms for the mermaid that appear in onomastic tales of the . A , literally "sea-wanderer", is the term for the mermaid .
Etymology
Current scholarship regards merrow as a Hiberno-English term, derived from Irish (Middle Irish or ) meaning "sea singer" or "siren". But this was not the derivation given by 19th century writers.
According to Croker, "merrow" was a transliteration of modern Irish or , which resolved into "sea" + "maid". This "Gaelic" word could also denote "sea monster", and Croker remarked that it was cognate with Cornish , a "sea hog". Yeats added as an alternative original, as that word is also synonymous with mermaid.
The corresponding term in the Scots dialect is , derived from the Irish, with no original Scottish Gaelic form suggested.
The Middle Irish , (from + "chant, song") with its singing melodies that held sway over seamen was more characteristic of the sirens of classical mythology, and was imported into Irish literature via Homer's Odyssey.
Synonyms
The terms , , and been listed as synonymous to "mermaid" or "sea nymph". These are Old or Middle Irish words, and usage are attested in medieval tracts. Other modern Irish terms for mermaid are given in O'Reilly's dictionary (1864); one of them, ("sea-maiden"), being the common term for "mermaid" in Irish today (cf. de Bhaldraithe's dictionary, 1959).
The term , literally "sea-wanderer", has been applied, among other uses, to , a legendary figure who underwent metamorphosis into a salmon-woman.
Strictly speaking, the term in the example signifies "mermaid's melody". However, O'Clery's Glossary explains that this was rhetorically the "name of the nymphs that are in the sea". The term for "mermaid" also finds instance in the . Croker also vaguely noted that has been used by "romantic historians" in reference to the "sea-nymphs" enountered by Milesian ships.
Folk tales
Thomas Crofton Croker's Second Volume to the Fairy Legends (1828) laid the groundwork for the folkloric treatment of the merrow. It was immediately translated into German by the Brothers Grimm. Croker's material on the merrow was to a large measure rehashed by such authors on the fairy-kind as Thomas Keightley, John O'Hanlon, and the poet William Butler Yeats. A general sketch of the merrow pieced together by such 19th century authors are as follows.
Characteristics
The merrow-maiden is like the commonly stereotypical mermaid: half-human, a gorgeous woman from waist up, and fish-like waist down, her lower extremity "covered with greenish-tinted scales" (according to O'Hanlon). She has green hair which she fondly grooms with her comb. She exhibits slight webbing between her fingers, a white and delicate film resembling "the skin between egg and shell".
Said to be of "modest, affectionate, gentle, and [benevolent] disposition", the merrow is believed "capable of attachment to human beings", with reports of inter-marriage. One such mixed marriage took place in Bantry, producing descendants marked by "scaly skin" and "membrane between fingers and toes". But after some "years in succession" they will almost inevitably return to the sea, their "natural instincts" irresistibly overcoming any love-bond they may have formed with their terrestrial family. And to prevent her acting on impulse, her (or "little magic cap") must be kept "well concealed from his sea-wife".