Blog No. 26 Joseph of Arimathea

     Blog 10. The Mermaid of Nanjizal cove.

 

 

    Blog 10. The Mermaid of Nanjizal cove.

 

Oh, Captain oh Captain a mermaid I see.

Over yonder on the beach, in Nanjizal she be.

Don’t be stupid there be no such thing as they

Just take a sounding of the bottom of the bay..

 

But Captain Oh Captain she’s beautiful look see

She is sitting on the rock’s waving at me.

Mermaids ain’t there, as I keep telling thee,

Just keep taking soundings just to please me

 

The Captain, their Captain was canny you see

He knew looking at mermaids disastrous would be.

Around the world sailor many times was he

And he’d managed to stay safe as safe as can be.

 

But his crew men were now about to seal their fate

They’d all looked at the Mermaid. Such a bad mistake

The wind suddenly came up a howler it be

Blew them into Namjizal  and the song of the sea.

 

Oh Captain, oh Captain you were so right,

There are rocks just below us not a good sight.

The Mermaid distracted me I’m sorry to say

And now we are sinking, a wreck this day.

  

The Mermaid slipped from her rock and swam home.

Where Davy Jones her father was waiting alone.

She told him there would be guests coming to tea

And he said I wonder what presents they’ll bring me?

 

Slowly the ship slipped beneath the waves

Only the Captain escaping this watery grave

All of them struggled but accepted their fate

With a beautiful Mermaid they all had a date.

 

As the ship sank to the bottom of Nanjizal Bay

The mermaid was there to show crewmen the way

They entered a cave neath the “Song of the Sea”

The tide was now high, and the gale ceased to be

 

The Captain landed high up on Nanjizal beach

And he lay there unconscious out of harms reach.

Whilst his crewmen were welcomed by Davy Jones

And the mermaid led them to the palace of bones.

 

So if you go walking down Nanjizal Bay

Be careful what you wish for on a fine day

The mermaid who lives in “The Song of the Sea.”

I’m sure would be willing to invite you for tea.

 

George Pritchard. December 2022. 

NOTE.

John Vingoe of Trevescan and Escalle in the Parish of Sennen, in Cornwall U.K., was very much a man of the soil. Richard Treeve his best friend since childhood had become a seaman and very much a man of the sea.
The friends bought a lugger which they called the “Lands End” and Richard took her to sea whilst John stayed home.
The “Lands End” was not big enough to carry carriage-style cannon so she was fitted out with 6 swivel guns. Her crew was put at thirty with Richard registered as the captain. [
John and Richard had left it late to go privateering as with the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in October of 1781 the American war was almost over. Even before that event, however, many had seen the writing on the wall and seven Cornish privateers were advertised as being for sale in the spring of 1781.[25] The "Lands End" is not shown as having any success as a privateer, and the Letters of Marque were possibly just a front for the Vingoe and Treeve families smuggling business.
The short partnership came to an end with the death of Richard Treeve in October of 1781 he was buried in the churchyard at Sennen a relatively young man and just how he died is still a mystery. [26]
I cannot find any mention of the Vessel “Lands End”  after Richard's death. Hence the story in the poem.
 

          “The Song of the Sea."

Photo, "The Song of the Sea" by Taff Thomas of Sennen
Photo montage of Mermaid in Bay by George Pritchard