Merman, The (Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail) [Laws K24]

DESCRIPTION: The crew is waiting for a breeze to carry them south when a merman appears with a shout. The ship's anchor has stopped his front door! The merman reveals that he is a sailor who was washed overboard. Having married a mermaid, he grew a tail
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1900 (broadside, Bodleian Firth c.26(152))
KEYWORDS: ship mermaid/man
FOUND IN: Canada(Newf) Ireland
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws K24, "The Merman (Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail)"
Greenleaf/Mansfield-BalladsAndSeaSongsOfNewfoundland 64, "The Pretty Fair Maid with a Tail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Harlow-ChantyingAboardAmericanShips, pp. 131-133, "The Merman" (1 text)
Ranson-SongsOfTheWexfordCoast, pp. 30-31, "The Merman" (1 text)
DT 564, MERMAN
Roud #1898
BROADSIDES:
Bodleian, Firth c.26(152), "The Merman", T. Pearson (Manchester), 1850-1899
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Down in the Diving Bell (The Mermaid (II))" (plot)
cf. "Change Islands Song" (plot)
cf. "Married to a Mermaid" (theme of marrying a mermaid)
File: LK24

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