KAYAKKER IN HIGH SEA.

It is to the apparently amphibious nature of this peculiar people, that one may trace much—if not all—that has been recorded of mermen and mermaids; who, in other words, were seamen and seamaids. The conventional mer-man is portrayed as visible above water from the waist upward. And that the kayaker presents a similar appearance may be seen from a description given of an Eskimo flotilla by one who has had personal experience of the Hudson's Bay regions,[13] wherein it is stated that, at some distance from the land, "the low kayaks" of the Eskimos, being almost quite flush with the water, "it seemed as if their occupants were actually seated on the water." The accompanying spirited sketch by Mr. A. R. Carstensen of a modern Eskimo, as he appears "when the waves come upon him with all their fury," helps much to make one realize the appearance of the Orkney Finnman, whether in storm or in calm.[14] It is easy to see how a race of "zee-woners" such as these could gradually become remembered as an actually amphibious people.

Those legendary mermaids who are described as using combs and mirrors were plainly allied to these Finn-women. It is manifest that no amphibious woman (the possibility of whose existence is not here denied) would carry a mirror and a comb about with her; or that she—whose chief element was the water—would be for ever engaged in the mad task of arranging hair which every plunge in the sea would disarrange most effectually. But those female Finns, whom the amorous Shetlanders captured before they could regain their skin-canoes are described as "engaged in dressing their flowing locks" at the eventful moment: a most natural proceeding on the part of any woman who has just landed from a sea-voyage (whether these particular women had come all the way from Bergen, or which is likely—from some outlying island of the Northern groups). The reality of those merwomen of Shetland is manifest throughout the tales relating to them. They bear children to their Shetland lovers; they "were said to make good housewives;" and their descendants in the Shetland Islands to-day are, presumably, as "real" and human as any of Her Majesty's subjects. That most of those unwillingly-wedded Finn-women tried to regain their liberty at the first opportunity is seen from the repeated statement that the Shetland husband was always careful to hide the "sea-skin" of his Finn wife. But, in many cases the Finn-woman appears to have decided to throw in her lot with her Shetland husband and people.

Although Bergen was latterly the home of those Finns who came to Shetland, it is most probable that many of the stories regarding them related to a time when they still retained possession of certain districts in the Shetland islands. When they were "frequently" seen off the Orkney coast, quietly fishing, it is most improbable that their homes were among the Fiords of Norway—more than two hundred miles away. It seems clear that they retained their hold upon Shetland longer than Orkney; but even in some parts of the latter archipelago they were apparently pretty much at home in the year 1700. This was the date of the Rev. Mr. Brand's tour, and a remark of his leads one to such a conclusion. It must be remembered that those Finns were regarded as wizards and witches by the more ignorant classes: "the belief that witches and wizards came from the coast of Norway disguised as seals was entertained by many of the Shetland peasantry even so late as the beginning of the present century." And they were regarded as, in some sense, supernatural beings. Now Dr. Blind, in suggesting that the "skins" of the Finns may have been (as in one aspect they actually were) their outward garments, "made of seal-skins, and then covered with metal rings or scales"—in assuming this, Dr. Blind is quite in agreement with a statement made by Brand in 1700; which is to this effect, that "supernatural" beings were, at the date of his visit, "frequently seen in several of the Isles (the Orkneys) dancing and making merry and sometimes seen in Armour." It ought not to be forgotten that although the Finn fisherman "fled away most swiftly," when chased by a considerable party of his foes, yet "it is worthy of note that the supposed object of [the Finn invaders] ... was plunder;"[15] that "they were wont to pursue boats at sea;" that "silver money was thrown to them to prevent their doing any damage to the boat;" and that "it was dangerous in the extreme to say anything against them."[16] Whether such attacks were made in their small skin-canoes, or whether they used larger vessels, it is evident that they were formidable marauders; and that, as Dr. Blind suggests, and as the Rev. Mr. Brand records, those Finn pirates were "sometimes seen in Armour."

But neither the belief in Mer-men, nor the existence of traditionary pedigrees deduced from such people, forms a distinctive characteristic of the Shetland Islands. Just as there are Shetlanders who trace their lineage to one or more ancestors of Finn blood, so are there similiar family traditions in many parts of the British Islands. "It is believed that there are several old Welsh families who are the descendants" of Mer-folk; and similar examples are found "in the traditions of the O'Flaherty, O'Sullivan, and Macnamara families."[17] "The inhabitants of the Isle of Man have a number of such stories, which may be found in Waldron;"[18] and the tale of Macphail of Colonsay and "The Mermaid of Corryvreckan" is not the only Hebridean illustration of this feature. The references that are made to mermaids in the prefatory remarks to Leyden's version of the Corryvreckan story are quite in keeping with the Shetland traditions. That is, there are certain attributes ascribed to those mer-women which, on the surface, are incredible; but which the knowledge that is given to us by Brand and Wallace renders quite intelligible. The "train" or "tail" of the mermaid has only to be translated "canoe" or "kayak," and what was formerly nonsense becomes sense. For example, the statement that "the mermaid of Corrivrekin possessed the power of occasionally resigning her scaly train," is only a jumbled reminiscence of the fact referred to by Dr. Wallace who, when speaking of the mer-men, says: "His [seal-skin] shirt has been so fastened to the Boat, that no water can come into his Boat to do him damage, except when he pleases to untye it, which he does ... when he comes ashore." In the other phraseology, he "possessed the power of occasionally resigning his scaly train."

In the remarks prefacing Leyden's "Mermaid" (in The Minstrelsy) it is stated that "mermaids were sometimes supposed to be possessed of supernatural power." The Shetland peasantry, also, believe (or did believe) that "witches ... came from the coast of Norway disguised as seals." And "Ranulph Higden says 'that the witches in the Isle of Man anciently sold winds to mariners, and delivered them in knots, tied upon a thread, exactly as the Laplanders did.'"[19] At one time—if not now, Lapland was regarded as a stronghold of "magic." Butler in referring to one of the things "in which the Lapland Magi deal" makes selection of this practice of "selling winds" to sailors;[20] the "Magi" being (in this detail) feminine. But the British Islanders have practised many "Lapp" mysteries: and there is a distinct "Ugrian" element among the British people; neither of which facts are at all at variance with the traditions that derive the descent of many modern Britons from sea-faring tribes of "Finns" and other Mer-folk.

One account[21] states, with regard to the mer-woman, that "the sailors pretend to guess what chance they had of saving their lives in the tempests, which always followed her appearance." Apparently, this refers more particularly to Norway. In the Channel Islands a similar belief exists regarding the mer-man, who is styled "the King of the Auxcriniers." "Il est le baladin lugubre de la tempête," says M. Victor Hugo, in describing this mer-man of the Channel.[22] The probable explanation of this belief is that, when a tempest was threatening, those solitary rovers—knowing that their fragile "sea-skins" could never outride a heavy storm—made hastily for the nearest coast. Indeed, when one looks at those delicate little vessels, wholly dependent upon the thoroughness of the stitching that unites the various pieces of skin together, one can only wonder at the daring of the people who ventured in them a hundred miles and more from any land. "Nothing but a plank between one and Eternity" is not so dangerous as it sounds; for planks can float one when the worst happens. But what is to be made of half-a-dozen bits of whalebone or wood, with one thin covering of seal-skin stretched over them? The giving of a stitch, or the smallest fracture in the skin—and both skiff and skiff-man are under the water.

To point out the various characteristics of the traditional mer-men and mer-women, and to suggest an explanation of each, is more than need be attempted here. But it is enough to remark that the mere fact that marriages between "men" and the mer-folk were possible and frequent, is quite sufficient to prove that there was no radical difference between the two races. When one reads of mer-women bearing children to land-men, and "making good house-wives" to them; or, when one learns that the mer-men were given to "deceiving women," then one may feel pretty certain of their humanity.