Mermaids, Mere-Maids and No Maids: Mermaid place names and folklore in Britain

Abstract

Fifty mermaid place names relating to landscape features have been identified in Britain (including the Isle of Man). The names are attested from the 16th to the 21st Century: some are extremely well documented, while others have only passing written references. Taken together these names allow us to distinguish different folklore traditions in different parts of the island. For instance, there is a freshwater ‘mere-maid’ in eastern England; and a more familiar marine mermaid attested in the southwest of England. There are also – just as interestingly – large areas of Britain for which no mermaid place names are recorded. The article concludes with a reflection on the ‘Archetypal Modern Mermaid’ (AMM) that dominated in British culture by the 1800s.