Mermaid’s Grave
A mermaid is said to be buried in the sands in the area around Nunton. In 1830 some women who were gathering seaweed spotted a mermaid in the waters close to the shore.They tried in vain to catch her, but she was too clever for them. Then a young boy started throwing stones in her direction, one struck her and she disappeared from view. A few days after the sighting the tiny body of the mermaid was washed up on the beach.
Described as having the top half of a young child and the lower part of a salmon without scales, she was buried in a small specially made coffin and shawl somewhere above the highest tide mark.
In Borderlands by Mike Dash,
In Borderlands by Mike Dash, the mermaid was described as "The upper part of the creature was about the size of a well-fed child of three or four years of age, with abnormally developed breasts." . Her hair was dark, glossy and long. Her skin was soft and white.
Re: Mermaid’s Grave
I think the folklorist R.Macdonald Robertson mentioned seeing this grave at a Nunton cemetary, whilst writing in 1961. I wonder if it was some kind of local attraction of folly?