A quick visit to wish you all a safe and Happy Halloween.. 

Until next time take care...Hugs & Blessings x

Remembering 9/11.....

Remembering those who lost their lives on September 11 2001. My thoughts and blessings are with their family and friends today......

Until next time take care...Hugs Chrissy xx 

Spring will Soon Be Here....We Hope..

 

 

Greetings everyone on the first day of February....A very wet and blustery day here in Cornwall I may add. As I sit here in the safety of my home I can hear the wind howling and the rain lashing against the windowpanes. The windows have stood the test of time but are rattling in protest this evening. I also have wooden shutters and they too are creaking and groaning. Yes, people have told me to replace them with double glazing!!!! How could I insult the character of my pre-1830 house....but saying that feeling the wind blow through the gaps I may consider new wooden ones..lol..

 

February 1^st marks the beginning of spring, a time when new life begins in nature, so I wish you a Happy Imbolc. One of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals Imbolc is observed in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man....

Snowdrops

 

Too Wet for Little Lambs Yet...

 

 

This day is also the Feast Day of Saint Brighid (St. Brigit of Kildare or Brigit of Ireland)....

 

Brighid was an early Irish Christian nun, abbess, and founder of several monasteries of nuns, including the monastery of Kildare, Ireland

 

Spring seems very far off at the moment with the awful weather we are having. I wouldn’t mind but we have not even been blessed with the winter sun to cheer us. So I will tell you about a day last September when the sun was shining during a visit to Zennor here in Cornwall.....

 

Zennor (curtsy of wikipedia)

 

During the day  I visited the church for the specific reason of visiting an exhibition of local vintage bits and bobs (more about this can be seen on my other blogs)....and of course the Mermaid Chair was there as it has been for centuries....

 

St. Senara Church (curtsy of wikipedia)

 

Cornwall is a magical place with folktales and legends. And one such legend is attached to the Mermaid Chair in St. Senara’s Church in Zennor....

 

 

Who stands upon that farthest ledge

And sees the Atlantic break,

Back through the fields with stones for hedge

His Eastward way will take

To Zennor’s valley and its pledge,

A legend cut in teak

 

It is thought that the 15^th century chair inspired the tale of The Mermaid of Zennor, which was first recorded by the Cornish folklorist William Bottrell in Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall in 1873....

 

The tale in teak has worn away

These last five hundred years

But still the church of granite grey

Its haunting music hears

While fields are singing or obey

The silence winter wears.

 

It is said that a beautiful woman dressed in rich finery used to infrequently visit St. Senara’s church. Not only did her unusual beauty capture the interest of the local people but her singing voice also. Who was this woman, for no one knew....

 

 

The Mermaid of Zennor, by English painter John Reinhard Weguelin (1849-1927). Watercolour, 1900

 

The mystery of the beautiful woman did not deter the would-be-suitors, one such suitor in particular. Captivated by her beauty and voice a local lad Matthew Trewhell, a chorister at the church, decided to find out all he could about her. So after service one Sunday Matthew decided to follow her as she made her way across the cliffs towards Pendower Cove......he was never to be seen again...

 

Pendower Cove. (cursy of wikkipedia)

 

 

Many years passed and Matthew’s disappearance was all but forgotten until one Sunday morning. A ship had cast anchor in Pendower Cove and the captain was relaxing on deck. Suddenly he heard a voice calling out to him and on looking to find the source was surprised to find a beautiful mermaid. Her blond hair was floating around her as she politely asked if he would remove the ship’s anchor as it was blocking the doorway to her house....

 

 

 

 

 

She explained that she was anxious to get back to her husband Matthew and children. The captain hastily pulled up anchor and went away to deeper waters. Later he went to Zennor and told the villages what had happened to Matthew....

 

But was it he who heard her sing

Or did she first hear him?

Black as bright teak the cormorants fling

Up from the waves they skim

The silver fish, and mussels cling

And close above the hymn.

 

 

Another tale about Matthew is that the mystery woman used to sit in the back of the church to listen to him singing. When he gazed at her they instantly fell in love. After which the couple then made their way towards the sea, followed closely by some of the villagers. In their haste the woman fell, exposing the tip of her fish tail. It transpired that the mystery woman was in fact Morveren, daughter of Llyr, King of the Ocean. She exclaimed that she was a sea creature and must go back to where she belonged. Matthew replied that he would go with her as he belonged with her........

 

 

 

It is said that their singing can still be heard in the church and cove....who knows...

Until next time, take care...hugs Chrissy xx

 

‘However long the waters roll

Longer my love shall be,

Nor shall you leave my burning soul

Torn by the moving sea,

Though all the bells of Zennor toll

And say you died for me.’

~ Vernon Watkins (1906-67) ~