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Pendour Cove () is a beach in west
Pendour
' between 1947 and 1948. It is now in the collection of the
Pendour Cove () is a beach in west Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, England, UK. It is about 1 mile northwest of the village of Zennor
Zennor (; (village) or (parish)) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen. Zennor lies on the north coast, about no ...
, and immediately to the west of Zennor Head
Zennor Head is a 750-metre (2,460 ft) long promontory on the Cornish coast of England, between Pendour Cove and Porthzennor Cove. Facing the Atlantic Ocean, it lies 1 kilometre north-west of the village of Zennor and 1.6 kilometres east ...
.
The name originates from the Cornish 'pen' (end, head) and 'dour' (water)
Mermaid legend
A local legend theMermaid of Zennor
The ''Mermaid of Zennor'' () is a Cornish folk tale which originates in the village of Zennor. The legend tells the story of a mysterious woman who occasionally attended the parish church of Zennor; a young man followed her home one day, and n ...
says that if you sit above Pendour Cove at sunset on a fine summer evening you might hear the singing of Matthew Trewella, of Zennor, who fell in love with a mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are ...
and followed her out to sea.
According to the legend, Matthew Trewhella was a good-looking young man with a good voice. Each evening he would sing, in a solo, the closing hymn at the church in Zennor. A mermaid living in neighbouring Pendour Cove was enchanted by his singing. She dressed in a long dress to hide her long tail and walked, a little awkwardly, to the church. Initially, she just marvelled at Matthew's singing before slipping away to return to the sea. She came every day, and eventually became bolder, staying longer.
It was on one of these visits that her gaze met Matthew's, and they fell in love. The mermaid knew, however, that she would have to go back to the sea or else she would die. As she prepared to leave, Matthew said "Please do not leave. Who are you? Where are you from?" The mermaid replied that she was a creature from the sea and that she had to return there. Matthew was so love-struck that he swore he would follow her wherever she went. Matthew carried her to the cove and followed her beneath the waves, never to be seen again.
It is said that if one sits above Pendour Cove at sunset on a fine summer evening one may hear Matthew singing faintly on the breeze. The legend is the subject of the 1980 song "Mermaid" by Cornish folk singer Brenda Wootton
Brenda Wootton (née Ellery) (10 February 1928 – 11 March 1994) was a Cornish folk singer
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th- ...
.
History
At the parish church of St. Senara, visitors to Zennor may see a carved pew-end, over 600 years old, showing an image of the legendary mermaid. British abstract sculptor DameBarbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadin ...
, who lived in Cornwall, produced Pendour
' between 1947 and 1948. It is now in the collection of the
Hirshhorn Museum
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed ...
in Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
References