| Saint Senara | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Honored in | Cornwall |
| Major shrine | St Senara's Church |
| Patronage | Zennor |
Saint Senara is a legendary Cornish Christian saint. She is known locally as "the mermaid saint", and is commemorated in various local legends. The Church of Saint Senara, Zennor is dedicated to her, as is the village of Zennor; the headland Zennor Head, and the neolithic tomb Zennor Quoit received her name indirectly.
Legend [link]
Senara was reputedly a Breton princess of Brest originally named Asenora, a woman described as having a "rather dubious reputation" before her conversion.[1] She was married to a Breton king who wrongly accused her of adultery and threw her into the sea from Brittany.[2] She was visited by an angel, whilst floating in the sea off the westernmost end of Cornwall, and gave birth to a son in the waves, who later became Saint Budoc or an Irish bishop. She was washed up on the Cornish coast, and some believe she founded Zennor and gave her name to the eponymous village (and subsequently Zennor Head, Zennor Quoit and Porthzennor Cove), before continuing to Ireland.[3][4] Local legend has it, however, that Senara was besotted with the voice of a good-looking chorister in the church named Matthew Trewhell, the son of a squire, which lured her from the sea at Pendour Cove. It was said that she would sit at the back of the church on a Sunday disguised in a long dress to hide her tail and listen to him, and was subsequently converted.[5][6] Matthew would sing, in a solo, the closing hymn at the church in Zennor. Initially, she just marvelled at Matthew's singing before slipping away to return to the sea, but eventually she became bolder, staying longer. It was on one of these visits that her gaze met his, 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. He carried her to her 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 him singing faintly on the breeze.[7]
Legacy [link]
Senara was highly venerated by local fishermen and is said to represent the dual nature of Christ (human and divine).[6] Medieval folk regarded her as a symbol of lust and a warning against the sins of the flesh due to her story of purported adultery and subsequent conversion. She gives her name to St Senara's Church in Zennor and it contains the Mermaid Chair, an ancient chair with carvings of fish on the seat and a pew end with a depiction of the mermaid admiring herself in a mirror, which is believed to be at least 600 years old.[6][8][9] A statue of St Senara lies in an enclosed garden next to the church and Senara is also the subject of a book by Sue Monk Kidd, The Mermaid Chair,[10] which was adapted into a movie in 2006.[11] The legend is also the subject of the 1980 song "Mermaid" by Cornish folk singer Brenda Wootton.[12]
References [link]
- ^ "The Mermaid Chair". https://www.suemonkkidd.com/Reflections.aspx?t=m&i=27. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Hainsworth, Tessa (10 June 2010). Seagulls in the Attic. Random House. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-4090-5147-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=_RVKF5DA4aMC&pg=PT197. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Wills, Dixe (25 July 2006). Z to Z of Great Britain. Icon Books. ISBN 978-1-84046-754-3. https://books.google.com/books?id=SDfhAAAACAAJ. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ "About Parish". Zennor Parish Council. https://www.zennor.org/about_parish.html. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Berry, Oliver; Dixon, Belinda (12 February 2008). Devon, Cornwall and Southwest England. Lonely Planet. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-74104-873-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=tqpP0B-Hg7IC&pg=PA240. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ a b c "St Senara's Church, Zennor, Cornwall". Haunted Britain. https://www.haunted-britain.com/mermaid_zenor.htm. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Else, David (1 March 2009). England. Lonely Planet. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-74104-590-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=QAyq9CmPPPYC&pg=PA416. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Ancient Worlds Celtia, Saint Senara, retrieved 13/04/2012
- ^ Viccars, Sue (22 June 2010). Frommer's Cornwall Day By Day. John Wiley & Sons. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-470-72100-1. https://books.google.com/books?id=OzdJLzldX4IC&pg=PA134. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Kidd, Sue Monk (3 February 2011). The Mermaid Chair. Headline. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-7553-8518-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=a5_O93S8vgoC&pg=PT33. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ The Mermaid Chair at IMDB
- ^ Boy Jan ... Cornishman, (1980), Burlington Records, BURL 005, sleeve notes
