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

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.

Change and Diversity in Neolithic Mortuary Practices on the Isle of Man

While the Early Neolithic chambered tombs of the Isle of Man are well known and the Late Neolithic has been clearly defined with reference to a distinctive suite of artefacts, little is known about the Middle Neolithic. This article reports on 17 new Neolithic radiocarbon dates from cremated human remains from the Isle of Man. These identify five burials in cists as Middle Neolithic and indicate new sequences of activity at cemeteries starting in the Middle Neolithic. Each of these sites is examined in detail. The dates also spur a reconsideration of the development of Ronaldsway pottery and the integration of Grooved Ware pottery and motifs into early 3rd millennium practice on the island. The paper ends with a consideration of the changing effects of mortuary practices throughout the Neolithic on the Isle of Man and a discussion of connections with Middle and Late Neolithic activity in Ireland and Britain.