The Orford Merman
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Illustration from "The Wild Man of Orford" by Allan
Drummond, Jardine Press
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Belief in mermaids and mermen has existed since earliest times; most
commonly they are represented as having the head and body of a woman
or man and a fishtail instead of legs.
While mermaids are often described as having great beauty and charm,
which they used to lure sailors to their deaths, mermen (of which there
are far fewer stories) are generally considered uglier and less kindly.
Most tales suggest mermen have no interest in mankind, although they
have been cited as being instrumental in the production of huge storms
and the sinking of ships in revenge for man’s mistreatment of a
beloved mermaid. Not all tales portray mermen in this way; Benwell describes
the Scandinavian Merman or Havmand “as a handsome creature with
a green or black beard, living on cliffs and shore hills as well as in
the sea, and says that he was regarded as a beneficent creature." (An
Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Katharine Briggs)
Mermen have been credited as warning men of impending peril and with
taking young sailors down beneath the sea, where the men would
either drown or live in blissful happiness.
The appearance of the Merman of Orford is described as having taken
place in or around 1167. By this time Orford was not only a centre
for fishing
but was developing into a thriving port where imports of wine
and exports of wool would have been a daily event. The foundations for
Orford
Castle
were being discussed by Henry II (if not being laid in place)
The story is told by Ralph Coggeshall, the Abbott's chronicler, in his
history
of Orford written in 1207.
'Men fishing in the sea caught in their nets a wild man. He
was naked
and was like a man in all his members, covered with hair and
with a long shaggy beard. He eagerly ate whatever was brought to him
but if
it was
raw he pressed it between his hands until all the juice was
expelled. He would not talk, even when tortured and hung up by his feet.
Brought into church, he showed no signs of reverence or belief. He
sought his
bed at sunset and always remained there until sunrise. He was allowed to go into the sea, strongly guarded with three
lines of nets, but he dived under the nets and came up again and
again.
Eventually
he came back of his own free will. But later on he escaped
and was never seen again.'
Interestingly the story is related in a very ‘factual’ style;
there is no suggestion of mythical happenings, storms or mysterious
deaths at sea, so was it true? We shall never know. The story is still
much
talked about today, a memorial to him hanging in the market
square - used as the logo for The Butley Orford Oysterage. | 
