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Merrow (from Irish ''murúch'', Middle Irish ''murdúchann'' or ''murdúchu'') is an Irish-English term for a mermaid or merman. The word appears in two tales set in Ireland published in the 19th century. In ''Lady of Gollerus'', a green-haired beautiful merrow is forced to wed a local Kerry man who deprives her of the "magical cap" (''cohuleen druith''). And in the ''The Soul Cages'' a green-bodied grotesque male merrow entertains a fisherman at his home, displaying a collection of castaway human souls. These tales with commentary were first published in T. C. Croker's ''Fairy Legends'' (1828). William Butler Yeats and others writing on the subject borrowed heavily from this work. The latter tale was not genuine folktale but piece invented by Thomas Keightley. A number of other terms in Irish are used to denote a mermaid or sea-nymph, some tracing back to mythological tracts from the medieval to the post-medieval period. The Middle Irish ''murdúchann'' is a siren-like creatures encountered by legendary ancestors of the Irish (either Goidels or Milesians) according to the ''Book of Invasions''. This and ''suire'' are terms for the mermaid that appear in onomastic tales of the ''Dindsenchas''. A ''muirgheilt'', literally "sea-lunatic", is the term for the mermaid Lí Ban. ==Etymology== Current scholarship regards ''merrow'' as a Hiberno-English term, derived from Irish ''murúch'' (Middle Irish ''murdhúchu'' or ''murdúchann'') meaning "sea singer" or "siren". But this was not the derivation given by 19th century writers. According to Croker, "merrow" was a transliteration of modern Irish ''moruadh'' or ''moruach'', which resolved into ''muir'' "sea" + ''oigh'' "maid". But as Croker noted, this derivation is cognate with Cornish ''morhuch'', and that term means "sea hog". Yeats added ''murrúghach'' as an alternative original, as that word is also synonymous with mermaid. The corresponding term in the Scots dialect is ''morrough'', derived from the Irish, with no original Scottish Gaelic form suggested. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merrow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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