In the old days the fishermen of Cornwall used to comb the seawrack on the beaches for valuables washed ashore from the many wrecks that were the toll of that cruelly rocky coast. One day Lutey of Cury, which is near Lizard Point, discovered a lovely mermaid stranded in one of the many tidepools to be found among the rocks.
She was a very beautiful creature and easily persuaded Lutey to carry her down to the receding sea. Snuggling against him, she offered him three wishes for his kindness and Lutey, who was a good man, chose first to have the power to force witchspells, second the power to force witch's familiars to do good to others, and third, that these two powers be inherited by his descendants.
The mermaid gladly granted these wishes and, because he had chosen wisely and unselfishly, she added two gifts - first, that none of his family should ever want, and second, a way for him to call her when needed by the use of her magic comb. He thanked her gravely and, still carrying her without effort, paced on toward the sea.
Now Lutey was a handsome man, and strong. And the mermaid began to wish that she might see more of him. She was a very lovely creature indeed, her silky, pale hair having a silvery cast to it, wide green eyes and a throaty liquid voice of great sweetness. When at lst they came to the edge of the sea she began to plead with him to come into the water a little further, holding him tight about the neck when he would have put her down. Her voice was so gentle and the movement of her lithe body so sweet in his arms that Lutey strode on into the sea and would have been forever lost had not his dog barked frantically from the shore and reminded him of his own dear wife and children. But now the mermaid clung even more fiercely and would have dragged him down into the heavy sea until finally Lutey unsheathed his knife and threatened her with it.
The knife was of iron, a metal which is repulsive to merfolk, and she dashed away into the sea, calling as she went:
'Farewell, farewell!
And keep thee well, my love!
For nine long years I'll wait for thee
And hold thee in my heart, my love
And then I shall return!'
Lutey's wishes all came true and his family and descendants became famous healers. But the mermaid's promise also came true, for nine years to the day from the time when Lutey hd cast her off she returned. He was out fishing with one of his sons, and she rose high in the water that was as green as her liquid eyes and shook her silky head and beckoned. Lutey turned to his son and said, 'It is time, I must pay my debt'. But he did not seem in the lest unhappy as he leapt into the green depths with his silver-voiced love.
It is said also that ever after, every nine years, a Lutey of Cury would be lost ot the sea. But whether they went a sjoyfully as the first Lutey no one knows.
--- Faeries --- Brian Froud and Alan Lee
