In 1830, crofters were busy cutting seaweed at Sgeir na Duchadh near Grimnis on the west coast of the island of Benbecula. One woman spotted a creature several yards out in the water. It looked like a woman in miniature. She called to the others working on the shore and men went into the water to try to catch the creature, but she evaded them.

A boy aimed a rock at her which struck her on the back. She cried out in pain and disappeared beneath the waves.

A few days later a creature was washed up dead on the beach at Culla Bay, near the township of Nunton.

One account at the time stated: “The upper part of the creature was about the size of a well-fed child of three or four years of age, with abnormally developed breasts.

“The hair was long, dark, and glossy, while the skin was white, soft, and tender. The lower part of the body was like a salmon, but without scales.”

As the crowds gathered on the beach they all agreed that this was the body of a mermaid. The factor for the chief of MacDonald of Clanranald, who was also the local sheriff, was called.

On seeing the creature he called for a shroud and coffin to be brought to the beach and the creature was said to be buried in the nearby churchyard.

It was said that the funeral for this creature was one of the largest attended on the island and was carried out like any proper Christian burial.

No grave marker related to the incident can be seen at the churchyard and others have said that the creature was buried near the dunes and not in the churchyard at all.

A survey of a large stone near the south end of the bay was carried out, suspecting that this may indeed be the resting place of the mermaid, but this was inconclusive.

So the resting place of the Hebridean mermaid remains a mystery.

However, mermaid stories like this do bring in the tourists who were beginning to find their way to the islands in the mid 19th century.

Many other tales of mermaids exist on the islands.

My mermaid has been had formed from silver sheet and silver clay has been assed for detail.