THE LEGEND OF THE DOOMBAR

1.Tristram Bird set out from Padstow to Hawker's Cove. He wanted to use his new gun on something bigger than a bird. He looked about the beach for something to shoot.

2.A beautiful maid sat by a pool, the Mermaid's Glass. In moments she had Tristram bewitched.

Tristram: 'I am just out shooting.' Mermaid: 'I can see by your gun.' Tristram: 'I would like you for my wife,' Mermaid: 'Would you now.'

3. As she resisted Tristram's charms, Tristram's mood turned ugly,’ Tristram: ‘Are you not willing?’ Mermaid: ‘I am not.’ Tristram: 'If I cannot have you alive, I will have you dead.’ The mermaid sighed and pointed at Tristram, Mermaid: 'If you shoot I will curse you and all of Padstow.'

4. He paced the sand, wild as a hawk. Foolish Tristram raised his gun and shot her in the side. He watched in horror as a silver tail rose up and flapped in the water. Tristram: 'I've shot a mermaid.' Mermaid: 'I curse you Tristram Bird and I curse your town. A bar of doom will rise up across Padstow's safe harbour. Every time a ship wrecks on the bar, I shall wail with the cries of dying sailors until my death is avenged.'

5. Tristram walked home feeling wisht. He stood looking out over the bay, a golden streak appeared in the water, from Hawker's cove to Trebetherick Bay. The mermaid's words wailed through his mind.

6. A storm was brewing as he walked into Padstow.

7. At Place House the women asked him, 'What did you shoot Tristram Bird?' Tristram: 'It is so terrible you will not believe me. I have shot a mermaid and she has cursed me and our town.'

8. That night, the terrible storm ravaged the seas, cliffs and town. No one was in any doubt, the mermaid's wrath was already upon them. In the morning, a bar of sand divided the harbour and on it were many broken ships. Every time a sailor died, the mermaid's wraith wailed at the injustice of their death and her own.