I have been struggling to find any evidence of mermaids around Portsmouth so far in my research, which is surprising as the city is surrounded by water and has a naval background.
On the city coat of arms there appears to be a lion and a unicorn with fish like tails, but this seems to be linked more to royalty than mermaids: https://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/ext/the-council/lord-mayor/portsmouths-coat-of-arms
I contacted local city museums but had no luck.
There is even a pub in Portsmouth called 'The Mermaid' which I thought might have a story behind it but after contacting the owner and looking online I was rather disappointed.
'Designed by A E Cogswell and built in 1900 for the Pike Spicer brewery on what was once Mermaid Field (Mermaid being a corruption of the words mere mead - a water meadow)'
I have contacted the Portsmouth records office and plan to visit the historic dockyards so hopefully they will unveil something for me to look at. If not, I can look at it as an opportunity to fill a gap in the market and do some authorial illustration, perhaps make up my own mermaid myth for Portsmouth.
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