or MIREDEN, a town of Warwickshire, 97 miles from London on the London road, near Coventry. It is pleasantly situated, though in a wet clayey situation, and is not ill built. The church stands on an elevated spot, and contains some good monuments. There is an inn here, about half way from Meridian from St Clement's forest to Coventry, one of the finest in this part of England, being built like a nobleman's seat.

**Meridian**, in Geography, a great circle supposed to be drawn through any part on the surface of the earth, and the two poles; and to which the sun is always perpendicular at noon. See Geography.

In astronomy, this circle is supposed to be in the heavens, and exactly perpendicular to the terrestrial one. See Astronomy.

**Meridiani**, in antiquity, a name which the Romans gave to a kind of gladiators who entered the arena about noon after the bellfarii (who fought in the morning against beasts) had finished. They were thus called from meridiæ, i.e., noon, the time when they exhibited their shows. The meridiani were a sort of artless combatants, who fought man with man, sword in hand. Hence Seneca takes occasion to observe, that the combats of the morning were full of humanity compared with those which followed.

**Meridional distance**, in Navigation, the same with departure, or ealing and welling; being the difference of longitude between the meridian under which the ship now is, and any other meridian which she was under before.

**Meridional parts**, miles, or minutes, in Navigation, are the parts by which the meridians in a Mercator's chart do increase, as the parallels of latitude decrease.

**Merionethshire**, a county of North Wales, is bounded on the north by Caernarvonshire and Denbighshire; on the east by Montgomeryshire; on the west by St George's channel, or the Irish sea; and on the south by the river Dyfi, which parts it from Cardiganshire; extending 40 miles in length and 36 in breadth. It is divided into six hundreds, in which are four market towns, 37 parishes, about 5787 houses, and 29,506 inhabitants in 1801. It lies in the diocese of Bangor, and sends one member to parliament. The air is very sharp in winter, on account of its many high barren mountains; and the soil is as bad as any in Wales, it being very rocky and mountainous. However, this county feeds large flocks of sheep, many goats, and large herds of horned cattle, which find pretty good pasture in the valleys. Besides these, among their other commodities may be reckoned Welch cotton, deer, fowl, fish, and especially herrings, which are often taken on this coast in great plenty.

**Merit**, signifies desert. This term is more particularly applied to signify the moral goodness of the actions of men, and the rewards to which those actions entitle them.

**Merlin**, Ambrose, a famous English poet and reputed prophet, flourished at the end of the 5th century. Many surprising and ridiculous things are related of him. Several English authors have represented him as the son of an incubus, and as transporting from Ireland to England the great stones which form Stonehenge on Salisbury plain. Extravagant prophecies and other works are also attributed to him, on which some authors have even written commentaries.

**Merlin**. See Falco, Ornithology Index.

**Merlon**, in Fortification, is that part of a parapet which is terminated by two embrasures of a battery.

---

**Merlucius**, the Hake. See Gadus, Ichthy-Ornithology Index.

**Mermaid**, or **Merman**, a sea-creature frequently talked of, supposed half human and half a fish.

However naturalists may doubt of the reality of mermen or mermaids, we have testimony enough to establish it; though, how far these testimonies may be authentic, we cannot take upon us to say. In the year 1187, as Lary informs us, such a monster was fished up in the county of Suffolk, and kept by the governor for six months. It bore so near a conformity with man, that nothing seemed wanting to it but speech. One day it took the opportunity of making its escape; and plunging into the sea, was never more heard of. Hist. de Angleterre, P. I. p. 403.

In the year 1430, after a huge tempest, which broke down the dikes in Holland, and made way for the sea into the meadows, &c., some girls of the town of Edam in West Friesland, going in a boat to milk their cows, perceived a mermaid embarrassed in the mud, with a very little water. They took it into their boat, and brought it with them to Edam, dressed it in woman's apparel, and taught it to spin. It fed like one of them, but could never be brought to offer at speech. Some time afterwards it was brought to Haarlem, where it lived for some years, though still showing an inclination to the water. Parival relates, that they had given it some notion of a Deity, and that it made its reverences very devoutly whenever it paused by a crucifix. Delices de Hollande.

In the year 1560, near the island of Manaar, on the western coast of the island of Ceylon, some fishermen brought up, at one draught of a net, seven mermen and mermaids; of which several Jesuits, and among the rest F. Hen. Henriques and Dimas Roquez, physicians to the viceroy of Goa, were witnesses. The physician, who examined them with a great deal of care, and made dissection thereof, affirms, that all the parts both internal and external were found perfectly conformable to those of men. See the Hist. de la compagnie de Jesus, P. II. T. iv. No 276, where the relation is given at length.

We have another account of a merman, seen near the great rock called Diamond, on the coast of Martinico. The persons who saw it, gave in a precise description of it before a notary. They affirmed that they saw it wipe its hand over its face, and even heard it blow its nose.

Another creature of the same species was caught in the Baltic in the year 1531, and sent as a present to Sigismund king of Poland, with whom it lived three days, and was seen by all the court. Another very young one was taken near Rocca de Sintra, as related by Damian Goes. The king of Portugal and the grand master of the order of St James, are said to have had a suit at law to determine which party these monsters belong to.

In Pontopidan's Natural History of Norway, also, we have accounts of mermaids; but not more remarkable or any way better attested than the above, to which we have given a place, merely to shew how far the folly and extravagance of credulity have been carried by weak minds.