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At Gunwalloe, in Cornwall, there is a fairly famous church almost on the beach. There, on the grave of a lady who died at a terribly early age - her dates, I think, were 1958-1991 - could be read the inscription "Mermaids never drown". I remember seeing it in 1994, I believe. It appeared not to be there in 2007. On the other hand, a search on the web reveals a novel by Muncy Chapman (see, for example, amazon) - published (in paperback) in July 2002.