Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 37.djvu/306

 court, and was superintendent of the naval museum at South Kensington. After two attacks of paralysis in April 1882 and October 1883 respectively, he died at 45 Church Road, Hove, Brighton, on 1 Jan. 1884, aged 56. Merrifield married Elizabeth Ellen, daughter of John Nicholls of Trekenning, St. Colomb; she died on 23 March 1869 at 23 Scarsdale Villas, South Kensington.

Merrifield's works are: 1. ‘Miscellaneous Memoirs on Pure Mathematics,’ London, 1861, 8vo. 2. ‘A Catalogue of a Collection of Models of Ruled Surfaces,’ London, 1872, 8vo. 3. ‘Technical Arithmetic,’ London, 1872, 8vo. He contributed more than a hundred papers to the ‘Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects,’ and numerous others to the ‘Philosophical Transactions,’ the ‘Assurance Magazine,’ the ‘British Association Reports,’ the ‘School of Naval Architects Annual,’ to the ‘Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society,’ and various other periodicals. Twenty-eight of his papers are enumerated in the Royal Society's ‘Catalogue of Scientific Papers.’ Some of his papers on ‘the difficult and scientifically interesting subject of sea-waves’ were translated into Italian for the ‘Revista Marittima,’ in which they appear with a footnote bearing testimony to the author's ‘extensive knowledge and excellence of style.’ He also edited for many years Longman's ‘Text-books of Science’ series, and on 16 Aug. 1866 contributed a paper to the ‘Pall Mall Gazette’ on ‘The Distress in Cornwall.’ 

MERRIMAN, BRIAN (1757–1808), Irish poet, was born in the parish of Clondagad, barony of Clonderlaw, co. Clare, where his father was a farmer. He became a schoolmaster at Kilclerin in the parish of Feakle, co. Clare, a region so wild that up to 1823 it had no road practicable for any kind of wheeled vehicle. He occasionally acted as resident tutor in the houses of the neighbouring gentry. In 1780 he wrote a poem of two thousand lines, entitled, ‘Cuirt an mheadhoin oidhche’ (‘The Midnight Court’), of which numerous copies exist. That in the British Museum (Egerton 111) is an abridged version of 1024 lines. The poet is walking by the Graney river and falls asleep. A young woman appears as a witness, and denounces the men of Ireland, their carelessness of beauty, and love of wealth. Brian is convicted as their representative, and is about to be flogged when he awakes. The description of the river and its banks show great appreciation of natural beauty, the dialogue contains many witty passages, and the versification is smooth. The poem at once became popular, and very many copies circulated in manuscript in Clare and Limerick. He was a good fiddler, and wrote several songs. He died in Limerick in 1808. He is sometimes called MacGillameidhre in manuscripts, but those who spoke Irish only called him Merriman, and his patronymic is probably purely English. 

MERRIMAN, NATHANIEL JAMES (1810–1882), bishop of Grahamstown, South Africa, born in 1810, was third son of Thomas Merriman of Marlborough, Wiltshire. His family was of Lancashire origin. Educated at Winchester and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was Hulme exhibitioner, and graduating B.A. with second-class honours in literis humanioribus in 1831 (M.A. 1834), he was ordained deacon in 1832, priest 1833, and became perpetual curate of Over Darwen in Lancashire. In 1841 he moved to the vicarage of Street in Somerset.

In 1848 Merriman accepted an offer of the archdeaconry of Grahamstown made him by Robert Gray [q. v.], bishop of Capetown. At the end of the year he was in Africa; at the beginning of 1849 he had started on his first visitation, often walking long distances on foot. ‘He is a very remarkable man,’ wrote the bishop in this year; ‘his self-denial and energy both of body and mind are greater than in any other man I have ever met with … the record of his life for the past year would astonish any one.’ In 1850 he offered to undertake a mission to the Kaffirs, in whom he took great interest; and the success of mission work among the natives was largely due to his exertions.

In 1863, at the trial of Bishop Colenso [q. v.], Merriman, as proxy for his clergy, was one of the accusers. When the see of Grahamstown was established out of Capetown (1853), he had declined the bishopric, but on 5 Dec. 1871 he was consecrated the