Jack was a fisherman who lived far from any other folk on a wild coast of Ireland. He made quite a good living supplying the gentlemen of the area with fish, and Jack and his wife were very comfortable. Jack's greatest desire was that he might meet with a Merrow, a man of the sea, but he would spend many days without catching sight of a single one.

It happened that one day he caught sight of a Merrow in the water, and he decided that he must make an aquaintance of the creature. On the day he set out to do this a storm blew in and forced Jack to take refuge in a cave along the coast, and to his surprise he found the Merrow within, a curious looking creature with scales along his legs and short arms like fins. It had a red cocked hat under it's arm, and looked quite thoughtful.

Jack bowed before the Merrow and learned that the creature had once been a great friend of Jack's grandfather. Jack and Coomara, for that was the Merrow's name, soon struck up a friendship and Jack was invited to meet with him. Coomara lent him a second red cap, which he used to travel safely beneath the sea, and took Jack down to his home.

After drinks and a fine dinner Coomara showed Jack the curiousities that he had found here and there beneath the. What drew Jack's notice the most were things the looked like lobster cages sitting along one wall. These, Coomara explained, were Soul Cages. At times when a storm is sure to down a ship he would set out the cages, and the souls of the drowned sailors would make for them as shelter.

Jack was astonished by this but said nothing about it. Once he had returned to his home he thought that he should do something to free the souls, for although Coomara didn't believe he was doing any harm Jack didn't think the souls should be kept in cages. He soon made up a plan to invite Coomara to his home for dinner and intended to get the Merrow drunk so he might be able to slip away to Coomara's home and set the souls free.

Once Jack's wife had set out on a trip Jack invited Coomara to dinner, and managed to get him quite drunk with good liquor given to him by his brother in law. He then slipped out and used Coomara's red cap to travel beneath the sea, and he set about turning the cages upside down one by one so the souls could escape. With that done he placed them all back as they had been and made his way back home.

In the years to come Jack found many excuses to visit Coomara's home and free any new souls that the Merrow had collected. Coomara never did miss any of them, and he and Jack continued in their friendship for many years.