Born in St Levan, Cornwall, in 1816, William Bottrell became a key figure in preserving Cornish mythology. He initially contributed folk stories of West Cornwall to Robert Hunt's 1865 compilation, Popular Romances of the West of England, alongside Thomas Quiller Couch. Although Bottrell's contributions were acknowledged generally in Hunt's introduction, his individual stories were not credited, prompting him to seek other avenues for his work.
Invited by the Cornish Telegraph, Bottrell began publishing his own versions of these tales between 1867 and 1869. These pieces were compiled into his seminal work, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, in 1870. Unlike Hunt's shorter records, Bottrell's narratives were expansive and detailed, mirroring the embellishments used by traditional Cornish "droll tellers" to entertain their audiences.
Bottrell published a second series of Traditions and Hearthside Stories in 1873, which notably featured the first recorded version of the famous "Mermaid of Zennor" legend. While preparing a third volume in 1880, he suffered a stroke that left him unable to write. A truncated final volume, Stories and Folk-Lore of West Cornwall, was completed with the assistance of Reverend W. S. Lach-Szyrma. Bottrell passed away in 1881 and was buried in his birthplace of St Levan.
