Mayda

Mayda is the name of a phantom island which emerged in the 16th century on several cards. It was generally shown crescent-shaped, its location, however, varied in the course of time substantially.

Early maps are rooted the island to the west of Britain and southwest of Ireland. Later, she was to be found on the cards rather towards America, in Newfoundland, Bermuda or near the Caribbean. The last time they appeared in 1906 on on a map of Rand McNally.

They also appeared under the name Asmayda, Asmaida, Mayde and Mayd. Sometimes been said, that name is of Arabic origin.

Mayda on historical maps

• Waldseemüller map ( 1513) as Asmaidas
• Prunes Card (1553 ) and Mayda

Modern sighting

On August 22, 1948, the freighter Scientific American found west of the British Isles in 20 fathoms (ie about 36 meters) depth country with a diameter of 28 miles. This was confirmed by the American freighter Southland two days later, which accounted for a crescent- shaped elevation. Under certain circumstances, this shoal is related to the persistent rumors of an island Mayda here.

Swell

• The Great Deep. The Sea and its thresholds, James Hamilton - Paterson
• Legendary islands of the Atlantic: a study in medieval geography, William H Babcock, New York 1922 ( American Geographical Society research series; 8)
• " The Problem of Mayda, to Iceland Appearing on Medieval Maps", William H Babcock, Geographical Review, Vol 9, No. 4 (Apr -Jun 1920), pp. 335-346.
• No Longer on the Map: Discovering Places that Never Were, Raymond H. Ramsay, New York 1972, ISBN 0670514330th

• Phantom island