The Merry Maidens

Around the coast of Cornwall are many prehistoric monuments, and The Merry Maidens is one of the four Penwith circles. Each of the circles had 19 stones, thought by some to represent the element of time with one stone for each of the seven days of the week, and one for every month of the year. At this site the granite stones, although not of outstanding size, are well-preserved and form a neat circle some 77ft (23.3m) across. Apart from the gap at the eastern edge of the circle, which may have been the entrance, all the stones are regularly spaced and have been dated back to 4,000 years ago.

With no documented facts about the precise use of stone circles, they have been surrounded by myth, legend, folklore and theory throughout history. It is popularly believed that they were the temples of the Druids, a place where religious ceremonies or rituals were held, and where sacrificial offerings were made to the gods. They are also renowned for possessing a curious energy. Some suggest that this could be harnessed by dancers exerting themselves inside the circle, but others prefer to look to the Earth's natural source of energy, perhaps from underground streams. There are also a good many superstitions attached to the stones, fed by stories of death and misfortune occurring when men have tried to remove the stones. At the Merry Maidens farmers tried to drag away the stones using oxen, but they stood firmly rooted in the ground.

Exploring Saxon mythology, the Merry Maidens are explained as 'a trophy' erected to commemorate the defeat of the Cornish King Hywel by King Athelston circa AD930. Standing in a nearby field there are two taller stones known as 'the Pipers' which reputedly mark the positions where the leader of each army stood to negotiate peace terms.

In the early days of Christianity, the church tried to prevent a return to paganism by installing fear into the community, and this may explain why the medieval folklore originated about the Merry Maidens. The story goes that a group of young women were walking across the field to attend Evensong at the local church when they met three men playing music. The sound was so entrancing that the women forgot where they were supposed to be going, and stopped to dance a while. As the rhythm became more intense, and the beat got faster, the women danced themselves into a frenzy, only stopping when they were struck by a bolt of lightening which instantly turned them to stone.

This circle was also known as 'Dawns Men', a corruption of the Cornish words meaning dancing stones. Whatever they were called, the message portrayed in this legend was clear to the local people - should they be distracted by the devil (obviously disguised here as the musicians), they would be severely punished for not following their faith. Despite more scientific theories being expounded in the 20th century, the Merry Maidens continues to remain a mystery in the absence of any factual knowledge.