The Nine Maidens, or Virgin sisters - more info

The Nine Maidens at Boskednan.  Unfortunately I can find no copyright free images of the Nine Maidens near Wendron. Image by Jim Champion [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"NINE "Moor Stones" are set up near the road in the parish of Gwendnon, or Wendron, to which the above name is given. The perpendicular blocks of granite have evidently been placed with much labour in their present position. Tradition says they indicate the graves of nine sisters. Hals appears to think some nuns were buried here. From one person only I heard the old stony of the stones having been metamorphosed maidens. Other groups of stone might be named, as Rosemedery, Tregaseal, Boskednan, Botallack, Tredinek, and Crowlas, in the west, to which the same story extends, and many others in the eastern parts of the county; but it cannot be necessary."

Hunt 1903

Map - Nine  Maidens / Virgin Sisters near Wedron

Map - Stones at Rosemedery (this is a guess, New Downs stone circle - it is the nearest stone circle to Rosemundy in Cornwall...)

Map - Stones at Tregaseal

Map - Stones at Boskednan

Map - Stones at Botallack

Map - Stones at Tredinek

Map - Crowlas (There is no indication of a circle, destroyed or otherwise here, though ther may have been once)

The Hurlers

The Hurlers stone circle - By Olaf Tausch (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The three circles, which are seen on the moors not far from the Cheesewring, in the parish of St Cleer, are also notable examples of the punishment of Sabbath-breaking. These are called the Hurlers," and they preserve the position in which the several parties stood in the full excitement of the game of hurling, when, for the crime of profaning the Sabbath, they were changed into stone...

... "With respect to the stones called the 'Hurlers' being once men, I will say with Hals, 'Did but the ball which these Hurlers used when flesh and blood appear directly over them, immovably pendant in the air, one might he apt to credit some little of the tale;' but as this is not the case, I must add icy belief of their being erected by the Druids for some purpose or other -- probably a court of justice; bog subsequent to which erection, however, they may have served as a goal for hurl-players."--Topographical and Historical Sketches of the Boroughs of East and West Love, by Thomas Bond.

May we not address Mr Bond, "O ye of little faith!" A very small amount of which would have found the ball, fixed as a boulder of granite, not as it passed through the air, but as it rolled along the ground.

That an ancient priesthood, endeavouring to reach the minds of an ignorant people through their sensations, should endeavour to persuade the old Celtic population that God's vengeance had fallen on the Sabbath-breaker, is not to be wondered at. Up to a very recent period, hurling matches usually came off on the Sunday--See "Hurling," in the chapter on Cornish Customs."

Hunt 1903

Map - The Hurlers

Three Cornish Stone Circles and their myths

Boscawen Un Stone Circle - Alan Simkins [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The celebrated circle of nineteen stones,--which is seen on the road to the Land's End,--known as the "Boscawen un Circle," is another example." [of people turned to stone for dancing] "The "Nine Maids," or the "Virgin Sisters," in Stithians, and other "Nine Maids," or, as called in Cornish, Naw-whoors, in St Colomb-Major parish, should also be seen, in the hope of impressing the moral lesson they convey yet more strongly on the mind...

...The following quotations are front Davies Gilbert. It must not be forgotten that this gentleman was President of the Royal Society, and therefore a sceptic in local tradutionary story:-- -

"On the south-west part of the parish of Stithians, towards Gwendron, are still to be seen nine Stones set perpendicularly erect in the earth, in a direct manner, about ten feet apart, called the Nine Maids, probably set up there in memory of nine religious sisters or nuns in that place before the fifth century; not women turned into stone, as the English name implies, and as the country people thereabout will tell you"

"The Nine Maids--in Cornish, Naw-voz, alias the nine sisters--in Cornish, Nawwhoors--which very name informs us that they were sepulchral stones, erected in memory either of suns natural or spiritual Sisters of some religious house, and not so many maids turned into stones for dancing on the Sabbath-day, as the country people will tell you. Those stones are set in order by a line, as is such another monument, also called the Nine Maids, in Gwendron, by the highway, about twenty-five feet distance Irons each other.""

Hunt 1903

Map - Boscawen un Circle

Map - Nine Maids of Stithians parish

Map - Naw-whoors Stone Row of St Colomb-Major

The Merry Maidens, or Dawns Myin, and the pipers of Burian

The Merry Maidens, or Dance-Maine, 1804 - By W & G Cooke [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"In the parish of Burian are the "Dawns Myin" or Mên--the dancing stones--commonly called "The Merry Maidens;" and near them are two granite pillars, named the "Pipers." One Sabbath evening some of the thought. less maidens of the neighbouring village, instead of attending vespers, strayed into the fields, and two evil spirits, assuming the guise of pipers, began to play some dance tunes. The young people yielded to the temptation; and, forgetting the holy day, commenced dancing. The excitement increased with the exercise, and soon the music and the dance became extremely wild; when, lo a flash of lightning from the clear sky transfixed them all, the tempters and the tempted, and there in stone they stand."

Hunt 1903

Map - The Merry Maidens

Stone Circles and the prevelance of the turned to stone myth

The Merry Maidens near St Buryan, Lands End - By waterborough (photo shooting) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"IN many parts of Cornwall we find, more or less perfect, circles of stones, which the learned ascribe to the Druids. Tradition, and the common people, who have faith in all that their fathers have taught them, tell us another tale. These stones are everlasting marks of the Divine displeasure, being maidens or men, who were changed into stone for some wicked profanation of the Sabbath-day. These monuments of impiety are scattered over the county; they are to be found, indeed, to the extremity of Old Cornwall, many of those circles being upon Dartmoor. It is not necessary to name them all. Every purpose will be served if the tourist is directed to those which lie more directly in the route which is usually prescribed."

Hunt 1903

The Giant of Carnbrea Castle

Carn Brea Castle - By en:User:Ash (Original photo scan by Ash) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or CC-BY-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons

"Near the Land's End is Carnbrea Castle. It is very small, scarcely sixty feet long by ten wide, and is built on a ledge of rock; in some parts it is three storeys high, in others only one. Part of this castle is very ancient, and of rude architecture. Strange stories are told by the country people of Carnbrea. They say that a mighty giant - Cornwall abounded in giants - lies buried beneath it, and that a block of granite indented into five nearly equal parts is his hand, which, protruding through the surface, became fossilized."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Carnbrea Castle

[Its really not very near Land's End!]

The North Walk and Ragged-Jack

18th-century engraving reproducing a bas-relief found at Autun, France, depicting "two druids" J.R. Planché, "History of British costume" (1836) [1]
reprinted in Knight, Charles: "Old England: A Pictorial Museum" (1845)
immediate source: Liam's Pictures from Old Books - originally uploaded on Wikimedia Commons by Chris 73; reuploaded by Nyo

"The North Walk - the more picturesque of the two roads that lead to the famous Valley of Rocks - is one of the finest cliff walks in England. It was made by a Mr. Sanford in 1817. After walking along it for the distance of about half a mile, a great, rugged, and fantastically jagged tor appears on the left. It is the celebrated Ragged Jack with his companions. There is a legend attached to these tors. It is said that some Druids were dancing here on a Sunday, and making impious revelry, when Satan suddenly appeared in the midst of them and turned them into stone. We must suppose that Ragged Jack was an Archdruid - but what had Druids to do with Sunday?"

Valentine (undated)

Map - Ragged Rack

Cubert - Saint Cuthburts Well

Old Postcard of the entrance to Holy Well Cave - there are amazing rock formations within

"There is a hollow in the rock on the coast south of Creek which at high-tide is always filled by the salt water, but at low-tide the water is always fresh; it is said to have the power of curing diseases. The dropping water forms a stalagmite.--Ibid., I47ⁿ."

Hope 1893

Map - Saint Cuthburts Well approximation

Saint Cuthberts Well, Holywell, Cubert.

Nr Cubert and Holywell

Tony Atkin [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"In this parish (St. Cuthbert) is that famous and well-known spring of water, called Holy Well, so named, the inhabitants say, for that the virtues of this water were first discovered on All Hallow's Day. The same stands in a dark cavern of the sea cliff rocks, beneath full sea-mark on spring tides. The virtues of the waters are, if taken inward, a notable vomit, or as a purgent. If applied outward, it presently strikes in, or dries up, all itch, scurf, dandriff, and such-like distempers in men or women. Numbers of persons in summer season frequent this place and waters from countries far distant. It is a petrifying well.--Ibid., 53." 

Hope 1893

[I can only deduce this must be Cubert, where between it and the sea is a small hamlet called Holywell. Seems likely. The Megalithic Portal puts a holy well at Trevornick Farm, but also mentions rockpools further up the coast.]

Map - Holywell, Cubert

The Nine Stones - Belstone

Nine Stones, Belston

"Belstone Tor is easily climbed, and beyond it, not far from an artillery flag staff, is the stone circle known as the Nine Stones - in reality their are seventeen.  Legend asserts that they - just as the Merry Maidens near Penzance - were individuals turned into stones for dancing on Sunday but they have not yet finished their dance, for they may be seen to move every day at noon.  This may be accounted for by the effect of those

Tremulous vapours of dim noontide

which on hot summer days rise over the moor."

Cresswell 1921

Map - Nine Maidens / Stones, Dartmoor
Map - Merry Maidens, Cornwall

Raged Jack at Lynton

   
       
       
Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.
   

'Before long it [a footpath from Lynton and Lynmouth] brings you to a fantastic mass of rocks, known as "Ragged Jack".  To this group is attached the often-repeated legend of people turned into stone for misconducting themselves on a Sunday.'

Hope Moncrieff 1895

Belstone and the Nine Maidens

'But one couldn't hurry on without lingering by Belstone Cleave and the sacred circle known as the Nine Maidens, who were turned to stone for dancing on Sunday, their partners also, as would appear, since there are more than nine of them still standing.'

Hope Moncrieff 1895

Belstone and the Nine Maidens

[On a guided walk today I was told of the Nine Maidens or Nine Stones on Belston Common.  The guide was from the village and said that as a child the old men had told him they used to go up there on May Day for 'ceremonies'.  When he asked what these consisted of he was told 'don' yu wory abote that, boy' - and laughed.  He took this to mean it was rude - a May Day shag at the circle!  He was in his late 50's early 60's - so these memories probably stretch back about 70 - 100 years.

The circle, of course, has more than nine stones (I think it was 16), but he linked the story to concepts of three times three, e.g. third child of the third generation "she would have to be female, of course".  He also linked it to the moon, saying that came in three phases - waxing, full and waining - presumably new dosent count because you cant see it!

The story I knew of the stones was the maidens turned to stone for dancing on the sabath.]

The adventurs of Chery of Zennor - part 11

Cherry told the old woman she "wouldn't cum ony furder for the wurld," She thought from the first she was got into a land of Small People underground, only master was like other men; but now she know'd she was with the conjurors, who had turned all these people to stone. She had heard talk on 'em up in Zennor, and she knew they might at any moment wake up and eat her.

Old Prudence laughed at Cherry, and drove her on, insisted upon her rubbing up a box, "like a coffin on six legs," until she could see her face in it. Well, Cherry did not want for courage, so she began to rub with a will; the old woman standing by, knitting all the time, calling out every now and then, "Rub! rub! rub! harder and faster!" At length Cherry got desperate, and giving a violent rub at one of the corners, she nearly upset the box. When, O Lor! it gave out such a doleful, unearthly sound, that Cherry thought all the stone-people were coming to life, and with her fright she fell down in a fit. The master heard all this noise, and came in to inquire into the cause of the hubbub. He was in great wrath, kicked old Prudence out of the house for taking Cherry into that shut-up room, carried Cherry into the kitchen, and soon, with some cordial, recovered her senses. Cherry could not remember what had happened; but she knew there was something fearful in the other part of the house. But Cherry was mistress now--old Aunt Prudence was gone. Her master was so kind and loving that a year passed by like a summer day. Occasionally her master left home for a season; then he would return and spend much time in the enchanted apartments, and Cherry was certain she had heard him talking to the stone-people. Cherry had everything the human heart could desire, but she was not happy; she would know more of the place and the people. Cherry had, discovered that the ointment made the little boy's eyes bright and strange, and she thought often that he saw more than she did; she would try; yes, she would!..' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The adventurs of Chery of Zennor - part 10

'...After her ordinary work was done on the second day, her master required Cherry to help him in the garden, to pick the apples and pears, and to weed the leeks and onions.

Glad was Cherry to get out of the old woman's sight. Aunt Prudence always sat with one eye on her knitting, and the other boring through poor Cherry. Now and then she'd grumble, "I knew Robin would bring down some fool from Zennor--better for both that she had tarried away."

Cherry and her master got on famously, and whenever Cherry had finished weeding a bed, her master would give her a kiss to show her how pleased he was.

After a few days, old Aunt Prudence took Cherry into those parts of the house which she had never seen. They passed through a long dark passage. Cherry was then made to take off her shoes; and they entered a room, the floor of which was like glass, and all round, perched on the shelves, and on the floor, were people, big and small, turned to stone. Of some, there were only the head and shoulders, the arms being cut off; others were perfect...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903