CurseFamous
The Merry Maidens
Never dance on a Sunday. Never play past midnight.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Ring of nineteen stones; two tall standing stones
- Legend from
- 19th-century Cornish tradition
- Tone
- Curious
Midnight struck at St Buryan. The pipers stopped playing and ran.
The Merry Maidens is a complete ring of nineteen granite stones in a field beside the B3315, south of St Buryan. Some distance to the north-east stand the Pipers, two tall standing stones. Tradition says nineteen girls danced here on a Sunday to tunes played by two pipers, and all were turned to stone for breaking the Sabbath. Robert Hunt says a flash of lightning from a clear sky struck dancers and musicians alike. Another version explains the gap: the Pipers heard the St Buryan church clock strike midnight, took fright and ran, but were turned to stone as they fled.