The Nine Ladies, Stanton Moor. Birchover. Simon Unsworth
A common myth or origin story behind a number of stone circles in the UK, is that they were originally groups of women, who were caught wantonly dancing on the sabbath and were petrified - turned to stone - for their sins.
There are two legends behind this belief, the ‘Merry Maidens’ and the ‘Noce de Pierre’, or Stone Wedding, in English. Whilst both involve the petrification into stone of a woman or women, the Merry Maidens always refers to a stone circle, whereas the Noce de Pierre can be any stone megalith.
The Merry Maidens legend occurs in the UK and in Brittany and wherever this legend occurs, a number of elements remain the same:
In Derbyshire, the Nine Ladies of Stanton Moor are something of a northern outlier, with most occurrences of the legend being located in the southwest, most famously in Cornwall. However, from the Middle Ages onwards, miners migrated between Cornish and Derbyshire mines, so, perhaps, stories of the Nine Ladies travelled with them?
The legend of the Nine Ladies goes that nine young ladies of the area took to wanton dancing upon the moor, by moonlight. Not only that, but they did so upon the sabbath! Because of this mighty sin they were turned to stone. The stories don’t say who by, but some suggest the Devil was - inevitably - somehow involved. A few metres away from the Nine Ladies stands the King’s Stone, which is said to be the fiddler, who led the women in their abandonment and was also turned to stone for his pains. Interestingly, the petrified remains of our fiddler; the King Stone, was never part of the Nine Ladies and was, in fact, part of another ring cairn altogether.
Southwest, across the dale from Birchover is Harthill Moor. Here we have Nine Stone Close, or the Grey Ladies, which has more-or-less the same legend attached to it, however, instead of the Devil, we have a giant.
© Simon Unsworth 2025
There are two legends behind this belief, the ‘Merry Maidens’ and the ‘Noce de Pierre’, or Stone Wedding, in English. Whilst both involve the petrification into stone of a woman or women, the Merry Maidens always refers to a stone circle, whereas the Noce de Pierre can be any stone megalith.
The Merry Maidens legend occurs in the UK and in Brittany and wherever this legend occurs, a number of elements remain the same:
- the dancers always number either seven or nine sisters/maidens;
- a fiddler or - more often - a bagpiper supplies the music;
- the presence of the Devil, in some form or other and
- the wanton nature of the dancing.
In Derbyshire, the Nine Ladies of Stanton Moor are something of a northern outlier, with most occurrences of the legend being located in the southwest, most famously in Cornwall. However, from the Middle Ages onwards, miners migrated between Cornish and Derbyshire mines, so, perhaps, stories of the Nine Ladies travelled with them?
The legend of the Nine Ladies goes that nine young ladies of the area took to wanton dancing upon the moor, by moonlight. Not only that, but they did so upon the sabbath! Because of this mighty sin they were turned to stone. The stories don’t say who by, but some suggest the Devil was - inevitably - somehow involved. A few metres away from the Nine Ladies stands the King’s Stone, which is said to be the fiddler, who led the women in their abandonment and was also turned to stone for his pains. Interestingly, the petrified remains of our fiddler; the King Stone, was never part of the Nine Ladies and was, in fact, part of another ring cairn altogether.
Southwest, across the dale from Birchover is Harthill Moor. Here we have Nine Stone Close, or the Grey Ladies, which has more-or-less the same legend attached to it, however, instead of the Devil, we have a giant.
© Simon Unsworth 2025