The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Nine Stones Close

Stone Circle

Folklore

On special occasions (say midnight at the full moon) fairies gather at the stones to dance. 19th century passers-by apparently could hear the fairy music playing and saw hundreds of them gathered, sitting on the stones and grass and dancing about. A local farm labourer was said to have found a 'fairy pipe' in the field, and resting propped against one of the stones he used it to smoke his tobacco. One might wonder what else he popped in the pipe, as he reported a similar vision.

Why should the site be called 'Nine Stone Close' when there aren't nine stones? Is it a memory of when there were? Or is it just a suitably magic number? Or, could nine really be 'noon' - a typical time of day when you might see stones turn or dance?

(convoluted source: Bord ('Fairy Sites' 2004) cites David Clarke's 'Ghosts and legends of the Peak District' (1991) who in turn was using Llewellyn Jewitt's 1867 'Derbyshire Ballads')
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
2nd February 2005ce
Edited 26th February 2005ce

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to add a comment