Nine Maidens

It was probably an error of judgement, but I went for a walk today along the top of Belstone Ridge on northern Dartmoor. It felt bitterly cold in the strong wind. This is the Nine Maidens stone circle below the tors. Popular folklore in days past attributed them to nine maidens who were turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath, Similar tales are quite common and tell how maidens or pipers were turned to stone for similar reasons. In my experience, the the number of stones in these circles never seems to add up to names they are given.