Nine Maidens

The Nine Maidens or the ‘dancing stones’ are a stone circle sitting on the edge of northern Dartmoor near to the village of Belstone. This is a fairly small stone circle compared to some on Dartmoor. This stone circle is also known confusingly as the Seventeen Brothers or on OS maps as the Nine Stones, but the myth suggests that Nine Maidens who had not obeyed the Sabbath day had gone and danced on the moor on a Sunday. They were punished for their wrong doing and now sit, forever, where they danced. They can still be seen swaying at midday or when the church bells at Belstone ring. The circle is in fact believed to be a burial cairn circle originally rather than a stone circle. But this is another example of another fantastic Dartmoor myth and legend.