The Storyteller: Stories from the stones

This recent spell of good weather has encouraged me out onto Dartmoor, pursuing my pastime of letterboxing, whilst visiting some of my favourite antiquities, namely the many stone rows and circles that litter the otherwise barren landscape.

We don’t really know why our ancestors constructed them, how and where they did, but they probably served some sort of ritual purpose, possibly to do with the internment of the dead, as many of them have cairns, or burial chambers, along the rows or nearby.

It is also said, by those sensitive to it, that these areas are prone to underground energy, or ley lines, which may have attracted our ancestors, thus turning them into sacred sites. I must admit to feeling a tremendous sense of awe when visiting them, which makes the effort needed to reach them all the more worthwhile.

The other weekend, I made such a trip to Stalldown Stone Row, also known as the Cornwood Maidens, one of the most impressive examples of its kind on Dartmoor, with the height of the stones increasing as it reaches the crest of the hill. I undertook this same walk a couple of years ago, just after my 60th birthday.

On that occasion I parked in Cornwood, which added a fair amount of lane walking to the mission, but this time I’d had a tip-off that there was parking for a couple of cars in the lane, just before the nearest moor gate, and I was lucky enough to bag one, saving me time and energy.

That time, I paid a visit to Hillson’s House, visible on the same ridge, just a short distance from the row. It’s the remains of a tinner’s hut, but with an interesting story to tell, which I’ve shared in detail before, but, briefly, it concerns a local farmer who found an abandoned baby in the hut, which he raised as his own child, along with his wife.

Very imaginatively, they called the boy Hillson, and when he was old enough to leave home, he returned to the place where he was found and pursued a career as a watch and clock maker, high up on the Dartmoor hills. He became very skilled at his craft, his timepieces being very much in demand, and some are said to still exist amongst local people’s possessions...

The alternative name for Stalldown Row, Cornwood Maidens, lies in the folklore that surrounds many of the rows and circles on Dartmoor, namely that they are young people, mainly women, punished by God, for daring to dance on the Sabbath, instead of going to church, and turned to stone, for all eternity, prancing in line, up the hill.

A similar fate befell the participants of more merriment, slightly further north of these maidens, and they have become immortalised as the Dancers, forever to dance in a circle of stone. They are also known as “Kiss in the Ring”, another game youngsters indulged in, but to do so on a Sunday was another mortal sin, punishable by petrification...

This circle is actually more important, as it stands at one end of the longest stone row in Europe, possibly the world. Estimates vary as to how long this row actually is or how many stones it contains, as many of them are only just protruding out of the ground, but the general consensus is that it starts at The Dancers before heading north, over hill and dale, crossing rivers and streams as it goes, before terminating at a smaller cairn circle on Green Hill, not far from Fox Tor Mires, just outside of Princetown. In my time, I’ve visited both ends of the row, but I’ve so far never walked the full length... However, that still remains on my “to do” list...

It is said that the stones heading away from The Dancers are other participants at the revelry, fleeing for their lives before also being turned to stone as part of God’s punishment. It would appear that he was kept particularly busy on Dartmoor back in the day, for many young people chose to risk his wrath by enjoying themselves on his holy day, for if you head to the north, just outside the village of Belstone, you will see, marked on the map, the Nine Maidens cairn circle, also known as The Seventeen Brothers, all found guilty of the same crime.

The discrepancy in the numbers of the two titles can be explained by the fact that, no matter how hard you try to count the stones, you can never get to the same amount twice! It’s also said that, if the church bells in Belstone are rung at midday, the stones come to life and continue their dancing. Maybe some then take the opportunity to flee before being returned to their fate, thus confusing the numbers...

Finally, back on the south moor, overlooking Buckfastleigh, you will find three rock formations known as Inner Pupers, Pupers Rock and Outer Pupers. Folklore suggests these were also once young boys and girls turned to stone for enjoying themselves on God’s day, but, in this instance, they may have had musical accompaniment in the form of a lone piper, Pupers being a corruption of pipers, and he stands a short distance below his companions, also turned to stone, forever known as Little Man. It’s said the sound of his pipe playing can sometimes be heard on the wind at night...but I’ve yet to hear that for myself.

If I’ve piqued your interest with my stories of the stones, and the fine weather is tempting you to go walking on Dartmoor, then why not try to find these magnificent stone antiquities for yourselves? In order to help you, I can highly recommend two books that a friend of mine, Helen Louise, has self-published recently, called “Searching for Stone Circles on Dartmoor”, north and south editions.

Each gives you detailed and easy-to-follow instructions on how to find them, along with some of the history and stories attached. They are a fun read and come highly recommended, even if you don’t fancy the walking..