The Pipers, St Buryan
The Pipers are a pair of standing stones near The Merry Maidens stone circle, two miles south of the village of St Buryan, in Cornwall.
Description
The Pipers are on a northeast to southwest alignment which points almost directly at The Merry Maidens. The two stones stand in separate fields about 100 yards apart. The southwest stone is the taller of the two, measuring 15 feet high—there are two longitudinal cracks down the northwest side, and one down the southeast side.[1] The northeast stone is 14 feet high and is of rectangular section—the stone leans to the northwest.[1]
Myth and legend
The name of these two stones derives from a legend: a group of maidens were turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath, which was the origin of the Merry Maidens circle, and the two stones nearby are the pipers who played for them.
A different legend states that the two stones were set up following a 10th-century battle at which King Aethelstan defeated an alliance of Cornishmen and Danes,[2] and that the Pipers were said to mark the positions of the two opposing leaders.[2] The consensus amongst historians however is that this is a modern fancy based on a chronicler’s mistake: there was no such rebellion in Aethelstan’s day.
The legend of the petrified pipers is, interestingly, closer to the archaeological conclusions about these stones, which is to say that they are part of the same complex as the Merry Maidens in the Stone Age.
Research
The stones were first recorded by William Borlase in 1754.[3] His descendent William Copeland Borlase excavated the stones in 1871 with no result.[3]
See also
- Boleigh Fogou, northeast of The Pipers
- Tregiffian Burial Chamber, southwest of The Merry Maidens
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about The Pipers, St Buryan) |
- Location map: 50°4’6"N, 5°35’6"W
- Streetmap: SW435248
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 National Monuments Record: No. 422944 – The Pipers
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 National Monuments Record: No. 422977 – Battle of Boleigh AD936
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 National Heritage List 1006732: Two standing stones known as 'The Pipers'