Stone Structure: The Merry Maidens By Kevin Budd

The article describes a stone structure known as The Merry Maidens, in which Kevin Budd, the author, visited while in England. The Merry Maidens is similar to other circular stone structures such as Stonehenge, also in England. The origin and purpose of these structures has been the cause of much debate that will most likely never be resolved. This article offers up a bit of folklore as a possible explanation for its existence. The description of the tale involves 19 maidens and two pipers who were punished and turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath. It is proposed that this folklore may have originated with the Christian church through its desire to steer the people toward the beliefs of Jesus which included a rule against dancing on Sunday. An editor’s addition to the article briefly touches on other possible purposes of the structure. It indicates that most of these types of structures were considered sacred and potentially …show more content…
Are there any other hypothesis regarding the true purpose of this structure? What are the other twelve stone structures, besides Stonehenge, that are mentioned to be in existence? When was the structure discovered and was anything else found near it? Although the article is written fairly well, it concentrates too much on the description of the myth and excludes historical facts about the structure.
Consequently, additional research is necessary to answer the many questions that remain in the reader’s mind. This article motivated me to review the information provided about Stonehenge in Chapter one of our textbook. A much more descriptive explanation of Stonehenge is included, which results in a more fulfilling experience for the reader. I continued to research more about the other megalithic stone structures to find there are many in different countries. Specifically, one I found to be most interesting is called Almendres