The Long Meg circle of stones is often referred to as both the Mauganhby Circle, and as Long Meg and her daughters, given the fact that the southern arc of stones is wide in diameter reaching almost 100m.
It is thought that there may have been up to 70 stones when Long Meg was first constructed, although today there are only 51, out of which only 27 still stand, while the rest have fallen to the side.
The Bronze Age Stone Circle is found in Cumbria, near the town of Penrith, and is the largest stone circle still in existence today in the Northern area of England.
The actual Long Meg structure is a large 3.6m monolith stone, which is composed of red sandstone found 18m way from the circle, which is supposedly formed by her ‘daughters.’
Long Meg has many examples of art from the megalithic time period embedded onto her, such as a cup and ring mark that is a group of engraved concentric circles. To this day there is still some argument that Long Meg may not be associated with the stone circle at all, despite the folklore that has spawned the namesake of the circle, but instead a remnant of a Neolithic menhir from a different, earlier, time period.
There are many legends and old tales that are associated with Long Meg and her daughters, including the story of a wizard named Michael Scot from Scotland, who turned a group of witches into stone. Those who prescribe to this legend also believe that the stones should not be counted, because if they are counted twice, the spell will either be broken, or the counter will receive bad luck.
On the other hand, a more friendly folklore legend states that, if you follow the circle created by the daughters and manage to count the stones correctly, and then walk over to Long Meg you can hear her whisper by placing your ear up on the stone.
