Long Meg and Her Daughters

This stone ring, located in Hunsonby, England, has many tales concerning its origin. If you are looking for a realistic answer, then it was built in the Neolithic era by an unknown pagan civilization. It was likely used for rituals or as a calendar to measure the timing of the seasons.   

Now, legend has it that these stones were once a coven of witches, Meg of Meldon and her daughters. They were turned to stone for profaning the sabbath and dancing wildly on the moor. In a different version, the witches were turned to stone by a Scottish wizard, Michael Scott, which is quite comical if you’re familiar with the Office series. There are many versions of this folktale, but this one is the most well-known.  

If you walk this stone circle, chances are you won’t count the same number of stones twice. When I got the chance to see it for myself, I circled the ring about five different times, getting a different number each time. No one else in my family got a like number either. It really was the strangest thing. But it is said that if you do happen to count the same number twice then the spell will be broken, and the witches will come back to life, or you will bring very bad luck upon yourself.