Standing Stones, The

DESCRIPTION: Two lovers meet at the Standing Stones and promise to wed. After she leaves, a rival stabs him to death, solely to cause the girl pain. She hears a cry, turns, and sees her beloved. He points to the stars and vanishes; she pines away and dies
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1883 (John Mooney's "Songs of the Norse")
LONG DESCRIPTION: In the Orkneys lives a beautiful young woman who has been loved since childhood by a young man. They meet at the Standing Stones and promise to wed, sealing the promise by joining their hands through a hole in the Lovers' Stone. He kisses her goodbye, watches her leave, then turns to go home, but a rival attacks him and stabs him to death, solely to cause the girl pain. She is arriving home when she hears a cry, turns, and sees her beloved standing near. He points to the stars and vanishes; knowing he is dead, she pines away and dies
KEYWORDS: grief hate jealousy courting love promise violence crime homicide beauty death mourning ritual supernatural lover ghost
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Hebr))
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy-FolksongsOfBritainAndIreland 332, "The Standing Stones" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT, STANSTON
Roud #2151
RECORDINGS:
John & Ethel Findlater, "The Standing Stones" (on FSB7)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Ploughboy's Dream" (tune)
cf. "The Maidenstone" (subject: the sculptured stones)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Lovers--A West Mainland Legend
NOTES [308 words]: The "Standing Stones" are prehistoric stone circles, found throughout Britain, including the Orkneys, where this song was collected. It was the custom in the Orkneys for lovers to plight their troth by joining hands through a hole in the "Odin Stone," then dividing a broken sixpenny piece between them. - PJS
References to Odin may seem odd in Scotland, but the Orkneys were largely settled by the Old Norse. I have not been able to find proof of this, but I believe "Odin stones" are so-called because they have a single hole representing Odin's single eye.
However, the Standing Stones would appear to predate the Norse legends. Magnusson, p. 6, describes the Standing Stones on the Isle of Lewis at Calanais (Callanish); "It was built in stages from about 3000 BC and was certainly completed by 2000 BC. Briefly, it is a circle of thirteen standing stones huddled round a massive central monolith, 4.75 metres high, and a small chambered cairn. A double line or 'avenue' of stones comes from the north, and ragged tongues protruding from the circle create a rough cruciform shape." Magnussen goes on to describe the partial rehabilitation of the site.
Other instances of stones with holes having a magical use are common. Alexander, p. 127, has a section on "Healing Stones," In particular he notes a case at Men-an-Tol, where children with rickets "were squeezed through the rough circular hole" to try to cure the disease. Opie/Tatem, p. 199, mention instances of the healing powers of holes in stone from 1754 to 1970, with rickets again being the disease most likely cured. (I can't help but think that it would be easier to squeeze through the hole if one wore relatively few clothes, and having few clothes would get you out in the sunlight to manufacture vitamin D. So maybe it actually worked -- but not for the reasons specified!) - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 2.7
File: K332

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.