me having their circumference marked with large separate stones
only; others having ridges of small stones intermixed, and
sometimes walls and seats, serving to render the inclosure more
complete. Other circular monuments have their figure more complex
and varied, consisting, not only of a circle, but of some other
distinguishing properties. In or near the centre of some stands a
stone taller than the rest, as at Boscawen-un; in the middle of
others, a kist-vaen. A cromleh distinguishes the centre of some
circles, and one remarkable rock that of others; some have only
one line of stones in their circumference, and some have two; some
circles are adjacent, some contiguous, and some include, and some
intersect each other. Sometimes urns are found in or near them.
Some are curiously erected on geometrical plans, the chief
entrance facing the cardinal points of the heavens; some have
avenues leading to them, placed exactly north and south, with
detached stones, sometimes in straight lines to the east and west,
sometimes triangular. These monuments are found in many foreign
countries, in Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, as well as in
all the isles dependent upon Britain (the Orkneys, Western Isles,
Jersey, Ireland, and the Isle of Man), and in most parts of
Britain itself."

Modern traditions have everywhere clustered round these curious stone
circles. Being placed in a circular order, so as to make an area for
dancing, they were naturally called _Dawns-men_, _i.e._ dancing stones.
This name was soon corrupted into dancemen, and a legend sprang up at once
to account for the name, namely, that these men had danced on a Sunday and
been changed into stones. Another corruption of the same name into
_Danis-men_ led to the tradition that these circles were built by the
Danes. A still more curious name for these circles is that of "_Nine
Maidens_," which occurs at Boscawen-un, and in several other places in
Cornwall. Now the Boscawen-un circle consists of nineteen stones, and
there are very few "Nine Maidens" that consist of nine stones only. Yet
the name prevails, and is likewise supported by local legends of nine
maidens having been changed into stones for dancing on a Sunday, or some
other misdeed. One part of the legend may perhaps be explained by the fact
that _medn_ would be a common corruption in modern Cornish for _men_,
stone, as _pen_