Cornish stones are giant stones. Giants loved building and playing games with granite, littering the moors and cliffs with tors and cairns, quoits, menhirs, and odd rocks, claiming Kernow as the Land of the Giants.
No human hand could have lifted Trethevy Quoit’s capstone. Cheesewring was built during a giant rock throwing contest, Saint Michael’s Mount by Cormoran and his wife Cormelian. Castle Carn Brae by John of Gaunt. At Castle Treen, the stronghold and outer wall were built by Giant Dan Dynas and his wife Venna. A giant built a hedge from Lerryn to Looe. The Cheeswring and the Cock Crow Stone are turning stones, the Logan stone a rocking stone.
Stone circles, rows and standing stones are explained by petrification myths. Nine Maidens stone row was once ten maids standing ready to dance, Merry Maidens stone circle was nineteen maidens caught dancing after midnight. The Hurlers three stone circles were a team who played the summer hurling tournament on the Sabbath, while nearby Long Tom standing stone is a poacher turned to stone by the devil.
At Talland and Towednack men tried to build church towers out of stones and every night the stones fell to the ground. Standing stones carved with Celtic patterns commemorate kings, while holed stones hold magic.
Granite tors, quoits, cliffs, stone houses and standing stones are the ultimate treasures of Cornwall, rising from the landscape throughout the centuries
