Friar's Heel
Preserved but no longer current.
The outstanding upright stone at Stonehenge, formerly supposed by some to stand in the central axis of the avenue, is so called. Geoffrey of Monmouth says the devil bought the stones of an old woman in Ireland, wrapped them up in a wyth, and brought them to Salisbury Plain. Just before he got to Mount Ambre the wyth broke, and one of the stones fell into the Avon, the rest were carried to the plain.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Friar's Heel” mean?
The outstanding upright stone at Stonehenge, formerly supposed by some to stand in the central axis of the avenue, is so called. Geoffrey of Monmouth says the devil bought the stones of an old woman in Ireland, wrapped them up in a wyth, and brought them to Salisbury Plain. Just before he got to Mount Ambre the wyth broke, and one of the stones fell into the Avon, the rest were carried to the plain.
Is “Friar's Heel” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.