Long Meg and her daughters
Preserved but no longer current.
In the neigh- bourhood of Pennth, Cumberland, is a circle of 67 (Camden says 77) stones, some of them 10 ft. high, ranged in a circle. Some seventeen paces off, on the south side, is a single stone, 15 ft. high, called Long Meg, the shorter ones being called her daughters.
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 “Long Meg and her daughters” mean?
In the neigh- bourhood of Pennth, Cumberland, is a circle of 67 (Camden says 77) stones, some of them 10 ft. high, ranged in a circle. Some seventeen paces off, on the south side, is a single stone, 15 ft. high, called Long Meg, the shorter ones being called her daughters.
Is “Long Meg and her daughters” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.