When we had a look at the folklore associated with Long Meg we found that on the name, opinion was split between two 17th century Megs. One was the Long Meg of Westminster you mention, the other was Meg of Meldon, a local witch.

Personally, we favoured Meg of Meldon, based on proximity and much higher scores in the supernatural/spookiness department, what with her being a witch and all.

It seems uncertain that Long Meg of Westminster was an actual person, she is a fictional character in many storybooks of the 17th cen. and is featured in ballads and plays around the 1590's. There is a legend that the head-chopping giantess is buried beneath a blue stone slab at the minster, but this monument is actually to monks who died from the Black Death.

Back on the Meldon side, the "daughters" part could feasibly fit with a description of a coven, whereas it's difficult to see the "daughters" connection with Westminster Meg.

The last time we were photographing Long Meg a young lady appeared, and to our surprise spent several minutes hugging Meg enthusiastically. Later, we were told that there is a superstition that hugging Meg will help women fall pregnant, although we have never seen this published anywhere.

Strangely, we could not find an alternate name for the circle, you would reasonably expect one if the current name dated only from the 17th cen.

Great thread Goff, and great replies Megalithics and Rhiannon.

Got me thinking that (if it hasn’t been done already) a new thread (or slightly change the title of this one) devoted to eking out the possible meaning/history of megalithic place names might be of interest.