Although the song is fairly modern, it could derive from an earlier song or local story. Does anyone local to the area know of any earlier references to the story?

Interestingly, the same story is told of the Nine Ladies stone circle in Derbyshire (on Stanton Moor- spooky or what?*), but again the earliest references at least on the web are undated or modern. There is an intriguing reference here to a legend from Germany about dancers being transformed into a stone circle for dancing naked, which suggests a witchcraft element, but perhaps that's just Germany for you. Interestingly,too, the list includes Stantons neither Drew nor Moor.

*what. If you've got stones, Stanton is a bit obvious.