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The name " Maiden Castle ", or Castellum Puellarum in Latin, was commonly used until at least the 16th century.
It appears in charters of David I ( ruled 1124 – 1153 ) and his successors, although its origins are obscure.
William Camden's 1607 Britannia records that " the Britans called Castle Myned Agned, the Scots, the Maidens Castle and the Virgins Castle, of certaine young maidens of the Picts roiall bloud who were kept there in old time ".
According to the 17th-century antiquarian Father Richard Hay, the " maidens " were a group of nuns, who were ejected from the castle and replaced by canons, considered " fitter to live among soldiers ".
However, this story has been considered " apocryphal " by Daniel Wilson and later historians.
Possibly the name derives from a " Cult of the Nine Maidens " type of legend.
Arthurian legends suggest that the site once held a shrine to Morgain la Fee, one of nine sisters.
Later, St Monenna is said to have invested a church at Edinburgh, as well as at Dumbarton and other places, and is also said to have been one of nine companions.
More simply, the term " Maiden Castle " may refer to a castle which has never been taken by force.

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