Fabled King Arthur ‘was a Scottish warlord’

The Scotsman ^ | 11-26-2013 | EMMA COWING

[Renfield]

Author Adam Ardrey claims that instead of the romantic English king of legend who lived at Camelot – which is often said to be Tintagel in Cornwall or in Wales – Arthur was actually Arthur Mac Aedan, the sixth-century son of an ancient King of Scotland, whose Camelot was a marsh in Argyll.

He also suggests that Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur from a stone at Dunadd near Kilmartin, died near Falkirk and was buried on the Hebridean island of Iona, which he declares to be Avalon.

Ardrey, an amateur historian who works as an advocate in Edinburgh and previously wrote a book claiming Merlin the wizard was actually a politician who lived in the Partick area of Glasgow, spent years investigating his theories and says that they can be proved “beyond reasonable doubt”. The assertions in his book Finding Arthur: The True Origins Of The Once And Future King are strengthened by the discovery in 2011 of what some experts believe is King Arthur’s round table in the grounds of Stirling Castle.

Ardrey says he not only believes Arthur is buried in Iona but would love to see the site excavated to look for proof.

“The legendary Arthur is said to be buried in an island in the western seas – Avalon – but in the south of Britain there are no islands in the western seas,” he says...

[Altariel]

Interesting, thanks for the ping.

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure. Coel of Rheged (”Old King Cole”, literally) was roughly contemporary with Arthur, assuming there was an actual Arthur, and ruled the buffer state between the rest of former Roman Britain and Caledonia (Scotland).

http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsBritain/BritainRheged.htm

I’m currently convinced that “King Arthur — The True Story” by Graham Phillips is basically correct, and that Arthur’s capital was Viroconium (basically, modern Wroxeter). I’m also certain that the Arthurian legends incorporate loads of borrowings, both from medieval France as well as pre-Roman, Roman, and post-Roman Britain.

http://www.grahamphillips.net/books/Arthur.htm

[SunkenCiv]

Arthur's Seat Edinburgh, Scotland This huge crag, which rises to a height of 822 feet above sea-level above the city of Edinburgh, has been known as Arthur's Seat since the fifteenth century. Part of Holyrood Park, it offers a tremendous view of the surrounding country and of the sea to the east. The 'seat' itself is said to be the notch between the highest point of the peak and a secondary point a little way to the south. In fact, it is probably named after a local hero who happened to bear the name Arthur. Interestingly enough, Edinburgh is identified with the Castle of Maidens in several Arthurian tales, which is probably because one of its medieval names was Castellum Puellarum (Castle of Women). In the stories it is sometimes a place where a number of female prisoners are kept; at other times it seems to be occupied by seductive women who tempt knights passing by. In at least one version, Arthur's half-sister, the renowned 'enchantress' Morgan le Fay, is its mistress.

It has been said that the association of the hill with Arthur may be a matter of its being a base for military action in the 6th century.

[SunkenCiv]