[18] Silchester, originally a Celtic fortress, and a city of the size of London, is also reported to have been the scene of Arthur’s coronation at the age of fifteen by Dubritius. Modern excavations have proved the importance of the city as a great centre of life and industry, in Roman and British times, with its Forum, Basilica, and rows of shops and houses; and if the _Calleva Attrebatum_ were really Arthur’s crowning place, its fitness and worth for so imposing an event cannot be disputed. Although Silchester is not directly referred to in the Romances, Arthur’s Hampshire connections are numerous. They centre in Winchester, where his predecessor and foster-father, Ambrosius Aurelianus, died in the year 508. It was at Silchester also that the chief men of the provinces met after Uther Pendragon’s death and petitioned Dubritius, Archbishop of Caerleon, to consecrate Arthur the successor to the dead king. [19] Of this wooden bridge G. W. Manby in his _Guide_ (published 1802) gives an illustration, and says: “As numerous coins have been found where the piles of the bridge are now placed, there is no doubt of its being the original pass. To a person unaccustomed to such a bridge, the rattling noise whenever any weight is going over naturally occasions some apprehensions.... The accounts of the tide rising so high as to cover the bridge are erroneous; it never has been known yet; but that assertion has given rise to the idea of the bridge being purposely loose to prevent its being carried away in such cases. The amazing floods to which the river is subject would render it not surprising if accidents did happen.” Tennyson, who obtained from the _genius loci_ both inspiration and enlightment, refers in _Geraint and Enid_ to the rapidity of the turn of the tidal waters of the Usk:-- “Scarce longer time Than at Caerleon the full-tided Usk, Before the time to fall seaward again, Pauses.” Modern Caerleon, however, with its commonplace railway station, its porters shouting “Car--lion,” its new bridge, its spoilt Norman church, and its street of small dwelling-houses, is likely at first to disappoint the pilgrim, who only by searching and waiting can hope to find the links with the city’s historic past. [20] Frere’s poem was caustic, but it had a certain value in showing the unromantic side of Arthurian times. The following verses, than which far less delicate ones could be found in the poem, may be taken as a specimen:-- “And certainly they say, for fine behaving King Arthur’s Court has never had its match; True point of honour, without pride or braving, Strict etiquette for ever on the watch; There manners were refined and perfect--saving Some modern graces which they could not catch, As spitting through the teeth, and driving stages, Accomplishments reserved for distant ages.