Arthur, King -- Homes and haunts -- England -- Cornwall (County); Cornwall (England : County) -- Antiquities, Celtic
cairns and tumuli. The cromlech, known as Arthur’s Stone, is a mass
of millstone grit fourteen feet long and seven feet two inches deep,
and rests upon a number of upright supporters each five feet high. In
the Welsh Triads this cromlech, which is near the turnpike road from
Reynoldstone to Swansea, is alluded to as “the big stone of Sketty,”
and it ranks as one of the wonders of Wales. Another such stone is to
be found in Moccas parish, Herefordshire, the cromlech in this case
being eighteen feet long, nine feet broad, and twelve feet thick, and
supported originally by eleven upright pillars. The colossal king
was to have colossal monuments. Brecknockshire has several imposing
memorials of Arthur. Five miles south of Brecon rise the twin peaks of
the mountain range, and they are designated Arthur’s Chair. A massive
British cromlech adjoining the park of Mocras Court is called Arthur’s
Table. On the edge of Gossmoor there is a large stone upon which are
impressed marks resembling four horse-shoes. Tradition asserts that
these marks were made by the horse King Arthur rode when he resided
at Castle Denis and hunted on the moors. Between Mold and Denbigh is
Moel Arthur, an ancient British fort, defended by two ditches of great
depth. At Rhuthyn (Ruthin) in the vicinity King Arthur is said to have
beheaded his enemy Huail (Howel), to whom Gildas refers. The record
might be extended indefinitely, though no valid argument can be based
upon any of the facts. The indiscriminate use of Arthur’s name often
shows an extravagance of imagination and a reckless disregard of what
is appropriate. Between Mold and Ruthin, for instance, is Maen Arthur,
a stone which popular fancy has adjudged to bear the exact impression
of the hoof of the king’s steed. There is something like substantial
reason for believing that the British hero was connected with Monmouth,
Cardiff, and even with Dover, and either the Arthur of the Silures or
another British chief seems to have reached Carlisle--that is, if the
chronicles did not confuse Cardoile with Carduel. The Cumbrian Arthur
figures in two ancient ballads, “The Marriage of Gawaine,” and “The Boy
and the Mantle,” while Scott’s poem of Arthur and his Court at Carlisle
is, of course, too well known to need more than a reference. In the
time of Baeda Carlisle was known as Lugubalia, which name by corruption
became Luel. The British prefix Caer, a stone fort, made the name
Caer-Luel, and as such it was long known. It gradually degenerated into
Carliol, and finally became Carlisle. That the ancient city should
have become confused with Caerleon is natural and explicable. Yet
Arthur’s connection with a portion of the north is strongly insisted
on. Where Wigan now stands he fought a famous battle. Pendragon Castle
in Westmoreland claims him as its founder; and passing by easy stages
we find ourselves confronted with a Northumbrian Arthur. From this
point the transition to Scotland itself is extremely easy, the lowland
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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