Actor Richard Harris plays King Arthur alongside Fiona Fullerton during a production of Camelot at London's Apollo theatre in 1982. Picture: AP Source: Supplied
IN A move that's sure to infuriate his English brethren south of the border a Scottish historian has claimed legendary King Arthur for his homeland.
Adam Ardrey, an author and amateur historian, believes the legendary king was a Scottish, pre-Christian warlord whose remains are buried on the isle of Iona.
Although there is no solid proof he ever existed according to tradition King Arthur’s home of Camelot is sited in Cornwall in southwest England or in else in Wales.
Dismissing the received wisdom, Mr Ardrey says King Arthur was one Arthur MacAedan, the sixth-century son of an ancient King of Scotland, whose Camelot was a marsh in Argyll.
This is not the first time Mr Ardrey has tried to pinch the Arthurian legend for the Scots.
According to the Scotsman newspaper, he previously wrote a book claiming Merlin the wizard was actually a politician who lived in the Partick area of Glasgow.
The paper said the author’s theories are added credence by the excavation in 2011 of what some experts believe is King Arthur’s round table in the grounds of Stirling Castle near Edinburgh.
The legend of King Arthur was popularised in the 12th century thanks to the writings of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
While the story’s fanciful and mythical elements have led many historians to conclude Arthur never existed, others have tried to locate Camelot.
Many have sited it at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, and in 1998 an ancient stone bearing a sixth-century inscription similar to the name Arthur was unearthed at the castle.
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