ARTHUR, the celebrated hero of the Britons, is said to have been the son of Uther Pendragon king of Britain, and to have been born in 501. His life is a continued scene of wonders. It is said that he killed four hundred and seventy Saxons with his own hand in one day; and after having subdued many mighty nations, and instituted the order of the Knights of the Round Table, died A. D. 542, of wounds which he received in battle. The most particular detail of his story and his exploits is that given by Geoffrey of Monmouth: but the probable there is so blended with the marvellous and the extravagant, that not only the truth of the whole, but even the reality of Arthur's existence, has been called in question.
In this controversy, Mr Whittaker has taken much pains to vindicate the existence, and discriminate between the real and the fabulous transactions, of the British worthy. "Many of the actions (he observes) attributed to Arthur by the Welsh chronicles of Britain, are as absurd in themselves as they are spurious in their authority. Written, as those narratives were, many centuries after the facts, and being merely the authentic accounts of Arthur, embellished with the
fiction and distorted by the perversions of folly; they are inconsistent equally with the state of the times, and the history of the continent and the island. And the ignorance of the forgers, and the credulity of their abettors, can be equalled only by the injudiciousness and incredulity of the opponents to both. If some accounts of Arthur and Cynobeline in these histories be certainly spurious, others are as certainly genuine. And the relations of Suetonius, Dio, and Nennius, are not to be rejected, because of the falsehoods which imposture has grafted upon them, and absurdity admitted with them.
The existence of Arthur is evinced by that of the fables, which have at once annihilated his actions and his name with the misjudging critic. And the reasoner's own arguments really turn against himself, and demonstrate the point which they were intended to disprove. The annals of Wales have long laboured in Arthur's commendation. The Highlanders have long had a poetical history of his exploits in their own language. The whole island is in traditional possession of his character; and 600 or 700 places within it are still distinguished by his name.
The genuine actions of the chief are mentioned by his own historians, with a modesty and conciseness that is no bad argument of the truth, and with a particularity of time and place that is a good evidence of the facts. They are noticed by men, whom the death of the hero had exempted from all temptation to flattery: they are recited by persons, whom a proximity to the time had precluded from all possibility of mistake: and they are attested by the best historical authority, writers who lived contemporary with him, authors who conversed with his warriors, and historians that wrote within a few years after him. He is spoken of as the honourable father of the British heroes by the aged Llomarch, a writer actually contemporary with him, and some time resident at his court. One of his greater actions is incidentally recorded by Taliesfin, an historical bard living under Maelwn Gwinedd, who was a sovereign among the Britons in the days of Arthur, Gildas, and Llomarch. Another of his considerable exploits is casually intimated by Myrddin Wyllt or Merlinus Caledonius, who complains of the severe treatment which he himself received from Rydderch Hael, a king contemporary with Urien Reged, and engaged with him in a war against the Saxons on the death of Ida in 560. And all his actions are particularly recited by Nennius.
In the Historia Britonum of this last author, Arthur's victories over the Saxons are thus recorded. The first battle was fought at the mouth of the river which is denominated Glen. The second, third, fourth, and fifth, were upon another river, that is called Daglas, and lies in the region Linu. The sixth was on a stream, which bears the appellation of Baffar. The seventh was in the wood of Celidon, that is, in Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth was at Castle Gunnion. And the ninth was at the city of the Legion. The tenth was on the bank of the river Ribro; the eleventh at the hill Agned Cathregonion; and the twelfth at Mount Badon. These twelve battles of Arthur are described to us in the same manner as Vortimer's three. Only the general facts are mentioned, and only the common names of places are recited, in both. And
from the whole air and aspect of the history, the remarkable conciseness with which the notices are given, and the great ease with which the places are pointed out, the detail appears to have been drawn up at the distance only of a few years from the transactions, and when these little references were sufficiently understood."
Mr Whittaker proceeds to ascertain the scenes of Arthur's battles; after which he gives a relation of them with a surprising particularity. A severe critic might be apt to say, as Dr Kippis observes, that it requires all our faith in the author's judgment, as well as in his ingenuity and learning, not to suspect that he sometimes allows too much scope to fancy and conjecture. However, the whole of what he hath advanced is singularly curious, and deserves peculiar attention and consideration. And no one can help admiring the penetration with which he hath formed such a regular detail of facts, from the combined aid of history, romance, and tradition. According to Mr Whittaker, Arthur's principal exploits were against the northern Saxons, whilst he was only prince of the Silures, and Ambrosius was the dictator or pendragon of the Britons. "In a series probably of five campaigns, and in a succession certainly of eleven victories, this great commander had repelled the Saxons from the north of Flavia, dislodged them from all Maxima, and dispossessed them of all Valentia. And these were successes so unchequered with misfortunes, so great in themselves, and so beneficial to the public, that the name of Arthur claims the first rank in the list of military, and the better one of patriot, heroes." The twelfth battle of Arthur was fought in the south of England, after he was elected to the pendragonship, against Cerdic the Saxon. "This (says Mr Whittaker) was a most extraordinary victory, and completes the circle of Arthur's military glories." In the author's account of this prince's conduct in peace, he asserts, that "Arthur saw that an appointment was wanted, which should at once be a more regular and more honourable signature of merit; by the certainty of the honour and the greatness of the dignity, call out all the worth of all the worthy in the nation; and collect it round the throne of the pendragon. Accordingly he established a military order. It was the first that had ever been instituted in the island; and it has since been imitated by all the nations on the continent. By means of this association, Arthur raised among the provincials a general glow of ingenuous heroism, the first spirit of chivalry that ever appeared in Europe; that manly and honourable gallantry of soul, which has made him and his worthies the subject of romantic histories over all the west of it. By this, and this alone, could he have been what history represents him, the Reverend Father of the British Heroes in general, even to the conclusion of the sixth century, and nearly the middle of the seventh. The order naturally survived its founder. And the members of it were denominated the Warriors of Arthur, though the persons were born half a century after his death." Mr Whittaker goes on to inform us, that under the prudent management of Arthur for 20 years together, a fair prospect dawned upon the Britons, and long scenes of future glories opened to their imaginations. "But the gay vision was destroyed at once by the commence-
ment of a civil war. Many towns still remained in ruins, the memorial of the former wars, and the disgrace of the present. The diffused spirit of chivalry was turned upon the nation, and heroism became the tool of dissension. And the dreadful combination of civil evils was begun and consummated, at once, by the death of the renowned Arthur in battle. Thus died the incomparable hero in 542."
To these observations it may not be improper to add the following account of the discovery of Arthur's tomb, which appears to be tolerably well authenticated. Henry II. who was the first of the Plantagenet line, being, in the last year of his reign, at Pembroke, and hearing there a Welsh bard singing to his harp the story of Arthur, concluding with an account of his death, and burial in the churchyard of Glastonbury between two pyramids; the king instantly gave orders that the matter should be inquired into, and the body dug up. This was done as the king directed; and at the depth of seven feet was found a vast stone, whereon was fastened a leaden cross, with this inscription on the inside: Hic Jacet Sepultus Inelixus Rex Arturius in Insula Avalonia; i. e. "Here lies the famous King Arthur, buried in the isle of Avalon." Digging still lower, they found the king's body in the trunk of a tree, his beautiful queen lying by him, with long flowing hair, in colour bright as gold, which however sunk into dust when touched. The king's bones were very large sized; and in his skull there were ten wounds or more, all cicatrized, except that of which he died. This discovery was made in the year 1189, as Giraldus Cambrensis tells us, who saw these bones, and examined the whole matter carefully. There was also a table containing this story, set up in the monastery of Glastonbury, and the leaden cross with the inscription remained there till the dissolution of the monastery, where it was seen by the great antiquary Leland, but what is become of it since does not appear.
Of the different places above alluded to as being distinguished by our hero's name, and serving to evince his existence, the following may be mentioned as one of the principal.