KING ARTHUR’S COUNTRY

Grey River Argus, 12 April 1948, Page 3

KING ARTHUR’S COUNTRY

Alison Uttley, the well-known author of books on English country life, spoke in the 8.8.C.’s Overseas Service about the point of rocky Cornish coast that juts out into the Atlantic and is called Tintagel. It is the country associated with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, and here, accordingly to ancient tradition, the great King was born.

“Nobody knows,” said Miss “how tx’ue the story is, or even whether Arthur really lived, but there are early written accounts of a warrior who ruled Britain in the fifth or sixth century, and around his life many tales have gathered. For centuries the legend of the birth of Arthur at remained unchallenged. Geoffrey de Monmouth in the twelfth century described the castle as it was then: ‘lt is situated upon the sea and on every side surentrance and that through a strait rounded by it, and there is but one rock which three men shall be able to defend against the whole power of the kingdom.’ ”

On that mighty rock, which , juts out into the wild sea that beats fiercely against-it, are the ruins of a pre-Norman castle which maybe stands on the foundation of Arthur’s birthplace. “This noble castle,” continued Miss Uttley, “was built partly on the mainland with precipitious cliffs for its walls, and partly on the island, or rock, nearly surrounded bysea. Between the two parts lies a deep chasm. A drawbridge spanned the gap centuries ago, but the force of the Atlantic gales tore down the cliffs, and now there is a gorge two hundred feet wide. The castle on the island is impregnable, with terrible crags and precipices. The crereHated walls rise sheer from the edge, so that it is dizzying to look down at the dashing waves and splintered rocks below.' It was a marvel that men once built such a fortress. Even now the -c,ement is as hard as the stone.” On'lhe mainland, which is equally wild, is a watch tower and guardroom, with thick wall and floor that, is now grass covered. It suddenly ends in a precipice, for the shape of tlie headland defines the castle walls, which are one with the cliff. Little rooms with green floors overhang the ab-vss, and visitors can look over the edge at the seas beating on the rocks below and over the gap to the rest of the dramatically placed castle. The island, which also has the remains of a Celtic monastery, is reached by a steep narrow path cut out in the rocks, with only a fragile railing for safety, but inside the ruined stronghold there is a feeling oi peace and security. Here again the great walls part of the cliff, the floors are grass and the narrow rooms with gateways and arches have no roofs but the sky. whilst in every cranny grow seapinks, sea campion, blue scabious, ferns and moss. , A “The whole island of King Arthur’s castle is fantastic in its beauty,’ said Alison Uttley, “....in one place there is a goat track down the slope to a postern gate where once ships brought their cargo under the castle’s eye .... No ship now ventures through the treacherous teeth or the rocks that guard the bay, and only the grey seal basks there, lintagel, with its castle, mighty cliffs and beautiful seas often spanned by a rainbow, gives me a sense ot immortality, as if those early dwellers on the island, the monks of the Celtic monastery, and the warriors who lived in the' fortress castle all were present.”