Cornwall: Tales of Arthur

Hunt, whose work we are following in this series of episodes, gathered his folklore in in the 19th Century. At this point, Cornish memories of Arthur were at low ebb. He found a few, which I’ll pass on in this post, but for stories set in 1220, a lot of supplementary material will need to be found elsewhere.

My second ever Ars Magica campaign was set at Tintagel in Cornwall, and it’s the place I’ve reused the most.  Arthur was born there, according to many versions of the story. During the game period, Arthurian stories are in high fervor. The grave of Arthur and Gwenivere was miraculously discovered at Glastonbury in 1191, making that site popular for pilgrimage (which is what rich people did instead of tourism). The stories about Arthur are popular: Chretien de Troyes’s works were finished in about 1190 and a slew of imitators and retellers are constructing the Matter of Britain as the game period arrives.

In 1220 King Henry III has a brother called Richard who is eleven. If game history matches real history, he becomes Earl of Cornwall in 1225, and on his way to becoming the richest man in Europe and Holy Roman Emperor, he buys Tintagel from the knight who owns it and builds a castle there, to cement his family’s links to Arthur. This must absolutely destroy the lives of magi pulling the “tame noble family” charade so popular in English covenants. When Richard becomes the wealthiest guy in Europe, something he did in real life via land, banking and owning the exclusive right to tax England’s Jews. The Quaesitores must come down hard on magi who have reached an accommodation with Richard. No-one gets a personal emperor, even if the title is basically honorary.

These thoughts aside, let’s pick apart what Hunt managed to find, in the nadir of Cornish Arthuriana. There are some odd little plot hooks here which aren’t seen in the more popular stories, and a saga seed I really like the sound of.

In the east of Cornwall the vast rocks which, in the west, are attributed to giants are instead attributed to Arthur. He is recorded as a giant killer: in some version he is the reason they are now extinct in Cornwall. Jack the Giant Killer was the tutor to Arthur’s son and Tom Thumb was his favourite dwarf.  He had various odd relatives this early in the story, including a maternal half-brother called Constintinus who was a tyrant and Duke of Cornwall. Hunt suggests the parish of Constantine (pronounced Cust-ten-ton) may be named after him. Oddly, and Hunt doesn’t note this, Geoffery of Monmouth gives Arthur’s heir as a blood relative (of unspecified type) called Constantine.  Later writers often call him “Constantine son of Cador” and suggest he’s Arthur’s nephew, which requires Cador to be his half-brother.

Hunt notes there’s a family in Cornwall called Cossentine, who claim descent from the Greek emperors through an ancestor buried in Landulph Church, and suggests they may instead be descended of this home-grown name. In Ars Magica this would best be true, because the ancestor, Theodoro Palæologus died in 1637. This may give some sort of heroic blood virtue, as might descent from the forementioned son, or any of Arthur’s many bastards. The McDermotts of Ireland are said to all be his descendants, for example.

Danish landing and banner fires

Hunt recounts a story where the Danes land in Genvor Cove to pillage the hamlet of Escols. How this is possible if the missing land we discussed a few months ago is in place is not clear. They light a becon-fire, and the beacons burn along a route to Tintagel, to tell Arthur of the threat.

Time to quote a block of Hunt ” That night the beacon-fire was lit on the chapel hill, another was soon blazing on Castle-an-Dinas, and on Trecrobben. Carn Brea promptly replied, and continued the signal-light, which also blazed lustrously that night on St Agnes Beacon. Presently the fires were seen on Belovely Beacon, and rapidly they appeared on the Great Stone, on St Bellarmine’s Tor, and Cadbarrow, and then the fires blazed out on Roughtor and Brownwilly, thus rapidly conveying the intelligence of war to Prince Arthur and his brave knights, who were happily assembled in full force at Tintagel to do honour to several native Princes who were at that time on a visit to the King of Cornwall. Arthur, and nine other kings, by forced marches, reached the neighbourhood of the Land’s-End at the end of two days. The Danes crossed the land down through the bottoms to the sea on the northern side of the promontory,
spreading destruction in their paths. Arthur met them on their return, and gave them battle near Vellan-Druchar. So terrible was the slaughter, that the mill was worked with blood that day.”

A holy woman also uses a miracle to call a great storms that throws the fleeing Danish ships high up the rocky beaches, where Arthur and his companions massacre the Danes. Arthur and the Kings then make some binding oaths with the waters of St Sennen’s well and feat at Table-Men. Merlin makes a prophecy about how the return of the Danes will signal the day of doom. Like many of Merlin’s Cornish prophecies, nothing much seems to come of it, because of course they do come back eventually.

Not all of the Danish arrivals were exterminated by Arthur. In Saint Sennen there’s a community of red-headed people who do not speak the local language or interbreed with the Cornish. Hunt says they might be descended of the Danes, but to me that sounds like a covenant.

Story hooks for this section

• Anywhere there’s been tremendous pagan bloodshed is filled with useful material for necromancers.
• The Danes presumably owned Caer Dinas (literally “Castle of the Danes”) so it’s likely also filled with Danish spirits.
• The mill being run with a stream of blood must somehow create an infernal aura, or attract faeries for the odd bread it makes.
• Can you relight the beacons to call forth the ghosts of Arthur’s horde, or faeries pretending to be them? It seems easy to do via magic, but does the presence in the line of St Agnes Beacon, which has a Divine aura as an act of perpetual charity by a saint, make this more difficult?
• Who has the covenant of redheads?

Land’s End

In Cornish, the promintory is called “The End of the Land”, but in Saxon it was called Penrlien-gard, which means “headland of blood”. It lies near Bolliant, the “Field of Slaughter” where the Cornish, and their Danish allies, had their last stand against the Saxons. Arrowheads turn up in strange profusion, which may be a vis source. Again, necromancers love pagan battlefields.

Arthur as a chough

Hunt tries to find traces of the Welsh belief that it is bad luck to kill ravens because Arthur’s soul has taken that form, and still dwells in the world. He does not find it, but finds instead a parallel tradition that Arthur has the form of Cornwall’s national bird, the chough.

Ravens’ crows, and choughs all get tangled together a bit in heraldry. Imagine a crow with red beak and feet, then mix in some the folklore that indicates this colour is due to the violent death of Arthur. I absolutely love the idea that Arthur is now like one of those Bjornaer magi who become a terrible, titanic version of their heartbeast, and that he leads a circle of knights that take the form of ravens or choughs or crows. Are these part of House Bjornaer, or a little fragment tradition in Ex Miscellanea? Are they omen-bearing Merinitas or courtly Jerbiton magi? Can they keep their kit when they change shape, like some faeries? What does this strike force want? Are they guided by the prophecies of Merlin to prevent some great calamity which would force Arthur to return?

Arthur’s death and grave sites

Hunt mentions an inscribed rock marking Arthur’s death site at Slaughterbridge. He also mentions Arthur dying at Camelford, then being buried at Glastonbury. He then quotes Bale’s Acts of the English Votaries

“In Avallon, anno 1191, there found they the flesh bothe of Arthur and of hys wyfe Guenever turned all into duste, wythin theyr comnes of strong oke, the bones only remaynynge. A monke of the same abbeye, standyng and behouldyng the fine broydinges of the wommanis heare as yellow as golde there still to remayne. As a man ravyshed, or more than halfe from his wyttes, he leaped into the graffe, xv fote depe, to have caugte them sodenlye. But he fayled of his purpose. For so soon as they were touched they fell all to powder.”

Hunt also leaves two tendrils for me to pad out later. He mentions Sir Tristram, who was the prince of Lyonesse, was born at Carlian at Kea, and that Dameliock Castle was where Golothis of the Purple Spear was beseiged by Uther’s army while the High King was off creating Arthur with the help of enchantment. I’ve not heard the “purple spear” epiphet for Goloris before.