Significant Tributes
- Dr Hugh Todd the rector of Arthuret in 1688 believed that "Arthuriit or Arthuridd has its name from the famous King Athur, king of the ancient Britons, in whose time there was a battle fought here..." So clearly, by Dr Todds time, the Arthurian tradition was embedded firmly into local lore.
- Professor Norma Goodrich, the American scholar and etymologist, suggests that "the name implies that the land at Arthuret was an important part of Arthur's own tribal territory" - perhaps already a sacred site - and that "he was buried probably where the church now stands".
This seems increasingly possible since a substantial body of contemporary scholarship now identifies the site of the battle of Camlann - Arthur's Last Stand - with Camboglanna a fort on nearby Hadrian's Wall, particularly since Camboglanna is the closest of the Wall forts to Arthuret.
The Mighty King Arthur
Since the 6th Century, Longtown's 'home' Parish of Arthuret has been associated with major characters from Arthurian Legend. Although the etymology of 'Arthuret' is unclear, for many people its very name speaks of 'Arthur', King Arthur, the hero of the greatest of all Bristish legends.
Hutchinson's History of Cumberland says that 'this point of land was called Arthur's Head, a name now corrupted to 'Arthuret'. Also, just North of Longtown is rising moorland known as Arthur's Seat. Not only place names but centuries of rich and persistant local tradition links Arthuret to the fabulous hero.
Like the slightly later battle of Arderydd, Camlann was yet another of thos Celtic conflicts fought between branches of the same kindred known to the Welsh as the 'Men of the north'.
We learn from the laconic entry in the Annals of Wales that - Arthur and Modred - were both killed at Camlann. However, we are not told whether they fought on the same or opposite sides.
Some believe that the injured Arthur was brought to Arthuret because it was the nearest place to the battlefield from which a boat could be launched to bear the mortally wounded king down the Solway Firth to the fabulous Isle of Avalon and immortality.
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