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Archiver > CORNISH > 2003-03 > 1046514072


From: "John Coles" <>
Subject: Re: [CON] Cornish Language and King Arthur
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2003 10:21:12 -0000
References: <002501c2df4d$1a838d20$07967ad5@steve1> <00b701c2df70$7f5c93e0$12668351@pbncomputer>


Gail wrote:
> Might it have been the discovery of an inscribed stone found at Tintagel?
> It didn't quite say "Arthur woz here" but it gave reason to hope in some
> minds. Perhaps John Coles can remember the details.

Yes indeedy Gail, pleased to oblige!
Back in 1998, archealogists from Glasgow University found a piece of Cornish
slate which I seem to remember was covering a drain from around the 7th
century, having possibly been incorporated in the wall of a building on the
Island in the 6th century. In other words, the inscription is at least 1500
years old, and the dating is confirmed by surrounding bits of broken
pottery.

The slate is broken, but has two different inscriptions, one which is deeply
carved, and the other which is more 'scratched' into the surface. The heavy
inscription is unreadable, because it is only a trace of two letters (like a
capital A and X) but the scratched one reads 'Pater Coliavificit
Artognov(u)' and the translation is quite exciting.

I'll keep you in suspense for a minute or two here, because it is important
to see this broken fragment in the context of the time. A time when few
people could read or write, a time when people only occasionally left any
kind of inscribed stone, and a time when Tintagel Island was a place where
the wealthy lived. There has been more sumptuous Mediterranean pottery found
here than anywhere else in the country, and things like the only Spanish
glass flagon from this period in British history, so this was a place where
Kingly wealth and feasting, and international trade, went hand in hand.

A friend of mine, an amatuer archeaologist, has traced the route from the
great tin works on Dartmoor (in Devon) across the River Tamar just north of
my house, across to Tintagel, where the tin could be stored securely, and
shipped from the little cove at the foot of the Island cliffs, which
indicates just how important Tintagel Castle / Island was on the North coast
of Cornwall, and directly comparable to St Michael's Mount on the South
coast, from where it is thought the tin was shipped from the mines in the
south west of Cornwall.

And so, just what did this fragment of slate say? Well, how about this...

'Artognou (which can be translated as the modern name Arthur), father of a
descendent of Coll, has had this built'

Very best wishes, John Coll (sorry, Coles, just thinking about all that
lovely wine).




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