Arthurian Legend - Roche Rock

A little while ago I blogged about Sir Tristan and his ill-fated love with a beautiful Irish woman called Iseult. Their story is set in Cornwall – in the far South West of Britain.  If you missed the post, or you want a quick re-cap about their doomed love affair then you can find it here.

 I love this picture by Edmund Blair Leighton (1853-1922) - take note of King Mark walking up the staircase.

In the middle of Cornwall sits the parish of Roach. The village is named after a granite outcrop that can be found on the east side of the village. The name Roche comes from the Norman-French word for Rock. So I guess Roche Rock – which I am going to explore today - actually means Rock Rock!

Roche Rock is of great interest to geologists as well as those who seek the land in which Arthurian Legend is set in. For the geologists, Roche Rock is :

“…a fine example of quartz shorl; a fully tourmalinised granite, with black tourmaline crystals.” Wikipedia

(I  know...I have no idea what that means either!)

For seekers of the legend, it has connections with Tristan and Iseult.

(Phew! - back to familair terittory!)

It is thought that Roche Rock was the site of Ogrin’s Chaple. Orgin was a hermit who in, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult, shows the two young lovers the error of their ways – adultery is sinful and they must repent...

“Friends,” he cried, “see how Love drives you still to further wretchedness. Will you not do penance at last for your madness?”

“Lord Ogrin,” said Tristan, “hear us. Help us to offer peace to the King, and I will yield him the Queen, and will myself go far away into Brittany or the Lowlands, and if some day the King suffer me, I will return and serve as I should.”

And at the hermit’s feet Iseult said in her turn:

“Nor will I live longer so, for though I will not say one word of penance for my love, which is there and remains forever, yet from now on I will be separate from him.”

Then the hermit wept and praised God and cried: “High King, I praise Thy Name, for that Thou hast let me live so long as to give aid to these!”

There is a later version of the tale – when isn’t there? This time Tristan is at the mercy of King Mark. He has been imprisoned and only by some daring athletic acrobatics - which sees Tristan jumping out of his window and on to some perilous rocks - does he escape with his life.

I have found this wonderful video on YouTube by Alan Lang, which shows your the magesty of Roche Rock. Take a look.

If nothing else Roche Rock is breathtakingly beautiful and who knows – maybe the young lovers did find refuge there.

Merlin's Cave and Idylls of the King

“Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged
Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame:
And down the wave and in the flame was borne
A naked babe, and rode to Merlin's feet,
Who stoopt and caught the babe, and cried "The King!
Here is an heir for Uther!"

Idylls of the King Alfred, Lord Tennyson 

There is a cave – a mystical magical place - that is situated in the South-West of Britain, underneath the famous Tintagel Castle.

The sea has carved this cave, in a way only the sea can, slowly, but with persistence. Unlike us mere mortals, the sea is in no hurry, she has no concept of time.The floor of the cave is covered in sand, a place of refuge, perhaps?…Or perhaps not, for at every high-tide, the sea returns and floods the cave. There is something about this cave though, something magical and it is very easy to imagine Merlin, waiting there…waiting for Arthur.

Tennyson, like Monmouth before him, caught the imagination of the populace. This cave became woven into the Arthurian Legend and has been drawing people there ever since.

This cave was Merlin’s cave – hence the name.

The cave is accessible, although the climb down is steep and please, make sure you check the tide times before you embark on your adventure. Remember, even King Canute could not hold back the tide, so do not trust your magical powers to save you from the wildness of the sea!

Merlin's Cave makes the news!

 
English Heritage was recently accused of vandalism when they commissioned Merlin’s ‘face’ to be carved into the bedrock below Tintagel Castle.

"This official vandalism has been condemned by people who love Cornwall, both at home and as far away as Australia.” A spokesman from Kernow Matters To Us stated.

English Heritage stand accused of creating a tourist attraction around the whole King Arthur Legend, when there really is a terrible lack of proof that this place, this castle, had anything to do with the legend at all.  Are we to trust Monmouth’s version of history? Maybe - because let's face it- he could weave a really good yarn!

Like it or not, Arthur is, and probably always will be, a huge tourist attraction. I can understand English Heritage’s thinking, and it isn't like they are the first ones to use the legend in such a way - I believe those monks at Glastonbury Abbey had similar ideas once!

Now, I am not condemning or condoning them, I think that is up to each and every one of us to decide.

You can check out the full article from the Telegraph, where it goes in to the subject about Merlin's Cave and English Heritage's said 'vandalism', in a lot more detail. There are also some fantastic pictures of the said sculpture as well - just click on the link below...

The Telegraph and Merlin's Cave

 

Merlin's Cave and The Pitchfork Rebellion

Regardless as to whether this cave is Merlin’s or not, it a certainly a beautiful place to visit and it definitely inspired me when I wrote The Pitchfork Rebellion. I talk of a cave in 'Pitchfork' – a cave with a sandy floor that is inaccessible at high-tide, for the sea floods the chamber and - more often than not, - with devastating consequences for those chained inside.

If you even find yourself at Tintagel Castle, be sure to check out Merlin's Cave as well.

Merlin - The Wizard of Alderley Edge

There are many places across Britain that claim to have links to King Arthur and his Knights. Can you remember when I spoke of Cadbury Castle and how hidden under the hill was a secret cave, with a pair of iron gates at its entrance? It turns out Cadbury is not the only place where such a tale is told.

There is a small village in Cheshire, with a population of just over 4,000, that boasts the same sort of story. They tell a tale of a farmer, a white horse, a sorcerer and a mysterious cave hidden in a hill.

The story goes...

Once there was a farmer from Mobberley who was on his way to the market at Macclesfield, in the hope of selling his white mare. As he made his way around the Edge he saw an old man, dressed in flowing grey garments. The old man approached him and offered him a fair price for the horse. The farmer refused, he wanted more than this mystery man was offering him and he thought he would get a better price at the market. The old man wished him luck and told him that he would wait for his return from the market and, if he still had the horse, then maybe the farmer would be willing to sell the animal to him then.

 

The horse did not sell and, with grave disappointment, the farmer began to make his way home, hoping that the old man, dressed in grey, would be waiting for him and still willing to buy the horse at the price he had offered earlier.

Thankfully the old man was there and the farmer sold the horse to him, which cheered him somewhat after his dismal disappointment at the market. The old man did not have any money on him, but he assured the farmer that his home was not very far away. The farmer was happy to follow the old man back to his house.

As they approached an area, near a place that was known locally as Stormy Point, the old man produced a wand and started to mutter under his breath. The farmer, was understandably alarmed, and wished now that he had refused the old mans offer, but he had come this far and he needed the money.

 

 The view from Stormy Point over to the Pennines

 

The rocks opened up in front of him. Fearfully he looked inside and saw a pair of majestic iron gates. The old man had started to chant in the language known only to those who practiced magic, and the gates opened. Terrified the farmer fell to his knees and begged the old man not to harm him, to let him go, he wouldn't tell anyone. The sorcerer, which he clearly was, smiled reassuringly and promised that he meant him no harm and all he wanted to do was pay him for the horse.

Not knowing what to do for the best - for this sorcerer had great power and he did not want to offend him - the farmer decided to lead the horse into the cave. Up ahead of him he saw countless men and white horse, all fast asleep. He watched with his mouth a gasp as the sorcerer went to an old chest and pulled out a bag of coins, which he gave to the farmer as payment for the horse.

The farmer asked fearfully who these people were. The sorcerer told him that this was a sleeping army who would one day rise again, should England be in peril. They would do him no harm, he had nothing to fear from them.

The sorcerer then abruptly told the farmer to leave, which he gratefully did. The iron gates slammed shut behind him and when he turned around to look at the gates one last time, there was nothing to see. The land in front of him looked as it always had.

Not daring to linger, the farmer walked swiftly away. When he returned home he told everybody he knew about the strange encounter and the next day his friends traveled with him back to the rocks, but they could see no cave, everything looked as it always did.

From the description of the men asleep and the sorcerer's words, we can assume it is Arthur and his knights and the sorcerer, Merlin. I there any truth in the story? -- I think that is probably up to you to decide, but I do wonder what the farmer's friends thought of him when he told the tale?