Is Castle Dore King Arthur's Camelot? 

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I don't think 'Clarissima Femina' on the tombstone is a name, but a description. It means 'most illustrious woman'.

Norma Goodrich makes the persuasive argument that Camelot means "Caer Mallot" or fort of the hammer. She maintains that Camelot was wherever King Arthur was. He was "The Hammer". As a fighting king, his court moved with him. So, there is no fort or castle that was Camelot.

My grandfather (Scottish) told me there were two King Arthur's, born 300 years apart, one fought the Romans and the other fought the Saxons. Both were welsh. Never thought of asking about Camelot. Thanks for the memories my friend.

I loved the starstruck cows following him around! "OMG, is that Pete Kelly? THE Pete Kelly?"

We're Knights of the Round Table. We dance whenever we're able. We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impeccable. We dine well here in Camelot. We eat ham and jam and spam a lot. We're Knights of the Round Table. Our shows are formidable, but many times we're given rhymes that are quite unsingable. We're opera-mad in Camelot, we sing from the diaphragm a lot. In war we're tough and able, quite indefatigable. Between our quests we sequin vests and impersonate Clark Gable. It's a busy life in Camelot. King Arthur: Well, on second thought, let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

The coincidences of Mark and Tristan are intriguing and extend all the way from Cornwall to Galloway. Wrmonoc of Landévennec mentions in his Life of St. Pol de Leon, written in the 9th century, that St. Pol de Leon evangelized in Cornwall in the 6th century, and while there, he met with "King Marc whose other name is Quonomorus." So (if this be true) the inscribed stone at Castle Dore stating Drustanus son of Cunomorus also means Drustanus son of Mark. A slight sidestep from being his nephew but what the hey. Drustanus/Tristan is a Pictish name. There are numerous kings of the Picts named Drustan, Drust etc and the name doesn't seem to occur elsewhere... except at Trusty's Hill in Galloway. Intriguing that this is the location of the most southerly, and by a long way, known Pictish inscribed stone. And a few miles away we have the Mote of Mark. It has also been suggested that the Pictish symbol of the double disk and z-rod as seen at Trusty's Hill represents the name of Drustan, given the large number of such symbols and the number of Pictish kings called Drustan. If nothing more, is is an interesting set of coincidences.

The tale of Tristand and Isolde is quite similar to that of Áengus and Caer in the tale known as The Dream of Áengus.

“Clarissima Femina” is not the woman’s name; this is a Late Roman title akin to “most esteemed woman” or “most illustrious woman.”

Marcus was a fairly common Roman name. It is quite possible that these places were originally named for DIFFERENT people named Marcus, but later, after the popularization of the Arthurian stories, were confounded as all being related to the King Mark referred to in them.

The highlight of my RU-vid notifications is when it tells me Pete or history time has released a new video. Brilliant stuff as always Pete absolutely fascinating

Glad to see Devon lasses have been enjoying Croatia for so long

Weird it took me until my late 40s to explore even a tiny bit of the UK. Flew over it countless times but during COVID I spent a combined total of 4 months in Gloucester. Been a history geek my entire life and the Cotswolds are loaded with Roman, Saxon and Celtic history. My only regret is I had to work while I was there because I could have easily just wandered around ancient site to ancient site and been entirely happy. What the isles lack in surface area is exponentially made up for in depth of time and history, there's no way I could get to everything in a lifetime. Strange to me my ancestors go back to a significant degree to the UK where Scandanavian, Isle of Mann, Irish and English blood gathered and mixed for generations in places like rural England until the middle and late 1800s when Yellowstone country was where they wandered randomly and put down stakes. Channels like this put life into perspective as I realize I'm just a tiny imperceptible blip on the expansive radar of human history.

South east Wales was the Arthurian kingdom, home of Arthwyr ap Meurig, Bedwyr ap Pedrog, Trystan ap Tallwg, Cei ap Cynyr, Medrawd ap Llew, ( these are just some of the people remembered as Arthurs knights) all 6th century characters. Even Arthur's line, his father Meurig (Maurice), grandfather Tewdrig(Theoderic), Teithfallt (Theodosius) were all recorded as Uthyr Pendragons/high kings (generallisimos) of Britain. The man who crowned Arthur was st Dyfrig/Dubricius, with st Illtyd the 'knight' being his first cousin......all of South Wales. St Samson of Dol was the son of Arthur's sister Anna and attended the second council of Paris in 556ad. These facts place Arthwyr in a specific place, and a specific time... the 6th century. Its the genealogies that provide the evidence, along with all the church records, poetry, place names, field names, fort names. It beggars belief that still even today people dance around the one place that was known as his main realm. We hear of Cornwall, Glastonbury, Winchester, Bath, the old north and southern Scotland, all places that do not provide anywhere near the amount of evidence that South Wales boasts. His field of influence was massive, most of his battles being fought in lowland Scotland against Scots, Picts and Angles, whilst in the south the Saxons were the main threat, nullified eventually at the battle of Mynydd Baedan/Mons Badonicus around 550ad. With regards to Camelot, it was a major Arthurian court alongside Caerleon. Camelot is a norman french rendering of an old welsh name. In Glamorgan we have the British palace of Caermead (branded a 'roman villa') with smashed white marble all over the field.....ignored and turfed over, and a forgotten 'castle' north of Cardiff called Caermelyn the yellow fortress......ignored. Its amazing how all this is simply not considered. This in no way denigrates these brilliant videos by Pete Kelly, but thought it necessary to inform people that might not be aware of the plethora of evidence we have on Arthur. For whatever reason, regardless of the fact that the Mabinogi was written in South Wales and features Arthur prominently, describing in detail the events leading up to the Baedan battle, no one it seems wants to search for him in this area of Britain. More and more it just seems that Arthur MUST NOT be found.

Equally, nearby “Castle-an-Dinas is one of the largest and most impressive hillforts in Cornwall, sited in an imposing position on the summit of Castle Downs with extensive and panoramic views across central Cornwall to both north and south coasts. It features in Cornish legend as one of the seats of the Duke of Cornwall and folklore has it that Cador, Duke of Cornwall, and Ygraine, King Arthur’s mother were killed here”.

What a brilliant video. Well researched, well presented ... sticks to its goals .... there are some gems on RU-vid that you simply don't get on public service broadcasting ... thank you.

Personally I think Camelot was Caer-Elmet, Modern Barwick in Elmet, Right on the Frontline against the Roman, Saxon and Norman Invasions.

awe shet here we go again

I found the use of the phrase "sub-Roman" interesting. I've always seen it referred to as "post-Roman".."sub" means under.."post" means after. Big difference...

My grandfather was WELSH Grandma was SCOTTISH Mother ENGLISH father was IRISH What a mixed bunch😂👍

Fantastic as always! Thanks for sharing your story with us!

Welp, didn't expect to hear about my homeland when opening video about King Arthur, it was pleasantly surprising.

Beautiful presentation. I was riveted by your voice and the beautiful guitar playing when you were telling the tale of Tristan and Isolde. I’d like to think it’s true, King Arthur and Camelot.

That was such a great documentary,,,,,cheers Pete from across the pond, P.E.I. Canada

Fowey is pronounced 'Foy' Mark could possibly be 'Margh' meaning 'Horse'. Kilmarth maybe Kilmargh 'Horses back'...Or more likely it's all made up. That said, my namesake 'Rialobran son of Cunoval' died fighting the Irish at or near Chun Castle around the 6th century. Cunomoros and Drustan may have a similar story.

Good research. Bless this guy's heart, he spent most of his time at Castle Dore being followed by cattle. Well, at least they can't disagree with any conclusions drawn!

The back-ground on my PC is a picture I took at Castle Dore in 2014.

great to see you post again

There is a line of thought that considers the possibility of Camels Lot as another location of Camelot with similar ground structure as seen at the site of Dore.

Excellent video! What a wonderful channel

very good program, always interesting

Awesome as ever Pete, thank you.

I think Camelot takes its name from Camulodunum, Roman Colchester.

Great video as always!! God bless ya for using your talents and sharing your knowledge

Hallo from Denmark. And this is what I waited for. That wonderfull voice is back....

Well done, very interesting. How intriguing to think of what the ancient Britain was like.

Again another brilliant video Thank you. Would really love if you could/would make a similar one video about the celtic history of ireland 🇮🇪

What a great storyteller. Quality video clips 👍🏼

Great narration, Pete, thank you!

This feels like the Camelot reference was click bait for a Tristan and Isolde video and sone pretty Croatian holiday video was included at the beginning to pad out the run time.

Very interesting story, empowered by beautiful music. Thank you!

I love your stories and style of telling them.

You know I always wonder with this old star crossed lover stories. This was back in the day when a hundred miles away was basically on another planet. Just like...leave? Make a cabin someplace, and they'd never find you

Alex Iles in one of his Anglo-Saxon videos, brings up a cool idea. Idea is that British and Germanic people did catch on the Roman way of life, but without the larger imperial system, they went back to the way life was before. Be it reviving celtic living or auxiliary/mercenaries living like they did at home.

Appreciate your analysis.

Lovely work. Nice to see my old grave. Err! Tristram here. I believe it was the druids who would frequent those stone circles. Indeed, I stayed away as they were very powerful magicians and the like. I would sit on a hill and observe them from a distance out of eyesight. Still, magical days indeed. Guess who lives in the same town as me now? Isolde 2. Who thinks I should go after her? Isolde 1 down now. King Mark is here too. You all know him. He’s a famous actor. 😂

The concept of Camelot is clearly supposed to be Camelodunum, the original Roman capitol of Britain, before it was switched to London. Doesn't necessarily mean that it ever had anything to do with the original King Arthur legend, but there's a very clear reason why it was included, along with every other provable real world location.

King Arthur was king of glamorgan if he had camalot it would be in south Wales nowhere else

Another interesting video, particularly the story of King Mark of Cornwall.

Plot twist: Clarissa Femina was queen Guinevere after escaping Britain following the death of Lancelot // or she was Morrigan after the death of Mordred and Arthur. Sounds crazy but out would make a perfect plot for a fiction book

You have the most soothing voice!!! You are a natural born at this!!! 🎉🎉🎉

My understanding is King Arthur and Camelot were medieval fiction a la the comic superheroes of more modern times, thus searching for true Arthurian locations is akin to seeking the Bat Cave or Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

No mate, Camelot was Caer Melyn in Glamorgan wales

excellent! thank you

awesome video:)

Some of these old ancient monument signs ( 33:59 ) from the sixties are so old that they need excavating themselves - no maintenance

After much reading, I also believe that King Arthur was a late invention between the mythical and the political. That aside, my maternal grandmother was from Split and I'm about to get an ancestral DNA done... I think I'll find more surprises than I expected.

What does 'Sub-Roman" mean?

In Irish tradition isoleult ,Isolde is the sister of Saint ruadhan of lorre both children of the eoghanacta king of Munster based in capital of that kingdom Cashel, The name Cashel is believed to be derived from the Latin castellum or castle. Her brother Saint ruadhan is credited with inventing whiskey and opposing the high king of Ireland based in Tara. More ogham stone's bearing inscriptions both in Latin and Gaelic Irish are found in Cornwall and dumonia than anywhere outside of Ireland and within Ireland more of these memorial's are found in the territory of the eoghanact kingdom of Munster than anywhere else. The connections between dumonia and Munster and the Irish are very deep. The Cornish Saint Perrin is British p Celt equivalent of Irish q Celt Saint kerin. The pagan founder of the eoghanacta is named as mug nuadat or servant of the pagan god nuada of the silver hand, it's believed he is the same pagan god whose sanctuary temple was by the seven estuary where the British called him nodens.

What an intriguing story about Tristan and Isolde

Très bonne émission (un Historien de l'Antiquité Tardive) ! 👍

Can you share the sources you got for making this video like links or books thanks

There is a River Camel with a tributary called the De Lank river... I've wondered if it's there...

The idea that Cornwall was remote and somewhat detached in Roman times makes no sense. Cornwall had tin, and was trading in tin across Europe for centuries (via Phoenician traders by all accounts). Transit may have been largely maritime but Cornwall (or Dumnonia if you prefer) was relatively rich and well integrated into larger Roman Europe.

Just in case you have to say the name again. Fowey rhymes with toy. I'm loving this one mate! My home town's in Devon. 20:46

Arthur and his story are symbolic he is a ‘bear king’ born of ‘bear dragon serpent ’ father who defends his land and then descends into the earth to come again when needed (typical European burial mound philosophy). Camelot is descended from Camlus… (arguably) another name for Cernunnos … the spirit/god of the woods and of wild animals … there are lots of towns whose names descend from camlus … thus there is likely no Camelot just lots of towns named after Cernunnos and once ruled by mighty Celtic lords. There were many Celtic lords willing to defend Europe from ‘civilised’ invaders… Arthur is just an amalgamation of them all and that is why his story struck a chord amongst nobility from Britain and France all the way to Italy and Eastern Europe. He is the bear king of the land to return and defend it when needed. You can see Arthurian myth as a last ditch attempt by Europeans to preserve their most archaic spiritual mythology.

a neat little coincidence that around the 22:24-22:28 mark, the clouds in the background resemble someone holding a lance or a longsword.

Thanks👍🏼

Camellot, An acre of land for a desert animal.

I used to push the pram a lot... there's a Monty Python reference for every situation. More serious, think about it, how blessed your country is with all that abundant and colourful history. Here in the North Netherlands? Only mud. And boredom. 😜

5:49 I hope that others have listened thus far…It’s a different tale than we Americans of English descent have come accustomed to. Im curious to continue…

Always fascinated by this time period, thank you for sharing w/ us.

Colchester = Camulodenum = Fort Camulo = Camelot. Not rocket science, not even "hidden in plain sight", not hidden at all. The first Roman capital of Britain was also its last.

Us Britons have never given up. So far Hoppefully it will continue.

thanks

The story at around the 28 minute mark is simply a retold story from ancient greece. It tells me, that this story is just a story told over the ages.

Maybe the real Camelot was the friends we made along the way

I love his place.

I'd look closer at Atherstone or Arthurs Dun -Attys Dun?)

Nice National Trust and English Heritage windscreen stickers. You just need a Cadw sticker to round out the holy UK trinity

I theory that according to that picture being a diagram, both of those polls would began left related to right rotation travel.

nice 💯💪

Saying that Tristan and Isolde is an Arthurian legend makes as much sense as saying that the Transformers are Marvel superheroes because the movies are American.

Considering that Arthur was really a fictional character it’s not likely

You had me at banana boat ❤

History intensifies.

Arthur and Myrridin were low land scots i dont wish to argue about it but look it up they were from Strathclyde and fought the end of the Romans and a little bit after 4th century AD. They spoke P type Celtic but techically Pictish similar but distintic to Brittonic welsh and cornish, cumbric.

If you knew the Cornish you’d know that there is no way we would think ourselves Roman! 😀

Could anyone tell me who made the thumbnail art?

Dore is the Gaelic for oak.

I’m King Arthur and my wife is too.

I usually enjoy documentaries like this but I found the information disjointed. I had a hard time connecting it to Camelot. Maybe I am just dumb.

Well, if you were trying to get speculative commentary, you certainly achieved it!

"Tis a silly place!"

I'm backing Castle Kanyke ( ' Caretaker', ' Courage ' - Caretaker King Arthur) the largest hill Fort in Cornwall for the main seat of the wandering King Arthur's Kelliweg at Bodmin ( ' Place of the wise men ' ) on the River Camel ( Caer Mellot - ' fort hammer ') , long robbed out and farmed . Also Castle An Dinas ( 'Castle of castles' ) as another centre for the Cornish King .

Camelot is in South Wales

🔥🔥🔥

It's only a model...

Research ALAN WILSON? 2 x King Arthur's .one fought the Romans the other fought the saxons