The King Who Comes Again

The King Who Sleeps:

In our talk about England and Saint George, Joel wrote:

A nation that will so publicly sacrifice their heroes and legends to mollify an implacable minority will go submissively to the gallows when that same minority becomes the majority.

It is for that reason I mention a new theory of King Arthur, locating him and his court in Lincoln:

Broughton-based Dr Leahy (61) said: "Following the withdrawal of the Romans in the early fourth century, Lindsey was a nation in its own right with its own kings and bishops.

"Excavations and metal detecting have shown how rich and exciting the kingdom was.

"We have decorated metalwork, some of which is of outstanding artistry, as shown in the book."

Dr Leahy, who retired last March as the keeper of local archaeology at North Lincolnshire Museum, believes King Arthur, who led the Celtic resistance against Saxon invaders, fought many of his battles in the Kingdom of Lindsey at Brigg.

"An eighth century account of King Arthur's battles states four of them were in Linnuis - which is likely to have been Lindsey," he said.

"If I had to bet on where these battles were, I would put my money on Brigg which, controlling the crossing of the Ancholme, was of great strategic importance."

A former foundry engineer, Dr Leahy - who now works as a part-time consultant for the British Museum - accepts many Arthurian experts will find his claim 'remarkable'.

But, he added: "The legends of King Arthur in their original form describe not a man but a military situation where the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons faced each other.

"This is true more of Lindsey than anywhere else.

"There is good evidence that in Lindsey the local Romano-British authorities managed to stay in control when the Anglo-Saxons arrived.

"Lincoln kept its original name, and there are no early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries near the city.

"For an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Lindsey has produced an amazing amount of Welsh-type metalwork."

The point here is not that Lincolnshire is, or is not, likely to have been the site of Camelot. It is that the English still care: that their scholars and archaeologists still wonder and search for Avalon, and the books they write still sell.

So long as that is true, there remains hope for Britain.