When the Angles moved across the western moors from Northumbria in the 7th century they settled along the Eden valley. One of the places they settled was given the name Dufton, their name for the Place of Doves.
But why did they name their settlement the Place of Doves? 

It may be that the surrounding woodland provided good roosting for the wild doves. Or perhaps there was an enclosure  where doves were kept to provide a supplement food supply, it is known that in times past all parts of the dove were made use of by every household, and consequently the birds were an important part of a villages possessions.

Some fascinating and detailed research by Richard Dufton, a professional historian, provides some very interesting ideas about the early English origins of the name Dufton, he also highlights how his research positions
King Arthur's Camelot in the old estate of Dufton.

 Richard presents his intriguing work in the form of the following letter addressed to the Queen.
The letter was sent to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth on the 23rd August 2002.

I was born in London so it was quite a while before I was able to trek all the way to Westmorland to visit the village of Dufton, my family’s point of genesis. For many years I had wanted to see with my own eyes the scenes where the family stories had taken place. When I did eventually arrive at the village I discovered that someone was keeping brown doves there. At that time I did not think very much about it until later when I discovered that the dove badge of the family; was not taken from the common pigeon as I had been led to believe, no matter how fancy the breed, but from the smaller, more delicate collared dove, the cushat of the Anglo-Saxons (cusceote). The reason being is that the collard dove has a natural dark mark around its neck, which supposedly represents the ‘golden torc’ worn by the Celtic royalty. I knew that the crest we used on our armorial bearings was the collared dove, and that it had a white tuft of feathers sticking up on top of it’s head like a crown. However, at that time I was not aware of the true significance of this bird.

Its significance is simple but important. To the Celtic people, the world around them could be represented by symbols. For instance and importantly for our argument, the dove represented the very centre of their universe. The old Northern Gaelic word for Dove is Cam or Calm and when it is united with the word element Lann/Lunn (sacred enclosure), it formed the word “Calm-lann”, which has been abridged to “Camlann”. The second word element of ‘lann’, displays a common Goidelic vowel drift from ‘Lunn’: - e.g. a sacred grove with a glade or clearing. Classically a Lunn was described in Latin as a “Nemer-ton”. We have fossilised in the word ‘Camlann’ the original word form; from which the later medieval word ‘Camelot’ has been derived. Calmlann or Camelot means specifically: - ‘The sacred grove or enclosure where the sacrificial doves are kept’, (the symbol for the sacred centre of a realm). Or to put it more simply ‘The Place of Doves’, and should there be any physical accommodation for the doves other than trees: - “The House of Doves”. The Celtic linguists Mackenzie, Mac Alpin and others, point this out, and reiterate that the name survives in the later Northern Celto/Gaelic as the word ‘Camlann’ when it is used to imply a ‘dove cot’. The application of the word element ‘lann’; brings to the word ‘Camlann’ an additional spiritual dimension. For ‘lann’ is used in some instances to indicate a magical, sacred or spiritual woodland glade, which ideogrammatically, was often associated with a beehive shaped dovecot built in association with an Anchorite cell where the prophetess would dwell. The association of doves and the oracle is ancient. In the Classics we are told of the two black doves who flew from the oracle of Thebes, one flew to Libya, the other flew to Dodona. The latter alighting on an oak tree within the holy grove and began to speak with a human voice, announcing to the locals that, from then on the oracle of Zeus should be found in that place.

To the greater majority Camelot is a mythological place, which can only exist in the mind, or so it has been taught. However, the greatest of myths often have their basis in real facts. Sometimes other authors have buried these facts because they are inconvenient to their writings. But like all truths it cannot be hidden for all time and often surface at the most crucial times so let it be with Camlann, which incidentally is not in the west of the country, it never was anywhere else but exactly in the middle of this island where it should be.
How so? Well here is the evidence.  

TARA
Ma’am if an historical model is going to work, it must contain certain criteria that agree in both cases. So apart from providing a block of background information about Tara, a precise comparison list between Tara and the Dufton Estate has to be drawn. So to facilitate this I have also included, for your review Ma’am, a point-by-point list, covering some eleven major points of similarity that have to be taken into consideration, as their parity is too extreme to ignore.

To the Celts, the centre of a land was the sacred interface between this world of the mortal and the otherworld of the dead. This interface often took the form of a sacred river that represented the great divide of death. The river Styx is a good example. Among the Celts the sacred river was always a barrier between this world and the land of the after life often referred to as Eden. For instance on the river Boyne (the most sacred river in Ireland) is the village of Edenderry very near the hill of Tara. Please note that the phrase “Eden” has been retained as a word element in the village’s name. Whereas the river Eden that flows past the Dufton Estate has given its name to the entire valley. The word “Eden” is very ancient; it belongs to a group of river names that have been identified as being early Indo-European and pre-dates all Gallio-Celtic names by a long chalk and has been found in association with sacred areas throughout Europe. Although it may vary in form a little, it is still consistent. Viz. Arden, Edenderry, Ardonne, Aden, Eden, Idona and Itona. Each time is found it is in association with a sacred enclosure at the centre of the realm.

In Ireland, we learn that an earlier form of the name for the Rath of Tara - was the Teamhair, which in itself is a corruption from Tea-Mur. The proper meaning of which is the mount, property or home of ‘Queen Tea’. Queen Tea, was the wife of the Milesian King Heremon or Eremon who was listed as the nineteenth Arð-Roi [High] King of Ireland, And that was around 1015 BCE, a while before the Tuatha de Danaan came up from Spain. We also know that the site we call Tara was certainly in use well before 2000.BCE. The Irish poets knew of this and knew of Tara as the being the Ri Rath, that is the Kings [Ri] Rath. The Irish term ‘Rath’ is equivalent in some degree to the Latin term “nimidae”, which has been used to describe a number of sacred enclosures in Southern Europe.

However, Tara first came to importance when the legendary Irish King Achaius who had ruled at Tara around 1383 BCE was said to have assembled the first collage of Druids, at Lothair Crofinn (the earlier name of Tara). It was called ‘The Court of the Learned’. This college was also to become the legal centre from where the High Kings law was dispensed, and on the Dufton estate we have the exact equivalent, it is sited just in front of Roman Fell on the Warcop range: - just where the army has set up its targets. The very notion of this site, that was once the centre of peace and learning, being violated in such a way, makes ill to the pit of my stomach, as we are supposed to be the protectors of our co-inheritance.

In 714 BCE. Ollamh Fodhla became the High King [Arð Roi] of Tara. The term Ollamh denotes the highest grade [seventh] of bard. It is said the Ollamh Fodhla was the person who pursued the Brehon Law, this was considered to be one of the most honest and fairest laws known, and parts of it are still valid and are incorporated into our modern common law; that is, until the modern law reforms remove all trace of humanity from law. He is also credited with founding the great festival and national convention of Teammate Fes, which was held every three years at Tara. It was associated with the Tailtean marriage sports. In Britain Dunwallo Molmutius, son of Cloten King of Cornwall extended his rule over the whole of Britain as the High King [Ard Ri] of this Island. It was he who established the law known as the Molmutine Laws [pre 390 BCE] and they were based on the same Brehon laws followed by Ollamh Fodhla, we in this island were not to experience unfair law; one that could be bought until the Church set up its courts, where the weight of the law was measured literal on a set of scales by the shear number of hired law books you could pile on the scales, whether they were apposite or not and hope that your opponent couldn’t hire more books.

Tara remained for nearly two and a half thousand years as the main royal residence of the “High King” the “Arð-Roi”. Then about one hundred years after the introduction of Christianity, when Catholicism had gained control of Ireland the ancient capitol was completely abandoned along with the old ways (about 560 CE).

On the western slope of the hill of Tara, lies the Rath of Tara, where the Synod of the wise would meet in the presence of the High King. Near the Rath is the ‘Mound of the Hostages’. To the west of the hill of Tara, is the sacred river Boyne, over which the souls of the dead were said to cross on their way to the land of the spirits in the west. This is probably why the burial mounds of the hero’s from the Battle of Gavra’s are situated there, to act as guardians between the worlds.

Within the precincts of Tara were kept the sacred objects of the people, one of which was the magical stone of Tara; also called the Dallan, the stone of destiny, and the Fal stone, that shrieks when the true King stands on it. It was said to shriek once for every generation of a Kings line who would succeed him. It is said to have come from Inis Fal. There is another stone there, in the shape of a truncated pillar, it is called Bod Thearghais and is thought by some, to have a phallic purpose, in the fertilising of the earth, and it might also be the remains of a ‘Perron’ shaft. Nevertheless it was to this stone, where the people of the tribe regularly gathered. As they did at the Clohmabenstane, a prehistoric stone in the centre of the old Kingdom of Dalriada near the village of Lochmaben, both situated in Dumfriesshire, Southern Scotland. This stone stands less than a kilometre away from Gretna Green, where runaway lovers would flee to, to have there marriages solemnised by a blacksmith. Which might be a leave-over from the marriage sports, practised along with other ceremonies at such sites. Additional confirmation of such practices being widespread, has been supplied to us by Julius Caesar, who confirmed for us, that this was also the practice in Gaul, where in his accounts of the Celtic people, he reported that the Druid’s used to hold an annual convention at similar central site.


Laid out below is a list of major parallels between the sacred sites of Tara and Dufton, which provides a level of synchronism far too high to be accidental.
 

WHY DUFTON?

As demonstrated above there are quite a number of similarities between the two sites, and quite a few additional points can be added, implying that the area that became the Barony of Dufton might have had a very special relationship to the early kingship of these Isles. Firstly the Estate is very nearly at the physical centre of the island. Secondly, the boundaries of the ancient Barony of Westmorland have direct contact with all four traditional northern border counties, i.e.: - Lancashire, Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland, which were themselves once Commote sized kingdoms.

On Brackenber Moor, where the Appleby horse fair is held every year, in the corner of the field, are several Bronze Age barrows. These barrows have produced some beautiful Royal Grave goods in the form of large and elaborate ‘C’ shaped broaches, with thistle ended silver pins of exquisite workmanship and extreme archaeological importance, some of which are now in the British Museum. But there is more, there is a large burial mound called Battle Barrow, on the banks of the Eden near Appleby Bridge, and it’s so large, that a house has been built on it. Battle Barrow could relate to some past battle of significance, where the fallen were so numerous that they have been buried together where they fell. All current memory of the battle has dropped out of the popular consciousness, so the battle is now nameless. It is true, that cashes of human bones have been found near the bridge in the past, but have not been researched efficiently, so that no date of their internment can be affirmed. As to who is buried in the tumuli and apart from a number of bodies of the Border Reevers that didn’t make it back across the border and wouldn’t have been buried in barrows anyway. I can think of at least two famous Celtic battles fought there, but I need stronger proof in order to make a definitive statement. This I hope to deal with later.

Dominating the eastern side of the valley as it does, the Estate of Dufton is situated at the centre of a conjunction of ancient roads and paths several of which are of Roman and pre-Roman date. The existence of these roads indicates that the area was very busy in the Roman period, so to defend such an active area, the Romans had to build the moderately large fort and civic area [Vicus] of Bravoniacum, five kilometres away at Kirkby Thore (still well within the estate boundaries) where all the major roads intersected.

Bravoniacum was in fact, a small city, where a cavalry posting for a standard ‘Ala’ of horse was stationed under the command of Lucius Artorius Castus, the historic model of King Arthur. It was formed of about twenty-two turmae, providing up to one thousand cavalry members. This is no small unit to accommodate, apart from the stabling and the ancillary workers etc; there was the ‘high status’ accommodation for its officer corps to consider, including a regional palace for Lucius Artorius Castus, and here we have the start of King Arthur’s Court. We also know that the Bravoniacum unit was the Roman equivalent to the modern rapid reaction force of today, and we know that it was their duty to go to the aid of any unit on any part of the western half of the Wall, or wherever they were needed. We also know that the horsemen of the Ala were either from good families or if they were of a lower class, they had to be rich enough to afford a good horse or two. To alert the Ala to an intrusion of raiders, there were lines of signal stations that link Bravoniacum directly with the Roman Army centres at Carlisle and York. Indicating how important the Romans thought the Dufton Estate to be.

 At the centre of the old Dufton estate, is an archaeological site known as ‘Ald Dufton’, which is a major Celtic habitation site, with unusually large roundhouses, that are up to ten metres across and have been described as a chieftains dwelling, which I believe to be the largest in the district. Immediately adjacent to this site is an enclosed Anglo-Saxon settlement site that seemed in its earlier phases to have co-existed with the Celtic one. To the north of the Celtic site there is an elongated mound, approximately the size of a small church or barn or a possibly a Roman dovecote that appears to have an east - west orientation, this orientation would be correct if the site was not a barn or dovecote, but an early Anglo – Saxon Christian Church foundation, which I expect it to be. In fact I am sure that it is the original Saint Cuthbert’s Church, where Saint Cuthbert’s body rested for a time in the flight from Lindisfarne, if I am right this is an extremely important religious site to the much-beleaguered Christian community of this country, and one of great sanctity and historical importance to Britain as a whole.

The story goes; that in the late Saxon period, the Barony of Dufton was rich enough and attractive enough to gain the attention of the large group of followers who were in the procession accompanying the coffin of Saint Cuthbert, as it migrated from Lindisfarne to Durham. They found the Baronial Estate of Dufton so congenial and safe that they stayed at Dufton for quite a while. In the interim the church foundation a Dufton was changed from its original foundation (it is possible that it was founded by St Augustine personally) to Saint Cuthbert’s, in honour of the time that Saint Cuthbert’s coffin rested there, and so it remains today, even though the Church was rebuilt on a new site in the eighteenth century, reusing some of the original Saxon stonework. But why should the coffin be taken there in the first place, if the Estate wasn’t important? The answer is that it was a Royal Estate and the Crown was obligated to give the monks a haven from their troubles while the final resting-place for St Cuthbert was decided. When this decision was made, the coffin was on its way again (with a quite a few diversions) to Durham, where it now resides.

The interest in the Estate did not end with the Romans or the Anglo-Saxons. It continued on well into medieval times when the Knight Templar maintained a keen interest in the Barony of Dufton, as they do whenever the Royal Dragon Blood is in the neighbourhood. They were to establish and maintain a Priory community at Temple Sowerby for many years. Are they not after all, the knightly order who are sworn to guard the Royal Blood of the Dragon clan where ever they are?

On another point, it is not usual for a king to be close to the source of his wealth. This is particularly true of those who lived on the Dufton Estate. Just north along the Pennine Chain is the famous ‘Silver Band’ lead mine. The richness of the Silver Band lead ore was unbelievable. Not only did the ore out-crop there in a horizontal bed that ranges in thickness from one to five metres wide in places; but also the galena was rich in silver, containing up to 14 percent silver by weight. Silver was so vital to the Roman economy that the richness of the Silver Band mine became crucial to the local and the Empires economy. So much so that the Romans forced large numbers of the local population to work the mines for them. The Romans needed the vast amount of silver produced by the mine, to pay the salarium of the large contingent of soldiers who were deployed in the district. As the Romans seemed to be just hanging around all the time, we had the annoying habit of keeping them busy; by continually bashing them over the head with something hard, it helped to keep them warm and out of other nations hair. The mines were worked continuously from well before the Roman period, right up to the present day. But now are worked for Barium and Fluorspar and not lead. NB, the army in their wisdom and by their presence, have closed access to more than seven of the local mines, thus killing the trade.

It would seem that massive swell of Cross Fell as it looms over the back of the village had some considerable religious interest also. Saint Augustine felt so threatened by the Fell, and its supposed inhabitants, so he determined to change its name. So Saint Augustine had a cross carved from red sandstone, probably from the quarry in Dufton Gill, and had it raised on top of what is now called “Cross Fell”. Previously the Christians had called the Fell “Fiends Fell”; “because of the spirits that lived there”. Not only was it the highest hill in the Pennine range and the haunt of spirits, it also boasts the highest well in the whole district. Unlike the multiple rain fed springs that tumble off the back of the Fell, feeding the headwater of the river Tees, this well was a magical calcifying well whose waters surged up from the rocks, turning every thing near it into stone.

On the southern side of Dufton Fell is Murton Fell and between them is the unusual and beautiful geological wonder called High Cup Nick, it is a valley where the wind, when it is blowing from the right direction, makes a strange roaring sound that can make the whole valley boom for days on end. But I am getting lost in the place, and I had promised proof of Dufton being the true Camelot, so I must provide it.

Every historian is forced by his academia to produce written evidence of a sustainable nature, so here it is,

 A short time prior to 1175, Baron Waldeoff of Allerdale , son of Gospatrick Earl of Dunbar wrote his last will and testament. In this will he disposed of a large number of properties to go to certain prescribed recipients. Now to will any physical property to another by an act of testament of will, would mean that the object had to exist in the physical world, as it is impossible and illegal to will property; if the property was no more than a figment of imagination. Under the laws that govern bequeathment that would be classified as fraud, and Waldsive would not risk losing his honour as a Baron of an ancient estate and as a senior knight of the realm, nor the security of his immortal soul, let alone the right of bequethment of his estates, for such a trivial thing as falsifying a minor part of his will! So when Baron Waldeoff of Allerdale claimed in the manuscript that contains his will, the manuscript is in the National Archive, and is consultable, (see Denton’s MSS, [1610] Ed R.S.Ferguson 1887) to have given to the priory of Carlisle, some saintly relics: - “together with a mansion near St Cuthbert’s Church where at that time stood an ancient building called Arthur’s Chamber taken to be part of the mansion house of King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon of ... memorable note for his worthiness in the time of ancient kings”. Waldeive also gave other ancient buildings called “Lyons Yardes (The seat of the Lyons side of the Bowes-Lyons family) often remembered in that history of Arthur written by a monk. The ruins thereof are yet to be seen, as is thought, at Ravenglass...” What Baron Waldeoff stated in his will he truly meant, and what is King Arthur’s Mansion wherein stood this Great Chamber more commonly called?
Is it not called Camelot?

It is highly improbable that this Arthur’s parlour or chamber quoted in the manuscript is to be sited anywhere near the church of Saint Cuthbert’s Carlisle, as some would have you believe for two good reasons. Firstly, there is no record of any manor house ever existing anywhere near the church of Saint Cuthbert Carlisle; and secondly the whole of the district around Carlisle was known as the ‘District of Carlisle’, because it was already a Church possession, and had been in the control of the ‘See of Carlisle’ since St Cuthbert’s time, when the ‘District of Carlisle’ was given to him, as a personal gift. Also, according to some academic sources there are only eight Churches known to be genuine Saint Cuthbert dedications, and so far there is only one of them that fits all the criteria completely, and that one is sited at Dufton near the castle of Appleby, and it was from the estate of Appleby that Baron Waldeoff of Allerdale was writing his will.

There are other archived State documents that verify that the “Great Chamber” was to be found on the Dufton estate. One lists a dispute over the use of the “Great Chamber”, and situates it between the church of St Cuthbert’s at Dufton and the now vanished manor house of Dufton, all was destroyed by the Scots, led by Black Douglas in 1319, when Dufton Estate was completely destroyed and anything that might have survived that attack, or might have been restored in the aftermath, was emphatically destroyed by William Wallace when he invaded Cumbria after his victory at the battle of Stirling, where he is proclaimed the Warden of Scotland. After this date no further mention is made of “The Great Chamber” at Dufton or of the manor, thanks a bunch Bill, you really have made my Christmas card list,
' ya girt Wally'.

However, Waldeoff either did not have the right to make these gifts (most likely), or the gifts were of so little regard to the church, that there appears to be no further claim or mention made by the church regarding them, and no claim to the lands was ultimately pursued, the land seems to survive unchallenged within the families who originally owned them for several hundred years. So there was a possibility that Waldeoff might have tried to will away territory that was not his to give. This was not so unusual when gifts to the church were made for the price of a redeemed soul. In fact the Church might even have asked for the items, knowing their worth in the pilgrimage business, but here I am guessing. what is certain is that Waldeoff’s uncle on his father’s side, Baron William de Dufton, was probably still alive and resident on the Dufton Estate at the time. If not, then William’s son Baron Nicholas de Dufton or his grandson Baron Ranulph de Dufton certainly were, as they continued and passed on the title of Baron of Dufton and the Dufton Estate. Incidentally, Baron of Dufton is a title I do not think Waldeoff ever used, and as title and land went together in those days, I feel quite safe in my deductions.

As an aside, there is little corroborative proof in the form of a migrated story. In the seventeenth century the remnants of the Dufton family were forced off of what remained of the Estate by what was described as an act of “Main Force”. An unpleasantly violent but so called ‘legal’ means by which the Crown gave you leave; that if you could drive a family away from their home, and keep them away for a year and a day, the perpetrators of this act could then keep the land. When this happened to us, during a period of family weakness, the remnants of our family settled near the periphery of the Estate and set up what could be described as ‘colonies’ of Duftons at Lowther near Penrith, Richmond in Yorkshire and at Chester-le-street in Co Durham.

The corroborative evidence comes from a little village in Co Durham called Castle Eden (note the name, as it is an Appleby Castle in the Eden valley reflection); it comes in the form of a tale, about the village of Castle Eden being haunted by the spirits of King Arthur’s men, and that once King Arthur’s hall had stood in the village. This tale mirrors in some part, the documented evidence from the other Eden, interesting isn’t it? It is not unusual for folktales to migrate with the people; in fact the folktales of a group, are often used to identify the origins of that people.

Now back to the plot, to the Celtic people, the dove not only represented the centre of their world, it also represented the young Goddess of love, fertility and the underworld, the death and rebirth game. In the Dodoné, the Pelasgians used to determine how the Gods would treat them by watching the prophetic flight of the doves above the oaks of their holy grove. From this background it is not so difficult to see how the very strong connection with the dove, the Grail and the Royal virgin becomes a combined image in Arthurian lore. For instance, there was the incident when Gawaine was in the Castle of Corbenic [said to be Bamborough Castle, on the Northumbrian side of the hills]. He notices a white dove that flew through the great hall, carrying a censer; it enters one of the rooms. A sweet odour filled the hall and all present knelt in reverence, as a most beautiful girl comes out of the same room carrying an incredibly valuable vestal.

The Buddhists and several other ancient peoples also used the dove to represent the epicentre of their world. A white or silver dove that the Latin’s would call a Cölumba; a word not unrelated to the word ‘Column’, gives a very strong visual symbol of both the Axis Mundi pillar and the Dove arising. Or the representation of the human spirit rising to perfection, combined with a symbol of the Perron as the axle of the world, around which the human universe turns. When the dove reached the height’s it is changed into the golden dove Palumo, in the act of mantling (Latin ‘palla’). From this we get the Roman Catholic priests Pallium, as a garment worn across the shoulders as a public demonstration of the applicant having risen in rank and having taken on the mantle of authority.

Because the Triple Goddess was so central to the religious thought of her time, she could be identified with anything that represented the centre of the world. She could be identified by a cone or be expressed by a well positioned conical mountain crowned with the Omphalos; or her identity could be expanded to encompass a suitably situated sacred grove, or a single tree who’s branches seemed to reach up to the heavens, and around which, the known universe turns. Or the whole could be reduced to a single column: - or the flight of birds.

In the Camlann / Dufton situation we have the Holy Grove in which the sacrificial doves were kept, and we have a good site for the Omphalos stone on the hill at Appleby, or alternatively Dufton Pike which is a conical hill 481 metres high. Although to be frank I do not hold much hope of recovering the Omphalos stone, if it is at Appleby, as there is the rather large castle of Appleby built right where it should have stood.

The Romans also left their clues to the importance of the dove symbol in the form of votive altars, and many of the altars from the Roman period that have been found locally are of the traditional column type, often carved with the motif of the Triple Goddess of love, fruitfulness and of the underworld as well as other related materials. Although so far a column altar surmounted with the dove has not as yet been recovered from the Dufton site, the symbol has still migrated all the way to London where the dove can be seen as it sits on top of a globe, as the finial on the Royal Sceptre of England, which in itself is a Perron symbol.

We do however have other material of a similar nature that has been recovered from related sites and cultures, which indicate the universality of the Royal Dove symbol, including corroborative artefacts and information from the Mediterranean area, the genesis point of the Celtic Kings. For instance from the repository at the palace of Knossus, a terracotta votive colonnade was recovered that depicted three columns mounted on one base, each with a dove perched on top. This and other dove + column depictions found engraved on cylinder seals, gold plaques and other votive material, including representations of the Palæstra [the temple or house] of the Dove Goddess, who is recognised as an aspect of the Triple Goddess, and here there is a nice linguistic connection between Palæstra, palisade and Palace. And as I mentioned earlier, the dove also appears surmounting a globe on top of the Royal Sceptre on England.

For Celtic Royalty, the dove was also the preferred sacrificial animal used within the sacred groves. It’s sanctity and exclusiveness was marked out by the black collar around the dove’s neck, represented the mark left by the golden torque, as worn by the Celtic Ard Ri’s or High Kings as badge of rank. On its head is a small raised tuft of feathers known as a crown, which indicated its regal position. The mark around its neck and the bird’s mannerisms, are the reasons why this bird was chosen to be an extremely sacred symbol, and could therefore act as a sacrificial surrogate for the King or any other representative of the Celtic kingly cast. It is also obvious that we are talking of the Collared Dove and not the common Pigeon. During the Celtic period and up to quite recent times, elaborate dovecotes were built to house them. As the bird had been chosen as a royal symbol, it was only fitting that it would be housed in an equally royal manner, in order to be the most acceptable sacrificial animal.

To recoup a little: - after 660 CE, King Oswiu of Northumbria brought all the lands that surrounded Northumbria under his command. He then marries Princess Rhieinfelt of Kingdom of Rheged (centred on the Dufton Estate with Cross Fell as its mid point). By this marriage and by Celtic law the sovereignty of Rheged moves towards the Saxon camp. It is from this time period that we find the name of Camlann has become Anglicised into it’s current Saxon form of ‘Dufton’ i.e. “Dufá-tûn = The Royal enclosure of the Doves”; which was shortened to the “Place of Doves”. NB. A Saxon ‘ton’ at that period implied a royal holding. Later, as with many things, the meaning of the word declined into meaning merely, ‘a farm’. As a complimentary point, it could be mentioned that the first mention of ‘Camlann’ in a Royal title was when Cymbeline (Cunobelinus) was mentioned as being the first Pendragon of Camlann and that was around 10-17 CE, the next was when Princess Athildis of Camlann, grand-daughter of Coel the first, married Marcomer King of the Franks, and that was around 150 CE, so we’ve been around a fair bit.

AVALON

If we are going to deal honestly with the true and historical Arthurian legend: - then all I can say is that as I pick up Mallory’s Mort D’Arthur; my foot automatically goes on the treadle on the trash bin, and in it goes, lock stock and barrel. Why? Simply, this how can you have a reasonable discussion about a section of early dark age history, if one or more of the contestants insist on using later ‘middle ages’ fiction as a base reference you might as well bring in Walt Disney as corroborative proof. So I bin it: - all of it and start afresh with what is and what is not.

In 150, CE when the Greek geographer and traveller Ptolemy was touring around Britain recording what he saw. He described Cumbria’s Eden [Iduna] valley in one of his books as being famed for the quality of its wine, which shows how different the weather conditions were at that time. He might have added that the valley was more famous for it’s shrine to Diana of the Forest. In his description of Cumbria he referred to the river Eden as the river “Itona” (Ituna in old British). It is not uncommon for visiting writers to have considerable differences in the pronunciation of localised words, as they were writing in their native tongue, not ours. Sir Ifor Williams points out in his work on the Poems of Taliesin, “no doubt the Welsh or Cumbri of Cumberland called their river ‘Idon’ and it may be that the name is preserved for us in this obscure line: ‘Ryfedwynt en cynerin rywin Idon’”.

A small portion of the oak grove of Diana of the Forest still exists south of Appleby. This is but a relic of how great the oak grove of Lunn Hoff once was. It filled the valley all the way from the confluence of the rivers Eden and Hoff Beck to high up into the hills. But first a little recap: - A ‘Lunn’ is a sacred grove containing a clearing, and a Hoff is a Pagan Temple often found in such sacred groves. What we have preserved here in the local names of Lunn Hoff: - is a clear implication that a Hoff once stood in that clearing. We are also told in the Classics that nine altars stood in a clearing within the Lunn, and upon these altars burnt nine sacred fires of oak wood, continuously tended by nineteen young virgin priestesses dressed in white. They were the priestesses of the Goddess Brighida who was also known in Britain as Dana or Rosmerta. Around the grove was a stout fence that barricaded it away from the outside world; it meant death for a man to cross that fence uninvited.

Possibly the different names that I have used to describe these deities might have become a little confusing. In short what we are talking about is the classic ‘Lord and the Lady’ of the ancient world described in their various guises. For instance the transmigration of the title of Diana of the Nine Fires into Eden is just as simple and direct to identify as all the other items in this story. In Italy the Goddess was know by the title = Diana, In France she was = Arduina (Ardoine), while the Norse called her = Idunna, and in Britain she was = Iduna which was then corrupted to Eden[a] and so our modern Eden was derived, a name which incidentally is of extreme age itself. By now it should be evident that with all the verifiable evidence which has been presented in this article. That if it is only a ‘coincidence’ that the Dufton Estate and the Eden valley are paralleling Camlann and Avalon, not to mention Tara and the Boyne Valley, then I summit it is a ‘coincidence’ too extreme to ignore.

The same Roman legionaries who were guarding Hadrian’s Wall would have known of the Hyperborean’s Goddess Brighida, and equated her to their own ‘Diana of the Forest’, and her consort the sun God Apollo: - they would have equated with the local Celtic Sun God Maponus. The titles of both Apollo and Maponus both contain a secondary meaning of ‘Apple-Man’. Maponus the Apple Man has a strong connection to the island of Avalon, where it was said; he had his retreat in the “Hyperborean Vale of the Temple”. Both Apollo and Maponus displayed strong affiliations with the dove symbol, symbolising as it does, the art of healing and caring. The Celts likened children to doves, and their care was symbolised by the caring actions of doves. The Druids kept oracular doves in the groves where Apollo / Maponus was worshipped. It was in these groves that their collages were founded, where healing and surgery were taught, and so the groves were known throughout the ancient world as places of healing.

If the Hyperborean ‘Vale of the Temple’ site, is the same site as described in classic literature as the one where the Apolloian cult of the hidden youth was worshipped. It then follows that the Eden valley is without much doubt the same cult site of Apollo / Maponus, that is alluded to in the Classic writings. Apollo was held by the Roman legionnaires guarding Hadrian’s Wall to be the God of the sun, healing, prophecy, music and hunting. And all round good guy to know. At least this is according to the writings of the Pythagorean cult, which records that at least one of their sources of information on this was the Hyperborean’s own High Priest Abaris, when he visited the Greek philosopher Pythagoras at Kroton in Southern Italy. Abaris had come to Kroton to talk with Pythagoras on matters relating to their individual beliefs, as there were considerable similarities and differences between the Celtic and Pythagorean beliefs, sufficient enough to form a strong bond that would last for centuries. According to the Pythagorean records, Abaris was the High Priest who had served in the temple of ‘Apollo’, which, at the time, was said to be sited in the physical centre of the island of Hyperborea [Britain not Ireland]. In this temple existed the eternal flame of ‘Apollo’, that was never allowed to go out. There were temple priestesses there, who saw to ‘Apollo’s’ dove sacrifices and tended the sacred flame. Does this sound familiar to you?

Students’ of Arthurian lore know this temple and its island site by the Arthurian name of Aval(l)on, which is said to mean “The Vale of Apples”. However, is this popular translation of the name ‘correct’? In part maybe, in as much as there is a strong connection with apples, healing and sun worship: - but in full fact possibly not. Accepting that the name might have a connection with apples and Maponus, this doesn’t detract from the fact that the word is Goidelic Gaelic in its root. We can see that Avalon is composed of two corrupted Goidelic word elements, ‘Ava–lon’. When looked at critically, these word elements can be submitted to a very different translation, than that of the traditional accepted one. The first element “Ava” exhibits the classic Goidelic consonant slip of the ‘b’ becoming a ‘v’, and so the first element could be legitimately read as “Aba”, or as in the modern Welsh “Aber” often found in traditional place names such as Abertillery, Abergavenny, Abersychan and many more, which retains the meaning in both in the ancient Goidelic Gaelic and modern Welsh of ‘the confluence of two rivers’. Interestingly enough the River Eamont, which joins the river Eden just below Hoff Beck a little north of Appleby, implies the same. We are informed that the name of the river Eamont is derived from the Old Norse word compound: - Á-Mót, which means the confluence of two rivers.
Coincidence? I think not.

The second element of our word is “lon”, and it is yet another example of the famous Goidelic vowel slip from a ‘u’ to an ‘o’, and is derived from the classic Gaelic word ‘Lun(n)’: - ‘a sacred grove’ etc, which we have already explored. So the imprecise ‘Ava-lon’ becomes a very precise ‘Aber-lunn’. With a clear translation of “The sacred grove at the confluence of two rivers”, and that is exactly what we have in the Eden Valley at Appleby: - a sacred grove at the confluence of two rivers, I.E. the rivers Eden and Eamont with or without the apple trees, which did appear to be a feature of the district as Appleby is a late Norse word for the place or farm of Apples.

Ward Rutherford, in his book “Celtic Lore”, investigated this connection. He concentrated on the story of ‘Llud and Llevelys’ taken from the ‘Mabinogion’ which is a translation from the Welsh of the Red Book of Hergest (The Llyfr Coch O Hergest), in the library of Jesus College, Oxford, and the Black Book of Caermarthen. Containing as it does, collection of very early Welsh literature that have been taken from even earlier oral tradition. The story of Llud and Llevelys revolves around the need to find the centre of Britain. Ward Rutherford on page 49 he writes, “There is further evidence for centres of special sanctity in place names. The Italian town of Milan derives its name from the Celtic ‘Mediolanum’, roughly the ‘sacred enclosure at the centre’ (the suffix -lanum survives as the llan repeatedly found in Welsh place names and in the Breton lan and lam, both now often signifies a church). Early records allude to a Medionementon, ‘the sacred grove at the centre’ in Scotland”. The suffix -lanum also survives as the second element in the name ‘Camlann’ that is the Camelot of the medieval romances, which we have already explained as a “sacred grove of the doves”.

If the early records that allude to the Medionemeton (“the sacred grove at the centre”) were in fact placing the location of the Medionemeton we call Camlann in the physical centre of the island, and that according to the early sources this was in southern “Scotland”. It would be a mistake to think of modern Southern Scotland as being the site of Camlann. Because during the period we are talking about the Scottish border which was many miles further south than it is now (York in fact), any consultation to any period map, would demonstrate this, so we would have to look further south than where the present Scottish border is now to find Camlann, and that would include exactly where the recently repealed county of Westmorland was situated, and with it, the Dufton Estate.

But what about the mythical Isle of Apples we know as Avalon? The names of Appleby and Avalon, in the lighter sense of the name; are said to both mean the place of apples (Avalon is said to be taken from ‘afallen’ = the Celtic word for apple tree). Both the sites of Appleby and Avalon are Holy Islands; the Appleby site indicates this sacred connection by the presence of a ‘Hoff’ (a temple), as a place name in the immediate locale (Lunn Hoff, Hoff Beck). We are told that traditionally Avalon was supposed to be an island. Well the Appleby site is also an island. Appleby is sited in the north on the confluence of two rivers that sweep around on themselves forming an ovoid island connected in the southeast by a narrow isthmus or causeway. The isthmus is now known as the narrow strip of land that carries the B6260 to Orton via Hoff, where it cuts across the marshland just south of a delightfully named place called ‘Slosh’. If that isn’t wet enough for you then I don’t know what is. So in reality, the Appleby site is an island, or was at that time.

 Some academics still believe that the reason Appleby was chosen to be the site of a castle in the twelfth century, was because the site was already believed to be a military one, and shows some evidence of previous military occupation in the form of unexplained earthworks that predate the castle. Assumably we are told from the Saxon period. Appleby Castle certainly was built over an existing earthwork that is much larger than the needs of the castle’s defence. However Archaeologists now say that this earlier earthwork is non-military in its origins and at least Saxon in date. Although I personally believe, that the earthworks are much older than that, no one has never bothered to properly explore the site outside the immediate castle precinct: - it's too vast.

However in my academic studies into landscape archaeology at University, where I researched evidence of early sanctuaries, I have had noted that there were distinct similarities in the layout of certain earth banks, between other pre-Roman religious sites elsewhere in Britain. For instance, just outside of Norwich is Mousehold Heath. On the Heath, there is a site worth mentioning because it is basically a ‘virgin site’ and hasn’t been built over. The Mousehold Heath site is a registered ancient monument, in the form of a rectangular triple bank enclosure, with a rectangular mound in the centre of the innermost enclosure. A little way off to the north and across the road is a group of nine sacred wells, implying that the whole site was dedicated originally, ‘The Earth Goddess’. There is evidence in the form of ash and cinder; that the centre mound was used as the site of a fire or beacon, possibly for some religious reason. On the south east side of the enclosure, are two long parallel mounds that serve no obvious practical purpose, they are not suitable as wall foundations nor do they serve any military purpose, they just line a very short length of track of about four metres. I mention this because there are two similar mounds in the grounds of Appleby Castle, which are aligned in a similar way to the Mousehold site, and they also serve no military purpose. My own opinion is that these mounds served a similar religious function.

Again if my memory serves me well, I seem to recall, that in the late seventies, when I last visited Appleby Castle, I saw a large stone that seemed to have been there since before the Keep was built. It had been built into the foundations of the Keep, but it still looked incongruous, possibly it was the Omphalos stone I now seek, but I am not sure. At that time there was a small archaeological dig being conducted at the western base of the Keep. The reason for this dig I was told; was that it was being conducted to determine the true ground level of the courtyard, before the last remodelling of the castle. This was because it had been recorded, that the ground level of the courtyard had been raised, to provide level ground within the Bailey to accommodate the changing needs of warfare, therefore the Keep no longer appears to stand on a small mound as apparently it once did. The Norman builders of the Keep were wily people, who were known to have pressed into service, existing mounds and hillocks, as a ready made mound saved them the labour of raising a ‘mote’ to put the Keep on. The mound was there; it was handy, so they used it.

The reason I mention this is that again, if my memory serves me well, I think they found ash at the bottom levels of the dig. Unfortunately, it was assumed that there had been a fire, end of story. So no further research was undertaken to determine if the ash was either domestic, industrial, arson or a beacon. Nor were there any attempts to date its occurrence. To me the theory that the mound was in fact the site of the eternal flame that burnt in the temple at the centre of the Isle: - is ratifiable. The situations, the earthworks, the fire, the Omphalos stone, the tradition, it all fits. In my mind there is little doubt that Appleby and the Eden bottom is the site of an Avalon.

With the family having to build Appleby castle in the late twelfth century, the administrative centre moved from the Manor of Dufton to Appleby Castle. Although not everything was moved, right up to the fourteen hundreds. The Manor of Dufton was still compelled by law, to keep the law court at the Manor, not a Manorial court, as is usually the case, but a Judicial Court of Sessions, to be held by Royal command. However, in spite of the forgoing evidence to the contrary, some academics still conclude that the twelfth century building of a castle at Appleby is sufficient indication for them to state that Appleby, (which is in itself a late Norse word), was the capitol of Westmorland as early as 900 CE. Even though there is no evidence to show that part of the Cumbrias was under Norse rule before 1000 CE. Therefore, they reason (un-supportably) that Appleby must have been the site of the Roman station of ‘Aballaba’, and therefore the castle site was already a fortified one. However, apart from the above-cited note, no further proof has been issued, nor have there been any Roman finds or artefacts found in Appleby to date, that I am aware of, that are confirmed as having come from Appleby. This is singularly interesting, as the lack of artefacts from that side of the river is in complete contrast to the Dufton side. The Dufton side has so many artefacts, including complete Roman cites, while the Appleby side has virtually none. What this indicates to me is that the Appleby site wasn’t built on in the domestic sense of the word until the Norse rule in Cumbria. A possible explanation is that up till then, the Appleby site was seen to be too sacred, and not to be built on.

On the other hand, the nearest confirmed Roman fortress and its associated satellite town is just across the river at ‘Bravoniacum’ in Kirkby Thore, which is on the Roman road, as it passes through the Dufton estate, and there is another Roman town, which is more likely to be ‘Aballaba’ mentioned, up at the Warcop end of the estate. To me it is very surprising that ‘Bravoniacum’ has not been considered as a possible site of the battle of Baden, allowing for the ‘d’ – ‘v’ slip and the dismissal of the Latin word ending Viz, Bravoniacum = Bravon = Baden, nor has it been considered as a possible site for the destroyed city referred to as the wasteland in the Fisher King’s cycle, but maybe this is just my fancy. However to be fair, I know of three other destroyed Roman cities in the locale, and each could be a contender.

 Unfortunately Ma’am, as with all royalty issues, situations are never stable. To understand how the permanent disruption for the Northlands really began. We would have to go back to the battle of Certiceford (519 CE) and the defeat the Celtic tribes suffered at the hands of the Saxons. This defeat was so decisive, that any further coalitions of Celtic tribes, were never able to repel the Anglo-Saxon alliance from Britain’s shore. As a result of the defeat of the Celts at Certiceford, the Anglo-Saxons were able to gain a strong position in the south and east of Britain. Intercean strife between the Celtic families allowed the Anglo-Saxon’s to reinforce their position, the outcome of which resulted in the dreadful battle of Camlann (Camelot), and the inevitable death of Arthur Pendragon. Leaving Maglocunus king of Gwynedd (North Northumbria), and Cuneglasus king of Powys (Wales) and Ædàn mac Gabràn king in Rheged and the remainder of North Britain. Around 604 CE even more trouble came to the north in a big way when Ethelfrith attacked Ædàn at York. Ædàn was killed in the battle, leaving the way to the north totally open. This time saw the establishment of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria, and under its influence, we see Westmorland still independent but reduced to a petty Saxon Kingdom.

It is also probable, that about this time, the name of ‘The Place of Doves’ (Camlann) becomes Anglicised into it’s current Saxon form of ‘Dufton’ i.e. “Dufá-tûn = Place of Doves”. I realise that there are a number of genealogists who will insist that the word element “ton” implies a Saxon farm. Nor would I disagree with them, but that is only the last mutation the word went through before dropping out of our language altogether, by becoming the generic word for ‘town’ sometime in the late tenth century. The earlier translation of the word “ton” refers specifically to the defendable bank-rampart-fence around a royal enclosure. The “ton” element was then later applied to all stockaded farmsteads built in lands that were newly conquered. Then it declined into a generic term for a humble farm, with or without a defensive barrier. Therefore, as ‘Dufton’ belongs to the earlier period of name change, a more accurate translation of ‘Dufton’ would read, “The royal enclosure where the doves are kept”. This in no way clashes with ‘Dufton’ being a linguistic substitute for ‘Camlann’, for ‘Camlann’ itself translates as “The sacred enclosure where the doves are kept”. I would also point out that, at this time period, Kingship itself was considered to be sacred, and not just the political job history has made it.