King Arthur in Scotland.

Arthur's Seat
This hill, near the East End of the Old Town in Edinburgh, is an extinct volcano.

Legend has it that Camelot was built on its crest and slopes, and that the Kings of Elfdom lived within the hill.

Certainly, it would have been a choice site for King Arthur's court. From the top, one gets a panoramic view of the whole of the River Forth estuary, and across to Fife, south across the hills and on towards the border with England, and west over the rich farmlands of southern Scotland.

One of the earliest Princes named Arthur known to have lived in Britain, was one in Scotland in the 6th Century, around the time of the earliest records of settlements around Edinburgh.
 

Merlin's Grave
According to legend, Merlin lies buried at the root of a thorn tree in a field beside the village of Drumelzier near the River Tweed, in the south of Scotland.

The story goes that during a battle he had a vision that he would die a triple death that day. He asked St. Kentigern to give him the sacrament.

Later that day he was seized by his enemies who beat him with stones and clubs, threw him in the river and stabbed him with a wooden stake. Hence the triple death by beating, drowning and stabbing.

One of Scotland's prophets, Thomas the Rhymer or Michael Scot (it is not known who exactly) made this prophecy about Merlin's grave:
"When Tweed and Powsail meet at Merlin's grave:
Scotland and England, shall one Monarch have."

This came true in 1603, when the river Tweed overflowed its banks and met the river Powsail at the site of Merlin's Grave. This was on the very same day that the crowns of Scotland and England were first united under James VI of Scotland or James I of England.

Tantallon Castle
Now a picturesque ruin on a craggy cliff overlooking the North Sea, Tantallon Castle, was once thought to be the original Camelot. It lies within a day's horseback ride from Edinburgh, so it may well have been one of the important sites of Arthurian history.
 

Perth
Perth has long been known as the 'bonnie toun' on account of its lovely women. This dates back to the time of King Arthur.

When young Arthur first ascended to his throne, he dispatched heralds to summon the most elegant and beautiful maidens in the land to Camelot to attend the first Tournament of his Knights of the Round Table.

The fairest of all the girls that he saw there was Lady Guinevere, from Perth.

It is said that King Arthur fell in love with her almost at first sight, and would not rest until she consented to become his bride.

But her father, Hamish, Laird of Mellin, set him a task to perform to prove his worthiness before he would consent to the marriage. Arthur was asked to swim across Loch Linnie in the cold of December. So on the appointed day, Arthur went to the shore of the loch, stripped off his tunic and hose, and waded into the icy water. On Merlin's advice, he chose a part of the shore where the loch was narrow, and succeeded in reaching the other side in less than a minute, thus avoiding hypothermia.

There is a children's rhyme which says: "Frae Perth came Guinevere, to make the King revere, He saw her face in the Loch of the north, and never went more forth".

Arthur's Grave
Thomas the Rhymer appears to a horse-dealer in the tale of the Fian warriors and shows him a secret cave in the Eildon Hills where sleep an army of ancient ghostly warriors headed by King Arthur.

The horse dealer blows a horn that wakes the army, but he flees in terror before blowing the second blast on the horn that would bring them out of the cave. Certainly, the legend (that King Arthur sleeps to awaken at times of dire need to defend Britain again) is well-known.
 

Sir Lancelot
Some sources say Sir Lancelot came from the Lothians, near Edinburgh, while Sir Gawain, son of Lot of Orkney, was one of the first of the Knights of the Round Table, along with Sir Kay and Sir Pellinore.

Later, Gawain's brother Gareth, became a knight also. Sir Pellinore spent many years in search of a mysterious monster he called "The Questing Beast". Did this possibly have anything to do woth the Loch Ness Monster, according to the legend known in villages to the north of Loch Ness? The Questing Beast had the head and neck of a serpent, and a huge belly (fitting the descriptions given of the Loch Ness Monster) which has reported sightings going back hundreds of years.

Artur mac Aedan

There was a real Arthur (Arturius), Artur mac Aedan, Son of Aidan, King of the Scots, from 574 AD.

There may be only one way to prove that the Legends of King Arthur were inspired by a real historical figure, and that is to find someone who is identical to King Arthur in so many respects, that it would be impossible or at least improbable, for it to be purely coincidence.

This historical figure may be Artur or Arturius, the son of Aidan, and a real 6th century figure. He may never have been a king, he certainly was a warrior, and could quite easily have been the 'Dux Bellorum' or Battle Leader of the united forces of the Scots and Britons, who were definitely allies at this period, in the wars in the North against the Saxons and Angles of Bernicia and the Picts, by virtue of the fact that his father Aidan was the most powerful King in the North.

Artur, son of Aidan, is identical to the Arthur of Legend in the following respects:

He has the correct name, Artur or Arturius, the 6th century version of the name Arthur.

Artur was the son of a most powerful king.

Artur was a Christian; when half the country was still pagan.

Artur lived at the correct period of the 6th century.

Artur was a contemporary and ally of the Northern King Urien, who was a real historical figure and who is mentioned in the legends as an ally of Arthur.

Artur was an ally of the Kings of the Britons in the wars in the North against the Saxons and Angles and the Picts.

Artur died in battle against the Picts. Arthur's last battle was against Modred, (whose mother was the wife of Lot, king of the Picts.)

Artur or Arturius had a sister or half sister called Morgan, as did King Arthur of legend; according to the 8th cent source 'Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee'.

This Arthur, therefore, is similar in so many respects to the King Arthur of the Legends.