Archaeologists uncover new evidence of Merlin legend in Scotland

The village of Drumelzier in the Borders has long been associated with Merlin. 

According to Vita Merlini Sylvestris (the Life of Merlin of the Forest) — a medieval manuscript held by the British Library — Merlin was reportedly imprisoned there and buried on the banks of the Tweed in the 7th century. 

In 2022, a team of volunteers drawn from across Scotland and led by GUARD Archaeology set out to investigate the archaeological roots of this local legend.

Now, the results of the work have been published with experts revealing that there may indeed be some truth to the reports of Merlin's death in Scotland. 

More insight has been gained into Merlin's life in Scotland (Image: GUARD Archaeology)

A geophysics survey revealed that there is an archaeological feature resembling a grave near to the reputed location of Merlin’s Grave at Drumelzier.

An excavation of Tinnis Fort, which overlooks Merlin’s Grave, also found that this prominent hillfort was occupied around the late 6th and early 7th centuries AD, precisely when the story was set.

Archaeologists said the fort has the hallmarks of a lordly stronghold of the time.

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"The Drumelzier legend contains pre-Christian customs, ancient Cumbric names and was associated with local sites where archaeology now shows could credibly have given rise to the story," said GUARD Archaeology CEO Ronan Toolis, who led the project.

"Given how many hillforts there are in this neck of the woods, almost all of which are much earlier Iron Age settlements, it seems to be a remarkable coincidence that the one hillfort associated with this local legend, dates to exactly the same time as the story is set, especially when hillforts of the post-Roman period are quite rare.

Archaeologists have uncovered new evidence of a significant settlement in the Borders (Image: GUARD Archaeology)

"The new archaeological evidence does not prove that the local story was true but instead demonstrates that the legend likely originated in Drumelzier itself, rather than being brought here by a wandering medieval storyteller who roped in various random sites in the vicinity.

"Perhaps it originated as a folk memory, to be embellished over the centuries before it spread far and wide and changed out of almost all recognition. 

"Unlike the classic depiction of Merlin as the wise and respected adviser to King Arthur, the Drumelzier legend paints a much darker picture.

"That of a rather pitiful fellow prone to uttering nonsensical riddles and bewildering prophecies, and kept prisoner by an obscure petty tyrant of a forgotten kingdom, before dying a gruesome death, the victim of royal intrigue." 

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An excavation of the Thirlestane Barrows across the other side of the Tweed also discovered that sometime between the late 3rd and late 6th centuries AD a square barrow was raised over the graves of two individuals of exceptional elite status.

While a scatter of Late Mesolithic/early Neolithic flint blade fragments was recovered from the summit of Tinnis, giving a faint trace of the first groups of humans ever to climb the prominent hill. 

Toolis added: "Whether it was stories that clung to these Bronze Age round barrows at Thirlestane, these monuments evidently had some meaning in the landscape for the square barrow to be sited so close after an intervening two millennia.

"We should not forget that the people of ancient Tweeddale were aware of the history beneath their feet and the people that came before and it was through local folklore that stories about their past were passed on."