King Arthur Was a Scot, Lived in Swamp: Historian

Scotland may have a new, ancient celebrity to call its own, according to an amateur historian. In a new book, Adam Ardrey claims King Arthur was actually Arthur Mac Aedan, the son of a Scottish king, whose "Camelot" was not Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, but a Scottish marsh—and that he pulled Excalibur from a stone in the same area in Argyll. That's not all: Ardrey tells the Scotsman he's identified all 12 of Arthur's battle sites around Scotland, including where he died—near Falkirk, 12 miles from where his round table has supposedly been found—and the spot he was buried, on the island of Iona.

"The legendary Arthur is said to be buried in an island in the western seas—Avalon—but in the south of Britain there are no islands in the western seas," Ardrey says. "Iona fits all the criteria. It's an island where hundreds of kings were buried. Some say 128. Other members of Arthur Mac Aedan's family were buried there too." Now he wants the site dug up to look for proof, but in the meantime, "I am hoping the book provokes debate and discussion," Ardrey says. "But if I'm right, then 100 years of British history needs to be rewritten." In a previous book, Ardrey claims the "wizard" Merlin of Arthur lore was actually a politician from Glasgow, the Scottish Daily Record reports. (Meanwhile, another historical king may soon be dug up in England.)