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Dun Rheged - Dungragit

Ask most people in Britain what they know about the kingdom of Rheged and they will probably give you  a blank stare or ask "who?" Although there has been a recent upsurge of interest in the ancient realm, little is still known, and less understood, about its real origins and demise. And yet, if the kingdom had withstood its internal fueds and external assaults, the map of Britain today would have been so much different. At its height - circa 600ad - Rheged stretched from the south bank of the Clyde to the Mersey. In the east its remotest outpost was Lindisfarne. In the west, its furthest outpost was at Dunragit (as it is nowadays named). Of the fort at Dunragit very little remains; an overgrown patch of land, waste and forlorn, hidden in the woods about 250 metres away from the gardens of Glenwhan. Of the rulers and personalities of Rheged however, there is somewhat more that is known. Its greatest leader was a figure who became semi-legendary as one of the mythical 'king' Arthur's companions, or 'knights', and his name was Urien or 'city born' in the modern tongue, hinting perhaps that his birth-place was Carlisle, a place where the Roman-British way of life still clung on to the old ways as late as the 7th century.

Urien it was who, according to legend (if to nothing else!) was married to one Morgan Le Fey, lately a spinster of the parish of Maryport (Alauna as the Roman-British knew it) in Cumbria. Whether married to Morgan or not, Urien fathered a son just as mighty in arms as himself; Owein. These two, with the help of their kinsfolk from Elmet - Peredur of the Steel Arms and Gwrgi, aided by such as Rhydderch Hael of Alclyud, Saint Kentigern, and the altogether more sinister Morcant Bulc, fought a tremendous battle against Gwenddoleu of Liddlesdale at Arthuret. The battle culminated in the defeat of the pagan forces of Gwenddoleu, and the establishment of a Christian kingdom under Urien; Rheged. (Folklore fans will be pleased to note that Gwenddoleu's main advisor, probably an old style Druid, was named Myyrdyn - aka Merlin!) The battle of Arthuret may have been the culmination of a campaign across the entire region of Dumfries & Galloway by Urien, but more likely it was the 'end of the beginning' due to its location. For in the years after the battle Urien is purported to have fought a series of battles from the Hollywood Stones in Dumfries (aka; The Twelve Apostles) to the 'Standing Stones of Glen Terra' (modern day Glenterrow, about five miles north of Dunragit as the crow flies.).

How or what the issue was at Glen Terra remains shrouded in obscurity. The ruling class of Rheged putting down a local uprising by the descendants of the Novante? The standing stones, of which barely a trace now remain, probably marked the main foot-track across the swampy moorland which then covered a large part of the upland area. Perhaps a truce-meeting went awry? Or it may have been its proxinity to both the old Roman road hugging the foot of the hills and the nearby fort which decided the battle-site. Either way, Urien and Owein were victorious after commencing the battle "...with the dawn". It seems highly unlikely that Urien and his main lieutenants would not have availed themselves of the facilities (such as they may be refered to!) at a nearby fort after such a victory - perhaps the final one in his campaign. To reach it, they would have crossed the land now covered by Glenwhan Gardens.

It is a strange possibility. Strange, because these battles were listed by Urien's bard - Taliesin, a figure of as much fabulous fantasy as tangible reality himself. Whether this be the Taliesin is unknown, but he was certainly the Taliesin who wrote (or created) the peons of praise, and eventually mourning, for Urien* and Owein. And consider also who else might have been present at the victory celebration - did the prince who resided at modern day Mote of Mark accompany Urien? In all probability he would have, for excavations at Mote of Mark have uncovered Merovingian glassware and other upmarket artifacts and traces to suggest a sophisticated presence. If 'Mark' were present, did he and Urien collect, along the way, other local loyalists? Perhaps the mighty Galwegian warrior Brychan's offspring were also in support of Urien, for Brychan's daughters had been carefully married into just about every branch of the Rheged nobility then extant? (The girls were, according to legend, educated at a seminary for young ladies at Kirkmadrine.) Urien's mother, Nefyn, was one of these daughters, so Urien might have had local support from his Mother's kinfolk in the area - his cousins; Domingart, Bran, Echoid Find and...Arthur.

Urien, Owein, Peredur, Gwrgi, Merlin, Mark, Arthur, Bran, Morgan Le Fey. Names out of history and legend, fact and fantasy, myth and reality. Where they here? In Glenwhan? We shall never know. But, as you walk through these gardens, it is easy to believe that somewhat of the magic still remains. That here is a place where mythical personalities once travelled. And that there are still, even now, enchanted gardens....

On a more definitive note, just for balance of course, we do know that a massive 'Woodhenge' type structure once stood on the plain below the gardens. Some 300 metres in diameter, and constructed of Oak posts, each about a metre across, it was erected around the same time, or slightly earlier, than Stonehenge. What its purpose was we shall never know, unless it is that place listed on Ptolemy's map of Britain as 'Rerigonium' or 'Seat of the High King' as we would know it? The Romans built a road from Loch Ryan to Carlisle (?), and it may be they are the ones who first built anything at Dunragit, a signal station perhaps, later utilised by the local Novante after the Romans 'left' circa 410-20ad. After being held by occupants loyal, if only at least nominally, to Rheged, it appears to have been abandoned after the Northumbrian takeover of the final western most parts of Rheged  - some of it by fire and sword, but much of it suprisingly peacefully. This may have been due to Urien's great neice Rienmelth's marriage to Osuiu of Northumbria, merging semi-legendary blood with more mundane blue blood - their son was Alchfrith. The rest, as they say, is history....

*Ac yny vallwyf hen ym dygyn aghen. Ny bydif ymdirwen na molwyf Vryen.
"Until I am old and ailing, in the dire necessity of death, I shall not be in my element if I do not praise Urien."
~ Llyfr Taliesin

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