The Grail, Jesus's children and Stone Age lasers: Scotland's madder myths

SCOTLAND is a wonderful and unique place. Its majestic mountains and dramatic seascapes thrill the heart and capture the imagination.

Mystic moments

No wacky theory is complete without mentioning the Templars.

Ditto Rosslyn Chapel.

Even the crucial document of Scottish nationhood, the Declaration of Arbroath draws on myth.However, the imaginations of some have attributed unique wonders to this land that those in the mainstream would shy away from.

For instance, did you know that Jesus Christ was Scottish? And Pontius Pilate? And King Arthur?

And, no, I am not referring to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which has its denouement in Scotland.

We Scots are not a boastful race. Reticence is spoon-fed to Scottish bairns along with their morning porridge. Which makes our propensity to make outrageous claims for our country somewhat bewildering.

So let's take a look at some of the more fantastic suggestions. You have two choices: Take everything you read with a pinch of salt (on second thought, make it a barrel) or suspend disbelief and go with it.

(All these theories have been graded with a probability factor between one and ten. This is purely an invention of scotsman.com, and we welcome any comments from people who disagree with our rating.)

King Arthur was a Scot

King Arthur (if he existed and wasn’t a composite of every heroic early medieval Lord), traditionally hailed from Cornwall or Wales. Didn’t he? Well, perhaps not. It could be that England’s saviour, who lies sleeping ready to wake in times of need, was actually a Scot.

Decide for yourself, with a look at the evidence:

Placenames: From Edinburgh's Arthur’s Seat and Stirling's Round Table to Falkirk’s Arthur’s Oven, hills, wells, waterfalls and valleys are named after Arthur. This must surely point to his being a Scot?

Battles: Nennius, the 8th century historian, called Arthur the "Duke of Battles", and specifies 13 fights where he appeared. There is a body of evidence that suggests that these battles took place in the north. The only properly documented battle occurred in Celidon, a Scottish wood.

Supporting cast: Sir Lancelot may have been a Pictish warrior, the son of the King of the Lothians. Equally, Gareth and Gawain, Knights of the Round Table, could have been the sons of the Earl of Orkney. Perthshire has a number of connections to Guinevere, or Guanhamara, a Pictish Queen.

Language: In the early part of the first millennium after the birth of Christ (of which more later), Edinburgh and the borders spoke P-Celtic, like the Welsh, not Q-Celtic like the Celts in the north of Scotland. Some scholars believe that in the 8th and 9th century several P-Celtic tribes from the Scottish Lowlands and Strathclyde migrated to Wales taking their memories of Arthur with them.

Merlin: The Borders are rife with Merlin placenames and mythology. There is a historical reference which places Myrddin (Merlin) in a 6th century battle – Arderydd, or Arthuret near the Solway Firth in 573 AD. It is implied that Merlin "went mad" from losing family and friends so fled to the forest. He lived there for the rest of his life, only emerging to prophesise and advise Arthur.

scotsman.com rating

3/10 - Well, gosh, it seems a bit circumstantial. Where's the body? We remain unconvinced on Arthur, bowing to the greater amount of stories in Welsh, but we concede there may be a chance that Merlin was a Scot.

The Stone of Destiny, aka Jacob's Pillow, is Scottish

Genesis, chapter 28, relates that Jacob rested his head on a stone and dreamt of the glory of God. When he woke he said "this stone, which I have set up as a sacred pillar shall be a house of God". This is the origin of Jacob's Pillow, or Jacob's Pillar.

There is a strong oral tradition in Irish that tells of the meeting between Moses and Gathelus, a Greek architect and husband of Scota, one of Pharaoh's daughters. Nennius (yes, him again…) writes of Gathelus's 42-year journey from Egypt to Ireland, bringing the stone with him. (A journey described in the Declaration of Arbroath.)