Smithsonian edits V3

MYSTERIES, MYTHS AND LEGENDS

An aerial exploration of Britain and Ireland
for the SMITHSONIAN
Written by John Michael Phillips
Tapes
V/O
01:00:10
Lough Arrow
Giants Causeway
Glastonbury Tor
Croagh Patrick
Ring of Brodgar
Silbury Hill

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97
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248
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250
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89

Today were going on a magical mystery

tour; visiting a Scottish cave which
makes its own music, the castle where St
Patrick made the Shamrock the symbol of
Ireland, the wonders of Stonehenge
taking in the legend of King Arthur and
his knights along the way.
Mystic and sacred places, hallowed
centuries of worship, are in every corner
of the island realms of Britain and Ireland.
Whether a magnificent cathedral or a
remote mountain top, these dramatic
sights have inspired man for generations.
Many can only be properly seen from
above formerly the province of the birds
and Gods. Now we can look down,
seeing the familiar from a fresh
viewpoint, firing the imagination.

01:01:12
Opening Titles

Title sequence
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Uffington White Horse

01:01:22

V/O
Carved into the white chalk hills of
Southern England is a giant figure. This
astonishingly graphic outline is said by
some to go back 3000 years. Other
theories date it to King Alfreds victory
over the Danes 1,200 years ago
V/O
What is it? Who carved it into this chalk
hillside, and why? It looks like a horse

but legend tells us it may be the dragon

slain by St George, patron Saint of
England.
Whatever it is, its been
lovingly cared for down the years.
V/O
One mystery remains. The whole figure
can only be seen from the air. So how did
its creators manage to lay it out so
perfectly?
V/O
The British Isles are rich in such enigmas.
01:02:25
01:02:31
Silbury Hill

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V/O
Another puzzle is this conical mound,
Silbury Hill in Southern Englland. Its
entirely man-made. 130 feet high, it
contains twelve million cubic feet of
chalk. Its estimated that 700 labourers
toiled for ten years to raise it; all this
2,300 years before the Christian era.
V/O
And for what? It must have been of
prime importance to attract such a mighty
effort, but despite intense research, no one
knows.
Better perhaps to credit the
ancient legend that it shelters the body of
an ancient King, sat upright on his battlehorse, the pair of them encased in Golden
armour.

01:03:31
Avebury. The Avenue.

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The circle
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01:03:56

V/O
Silbury formed part of a bigger scheme
the Avebury sacred precinct. Here a long
avenue of standing stones formed a
processional way to a huge earthwork,
ending with a stone circle of enormous
size. The riddle of who used it, and how,
has never been solved.
V/O
These mysterious stones, suggestive of
pagan rites, worried the Catholic church,
which felt might encourage worship of
primitive Gods - and had them felled in
the middle ages. One member of the
demolition crew died when one of these
monsters fell on him, and his body -

together with the tools of his barbersurgeon trade - was found some five
hundred years later.
V/O
Avebury, a place imbued with spiritual
energy, has been sacred for many
thousands of years.
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V/O
Even older, and approached down the
long avenue of standing stones from
Avebury, is this ancient burial site, West
Kennet Long Barrow.

01:04:38
West Kennet long barrow

V/O
For some unknown reason, it was sealed
by bronze age hands 1000 years after
completion, in order to keep tomb-raiders
out, or maybe the spirits of the departed
in. This is the largest burial chamber of its
kind in Europe. Older than the pyramids,
its the site of 46 burials.

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Maiden Castle
01:05:35

V/O
A visitor on midsummer day at dusk may
catch sight of a ghostly robed figure
entering the tomb, with his red-eared dog;
no-one knows who he is.
V/O
Early inhabitants of these islands built on
a heroic scale. This is Maiden Castle, a
hill fort in Dorset. It is known what this
great earthwork was for; shelter and
defence.
V/O
These ditches and high banks some
reach thirty feet were formidable
obstacles for any attempting to storm the
citadel.

01:05:56

V/O
The Roman occupying forces in turn built
a fort and two temples inside the
earthworks, in about 400 AD. One temple
was dedicated to Minerva, the other to
Diana, the huntress.

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Landscape approaching
Penshurst Place or even around
the Old Man of W

V/O
This landscape, now tamed and
was once a dark forest and home
to early man, but to his prey.
variety of animals; wolf, boar,
and deer.

farmed,
not just
A huge
wildcat

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V/O
Hunters too roamed these gentle hills.
Local legend has it that two giants fought
a battle here; the loser lay where he fell,
club in hand. The people carved his
outline in the turf as a reminder of the
mighty ones who went before, and called
him the Long Man of Wilmington.

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V/O
A figure with more striking attributes
commands the hillside above Cerne
Abbas in Dorset.
He is believed,
unsurprisingly, to be a potent fertility
symbol. Couples are still said to
consummate their union on this hillside.

01:06:39
Long man of Wilmington

Cerne Abbas Giant

V/O
But, like all hill figures the Cerne Abbas
Giant must have been weeded, recut, and,
just possibly, enhanced over the centuries.

01:07:31

V/O
Some mysterious sites are visible for
miles. Castlerigg Stone circle stands high
on a Cumbrian hill top in north-west
England. These rough-hewn boulders
were heaved upright 5000 years ago.
Visitors today come to marvel that they
still stand.

Castlerigg stone circle

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Pull out from people
01:08:10

Swinside Stone Circle

V/O
Such structures are known to have had
astronomical significance, forecasting the
passage of the seasons; the phases of the
sun and moon. They seem to have served
some religious function as well.
V/O
A few miles away is Swinside stone
circle, also intact, and smaller than
Castlerigg. The effort required to raise

such a monument testifies to the

importance of these sites to early
communities.
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V/O
None show this better than one of the
most mystifying prehistoric sites in the
world -Stonehenge.

Stonehenge
01:08:56
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V/O
Standing stark on an undulating plain near
Salisbury in Southern England is this
amazing survivor from a distant age, and
its one the most visited places in Britain.
V/O
Its amazing that it stands at all. Its
amazing in its pinpoint alignment with the
midsummer and midwinter solstices. It
shares with the Pyramids in Egypt its
astrological precision, and was built at
roughly the same date, 5500 years ago.
V/O
Thousands of midsummer suns have risen
since Stonehenge was created.... but who
built it is not known. Its now claimed by
the druids, who worshipped the Gods of
nature - but they first appeared three
thousand years after this sacred site was
chosen.

01:09:46

V/O
.and most amazing of all; 80 bluestones
that form part of the structure came from
these mountains in West Wales. They
were brought a distance of 240 miles, by
sea and land. Their weight? Over four
tons each. Imagine the effort to bring
them all that way to Salisbury Plain, in an
age before the wheel.

Preselli Hills, Wales

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01:10:34

V/O
We know many facts about Stonehenge.
The source of the stones, their age, their
alignment. What we dont know is; why
was it built? By whom? And why here?
V/O
It isnt necessary to look back to pre-

Sutton Hoo

Viking ship
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history to find ourselves facing puzzles.

In 1939, in the flat eastern county of
Suffolk, excavations were under way at a
Viking site called Sutton Hoo. Some
circular mounds from the sixth and
seventh century AD had been opened and
nothing of great interest found; that all
changed when the largest revealed its
secret; an entire Anglo-Saxon ship, 90
feet long, with places for twenty oars a
side. It was the burial place of a King. A
contemporary chronicler tells us:
V/O2
They laid the beloved chieftain on the
ships bosom, glorious by the mast.
never have I heard a vessel more fairly
fitted with war-weapons and battleraiment, swords and coats of mail. On his
breast lay a host of treasures.

01:11:31

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Bartlow Hills Tumuli

01:12:05

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V/O
Everything a mighty warrior might need
to ease his passage into the after-world.
But heres the mystery no trace of
human remains was ever found.
V/O
Not so in these mysterious earth mounds,
not far from Sutton Hoo, and from a few
hundred years earlier during the Roman
occupation of Britain. Their important
dead were buried in tumuli, or burial
mounds. These are known as the Bartlow
Hills Tumuli, and are the largest examples
in Western Europe.
V/O
Originally there were many more in two
parallel rows. The remaining few that
survived the centuries were excavated in
the 19th century and inside were found the
cremated remains of once important
Romans, as well as a wealth of burial
objects.

Roman Baths
01:12:50

V/O
The place names of the original celtic
inhabitants were sometimes taken up by
the Romans; this town was named after

the water Goddess Sulis; it was much

later that it got its modern name; Bath.
89?

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V/O
It was called because there is only one
natural hot spring in the whole of the
British Isles, and its here. Over 2,000
years ago when the Romans arrived they
liked what they found.
V/O
The waters from this spring had curative
properties, and the Romans being devoted
to hygiene, soon constructed baths over
the source of the healing waters.

Pump Room, Royal Crescent,

The Circus etc
01:13:24
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West Wycombe House and Hill

01:13:57
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265?

V/O
Bath, now a beautiful 18th century city in
Somerset, is a World Heritage Site. The
spring flows unabated today, and was the
cause of Baths great flowering in the
18th century, when the city became the
centre for fashionable living. Sweeping
rows of elegant houses were built for the
gentry.
V/O
Also in the 18th century, Sir Francis
Dashwood, who liked secret societies,
decided to build himself a special club for
his friends here at West Wycombe, not far
from London. He dug into the hill
opposite his house and built underground,
beneath his familys mausoleum. A
wealthy man, he created the Hellfire
Club. Its motto was do as thou wilt, and
myths and legends grew about what the
members got up to.
V/O
The club was a mock-religious order of
high living aristocrats who held their
meetings in these caves. The gentlemen
worshipped Bacchus and Venus, both
Gods of fleshly pleasures.

Tintagel Castle

V/O
One of Britains greatest legends is that of
King Arthur, and in the west, where
Cornwall tapers into the Atlantic, sits a

01:14:52

place of magic Tintagel Castle. It is one

of the many places associated with the
mythical Camelot.

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V/O
Legend has it that it was at Tintagel that
the Wizard Merlin tricked the beautiful
Igerne into believing the man who came
to her bed one distant night was her
husband, the King of Cornwall. But it was
Uther Pendragon, and the child he
fathered was Arthur, the once and future
King of these lands. Some still wait today
for his return.
V/O
With this tale of Arthur began the most
enduring of legends; that of the HeroKing, born to rescue his nation. Sadly,
there is no evidence that Arthur ever
existed or that he didnt.

01:15:40

V/O
Coming on Tintagel perched high on its
rocky cliffs, its easy to believe in gallant
knights, the ideals of chivalry, and the
noble task of seeking the Holy Grail.
V/O
Places like Tintagel Castle, considered to
possess special spiritual properties, were
used and re-used.
V/O
Across these lands beliefs in the early
Gods were ingrained in people and
landscape. When St Augustine was sent to
bring the word of God to these islands, he
was instructed that images of heathen
deities should be destroyed, but ancient
places of worship respected, and where
possible, converted for use by the new
religion.

01:16:18
Old Sarum

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Many village churches across England

were built on ancient Pagan sites, heavily
charged with mystical significance.Old
Sarum evolved from a pagan Iron Age
fort to an Anglo-Saxon shrine, then
cathedral; the outlines of its history can be

read on the ground.

01:16:56
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Salisbury cathedral

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Bradwell-on- Sea

V/O
Eventually Sarum outgrew its site; some
said the place was inhbited by spirits. It
moved south to become Salisbury. And
taking centre stage was the new cathedral,
with the tallest spire in the country, rising
majestically above the surrounding
landscape.
V/O
But not all early churches were on so
grand a scale. Here in Essex, the stones
from a nearby Roman fort were reused by
a local Anglo-Saxon youth, trained by the
monks of Lindisfarne, to raise a modest
monastery
V/O
The building served as a barn for many
centuries. Today Bradwell is once again a
place of worship, celebrating both
Christian and Celtic rites, rooted in the
concept of worship of nature.

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Fountains Abbey
01:18:12

V/O
Christianity spread across Anglo-Saxon
Britain, leaving a heritage of some of the
most atmospheric buildings in the land.
When Fountains Abbey was first founded,
it was in a wilderness.

V/O
Why would anyone build in such a
desolate spot? It was founded by monks
from York who felt their life in a great
city was too easy, involving too few
sacrifices; they sought and found the
hard life. Those early pioneers had to
cook and eat elm leaves to survive.
One day, having given their last meal to a
passing beggar, they were rewarded by
the unexpected arrival of a cart bearing a
great store of food. From then on their
troubles diminished, and this great

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monastic complex rose from the ground.

V/O
Eventually Fountains Abbey
600,000 acres of Yorkshire.

01:18:59

owned

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V/O
The faith of mediaeval man raised
gigantic buildings. Canterbury Cathedral
saw in 1170 the murder of Thomas a
Becket, an outspoken priest who lost
favour with his monarch, Henry III, who
had Becket murdered in the cathedral.
Three short years later Becket was
canonised.
With Saint Thomas,
Canterbury had a martyr, and its future
was assured as thousands of pilgrims
made their way to his shrine.

Canterbury Cathedral

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V/O
Canterbury with its Royal connections
and pilgrims - survived and prospered.
Few others did.
V/O
Tintern Abbey, in a remote spot on the
River Wye in Wales, was pulled down to
leave a romantic ruin, inspiration for
artists, poets and tourists.

01:20:05

Tintern Abbey
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V/O
Here, in these glorious surroundings,
monks of the Cistercian order kept their
vows of silence, poverty and chastity,
while with prayer and physical labour
they raised this great monument.
V/O
At the other end of the comfort spectrum Castle Acre, whose monks lived in such
luxury that the Priors house was more
like a mansion than a monastic dwelling.
Used to dining well, the monks lacked the
discipline shown by their brethren in the
stricter orders.

01:20:47
Castle Acre Priory

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V/O
All over England are the remains of
ancient monasteries that lie abandoned in
the landscape. Even in their ruined state

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they possess a mysterious power over

those that seek them out.
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Montage
V/O
Not all the myths and legends surrounding
these great religious buildings are ancient.
Ely Cathedral, known as The Ship of the
fens rises dramatically from farmland
near Cambridge, and has its own modern
mythology.

Ely Cathedral

01:21:28
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V/O
This flat country is suited to the building
of airfields, and many were built in world
war two. The cathedrals lantern served
as a landmark for American and British
bomber pilots returning from across the
North Sea after raids over Germany.
V/O
It achieved mythic status; a symbol of
homecoming and safety.
V/O
Many miles to the North lies the island
from which Christianity was brought to
Northeast England. Called Lindisfarne,
its cut off from the mainland twice daily
by the tide. It became famous throughout
Europe as a centre of art and learning in
about 700 AD.

01:22:15
Islands off West Coast of
Scotland with monastic chant

When was it a center of art and

learning?

01:22:45

V/O
Then came the first Viking invasion from
Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
tells us;
V/O 2
In the year 793 foreboding omens came
over the land of Northumbria there were
whirlwinds, and fiery dragons were seen
in the sky. In that same year, the ravaging
of heathen men destroyed Gods church at
Lindisfarne.
V/O
That early writer made no distinction
between dragons, Vikings, and God. In

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the mediaeval mind all were equally real.

Iona

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01:23:38
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V/O
Before Christianity arrived in England it
had already been established in Scotland.
Off the West coast are some of the oldest
rocks on earth, and they form many of the
islands.
V/O
This is Iona, where Irish-born St Columba
established a community. He brought
from Ireland twelve disciples, and the
monastery they founded became the most
revered in Scotland. He himself became
the countrys patron Saint.
V/O
Kings were brought here for burial;
Scottish, Irish, and Scandinavian. The
spiritual heartbeat is felt by all who visit
the island, including the 18th century
writer Dr Johnson:
V/O2
The man is little to be envied whose
piety will not grow warmer among the
ruins of Iona. (Dr. Johnson)

Ring of Brodgar
01:24:07

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V/O
The more remote parts of the north had
much earlier settlers. This giant stone
circle, The Ring of Brodgar, is over 300
feet in diameter, and forms part of a
sacred landscape in the Orkney islands,
which lie off the northern coast of
Scotland.
V/O
This and a neighbouring circle were
known for centuries as the temples of the
Sun and Moon giving a clue to their
purpose in these northerly latitudes, where
light and warmth are vital to survival.

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01:24:24

V/O
So who were the first to brave this savage
climate? Perhaps those who lived here, at
Skara Brae on the west coast of Orkney.
This extraordinary village is the most
complete neolithic settlement in Europe,
Consisting of eight living units, it dates
from about 3100 years BC. The houses
were built inside mounds of ancient
rubbish which protected and insulated
them.
V/O
The Orkneys have few trees, so roofs
were formed of whalebone and turf.
Inside their cupboards, shelves and
comfortable seats all made of stone. This
must be some of the earliest built-in
furniture.

01:24:58

V/O
Skara Brae was abandoned about 4,500
years ago, possibly maybe due to a
worsening climate. The true reason
remains a mystery locked in these narrow
lanes.
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Maes Howe

V/O
Still in the Orkneys is Maes Howe, a
burial chamber under a domed roof.
Stone age man left little for us to discover
here, but later visitors did. Inside the
tomb a party of Vikings who sought
shelter from a violent snowstorm
sometime in the twelfth century left
graffiti on the walls; one was called Leif.
V/O2
Lif, the Earls cook, carved these runes.
V/O2
From the Earls party, two of the men
went mad.

01:26:05

V/O2
Ingegirth is the most beautiful of all
women.
V/O
How little has changed in a thousand

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years.
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Fingals cave

V/O
Of all the magical places in Scotland,
none equals Fingals Cave. On the Island
of Staffa, this amazing natural structure
stands on pillars of volcanic basalt rock,
unscathed by the eternal pounding waves.
V/O
And the sound of those waves creates
echoes inside the cavern its Gaelic name
means cave of melody.
V/O
It writes its own symphony daily, and in
the 19th century it was translated into
music
by
the
composer
Felix
Mendelssohn in his Hebrides Overture.

01:26:51

V/O
The only residents on the island are sheep;
lets hope they enjoy the melody of the
waves.
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Approach across sea towards
Ireland (if we have it)

V/O
From Fingals cave a band of basalt rock
runs under the sea.
V/O
It surfaces in Ireland.

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The Giants Causeway

01:27:36

V/O
The land of myth and legend and giants.
Finn MacCool was so huge it was said he
could hide an army in the hollow of his
tooth.
V/O
The Giants Causeway is said to have
been built by the giant Finn McCool so he
might cross to Scotland to fight a rival.
During the journey, Finn fell asleep; his
waiting enemy came over to seek him out.
Finns wife, Oonagh, fearing for her
husband, threw a blanket over him, telling
the enemy that Finns baby son was under
the covers. The Scottish giant, alarmed
at the size of the child, fled home, ripping
up the causeway as he went.

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Landscape back lit River

Kilkenny
Sligo
Arran Islands
Donegal
Slieve League Cliffs

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Lough Neagh
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01:28:44

Isle of Man high and wide

Ben Bulben

V/O
This is Ireland, land of Kings, Saints,
Giants and the gift of the Gab. An
enchanted island where every hill and
valley has a story.
V/O
And lakes too. This is Lough Neagh in
Northern Ireland. It was formed, so they
say, when the same Finn McCool scooped
up a fistful of earth to fling at Scotland.

V/O
Finn McCool had a large hand; this is the
third largest freshwater lake in Europe.
V/O
This is one of the most beautiful and
striking mountains in Ireland Ben
Bulben in County Sligo. In the
churchyard below the great Irish poet
W.B. Yeats is buried. And, of course, the
mountain itself is surrounded by myths
and legend - including Finn McCool again

01:29:18

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01:30:00

Short montage of Irish landscape

V/O
He missed, and the earth formed the Isle
of Man half way between.
248

Hill of Tara

V/O
Luckily he left 40,000 basalt columns for
later generations to marvel at. In fact they
were formed about 60 million years ago,
fracturing as lava cooled following
intense volcanic activity.

V/O
The mountain is said to be home to a
group of warriors and one of them,
Diarmund, was tricked by Finn into
fighting an enchanted boar who killed the
warrior with its golden tusk
V/O
Alongside legendary giants, ancient
monarchs were ruling their kingdoms, and
the ancient site of the Hill of Tara is one

16

of the most important places in Irish folklore. In the centre of a ring-fort sits the
Stone of Destiny. Here Irish Kings were
crowned the stone was said to give a
fearsome roar when touched by the
rightful claimant.
V/O
Artists, musicians and storytellers
gathered to pay court; sagas of mighty
warriors were told in the wooden palaces
that once covered the hill.
Lough Arrow Passage Tombs
01:30:42
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V/O
This place is called the Speckled
mountain in Irish and sits next to Lough
Arrow in the West of Ireland. The quartz
rock makes it glint and sparkle in the sun.
In 1911 archaeologists found Neolithic
passage tombs undisturbed since they
were sealed.
V/O2
Inside was everything, just as the last
bronze age man had left it, thousands of
years before. There were beads, tools
made from the antlers of red deer,
fragments of pottery and in recesses in
the wall, the bones of young children.

01:31:10

Beaghmore Stone Circles

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Newgrange burial chambers

01:32:11
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V/O
Discoveries are still made. In 1940, some
labourers cutting peat in County Tyrone
unexpectedly struck rock.
Four years
later they had uncovered 1269 stones,
forming many circles and avenues. Three
of the rows roughly align with sunrise at
the winter solstice; others with the rising
of the moon.
V/O
Theres nothing random about the site of
Newgrange in County Meath on the East
coast. Here, at dawn on the shortest day
of the year, the rising suns rays light the
interior passage for just seventeen
minutes; theres no possibility of this
being by chance.
V/O

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Was this a burial chamber, a temple to

worship the sun, or did it have another,
practical purpose?
V/O
Whatever its use, five thousand years ago
its builders had detailed knowledge of the
heavens.
Croagh Patrick

V/O
If one mans name sums up the spirit of
Ireland it must be St. Patrick.

01:32:55
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V/O
This is the Holiest place in all Ireland.
Croagh Patrick St Patricks mountain in County Mayo, standing above Clew
bay.
V/O
It was here that Irelands patron Saint,
who lived from about 375 to 460 AD, is
reputed to have spent forty solitary days
and nights, echoing Jesus time in the
wilderness.
During this self-imposed
exile he is said to have banished from the
island all manner of venomous and
abhorrent creatures. And today there are
no native snakes in Ireland.

01:33:17

V/O
From here St Patrick routed the pagan
Gods, and put Christianity firmly in their
place.
Pilgrims

V/O
Today its a place of pilgrimage; one
million believers climb to the summit and
the small church every year, many
barefoot, some on their knees.
V/O
Connections with St Patrick can be found
all across Ireland.

Grianan Ailigh
245
01:34:19

V/O
This is the great stone castle of Grianan
Ailigh, which goes back 1,500 years, and
said to have been built by an ancient king
of Ireland.

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V/O
St Patrick was said to have visited here in
the 5th.Century. Theres a well, known as
'St. Patrick's Well' on the site. Local
legends tell of this being a holy place
from the old faith and would attribute
healing properties to the water.
V/O
Another legend gives the advice not to
whisper a secret within the walls, because
if you do, everyone will know it. This
could, perhaps, be attributed to the
acoustics of the fort.
Gallerus oratory
01:35:10

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V/O
On the windswept misty Dingle
Peninsula, far out on Irelands Atlantic
coast, stands Gallerus Oratory.
V/O
An oratory is a place of prayer. Looking
like an upturned boat, this is the oldest
intact building in Ireland. It has no roof;
the walls curve in to form a ridge.
V/O
Remarkably no mortar was used in the
construction; this is stone piled on stone,
and has stood for 1400 years. No drop of
rain finds its way inside.
V/O
There is no door; the only light enters
through the opening and a window on the
altar wall. Its said that if you can climb
through that window, your soul will be
forever cleansed of sin. But theres a catch
- the opening is only 7 inches high and 5
wide.

01:35:50

43
Devenish Monastery

V/O
Tired pilgrims would stop on their way to
visit the shrine of Saint Patrick here, at
Devenish island on Lough Erne, where
there was a monastery and sanctuary.
V/O
Remaining intact is this stone tower; a

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refuge for troubled times, of which there

were many in Ireland. Built with no stair
outside or in, it was climbed from the
interior, using ladders which were pulled
up afterwards, making a secure pace of
refuge against Viking attacks.
43
01:36:53
Rock of Cashel

V/O
Here at the Rock of Cashel is the
birthplace of one of Irelands most potent
symbols the shamrock. Theres a tower
here too. This one rises to 90 feet; it
served as both refuge and lookout for the
large monastery built on the Rock of
Cashel.

256
V/O
This was once the legendary stronghold of
the Kings of Munster, who gave the site to
the church to build this large monastery.

Again, start the story here by

teasing the mystery, not just
geography.
Knock Village
248

01:37:47

V/O
Once again St. Patrick was a visitor in
earlier times. It was here he picked a
shamrock and used its three leaves to
explain the Trinity of Father, Son and
Holy Ghost to the King. This modest
plant is, of course, still the emblem of
Ireland.
V/O
Knock is a small town in Co. Mayo,
which has one of the largest churches in
Ireland, and can seat 14,000 people. Why
should that be?
V/O
Nothing much happened here till, one day
in 1879, Margaret Beirne saw a vision of
the Virgin Mary, with St Joseph and St
John the Evangelist, on the gable wall of
the parish church. She had plenty of
witnesses, as she was with thirteen of her
friends at the time.
V/O
Miraculous cures began to occur; word
spread, and Knock became an important
centre of Pilgrimage, with the eventual
blessing of the Vatican.

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248
01:38:31
Airport
44

V/O
Now set into the stonework at the top of
the tower, it first arrived here in 1446, and
is said to have been the coronation stone
of the Kings of Ireland. Others claim it
was Jacobs pillow from the old
Testament; or the rock struck by Moses
which gushed forth water; or the pillow
taken from the deathbed of St Columba
on Iona. Take your pick.

01:39:23

01:40:03
St. Davids Cathedral and the
wild coast

V/O
Its probably the only town of 2000
residents in the world to have its own
airport, which welcomes 1.5 million
visitors a year.
V/O
If monastic silence isnt for you, this
might suit you better Blarney Castle.
Everyone knows the Irish love to talk, and
in the tower here is set the stone of
Eloquence or Blarney stone, famous
wherever the Irish lilt is heard.

Blarney Castle

Landscape of Wales
North of Abergavenny
Monmouthshire
Conway River
Pembrokeshire
Snowdonia
Cambrian hills

V/O
Knock is now the most visited pilgrim site
in Ireland.

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73
66
70
66
111

70

V/O
Its not easy to kiss the Blarney stone
you must bend over backwards to do so if
you want the Gift of the Gab.
Montage
V/O
If Ireland is the land of giants and heroes,
Wales, in the West of mainland Britain, is
the home of dragons and knights.
V/O
It has a patron Saint too, St. David. Hes
the only Welshman ever to have been
canonised, though he had to wait 500
years for the honour.
V/O
The man who founded his monastery

21

close to the later cathedral was born in a

violent storm on a cliff-top his followers
had a tough time too. Here in the wilds of
Pembrokeshire the monks had to work
their land without use of animals,
dragging the ploughs themselves. They
drank only water, their diet was bread, salt
and herbs.

Mountain railway
01:41:07

183
66

V/O
Being a saint, David is credited with
miracles. Once a large crowd gathered to
hear him preach, and those at the back
were unable to see or hear him. At that
moment a small mound rose beneath him,
giving his audience a clear view. Cynics
point out he could simply have moved up
a hill there are plenty in Wales.

66

V/O
From the summit of Mount Snowdon, the
whole of Wales, with its Celtic and
Arthurian legends, is laid before you.
V/O
Today its easy to reach. Theres a train,
saving the legs of a large number of
tourists who visit every year.

Dinas Emrys fort (we dont have

this, so we shall cheat with stuff
from around the area

A lake

V/O
A mountain of this size inspires awe. Awe
in turn gives birth to legends. One of the
most famous concerns the Celtic King
Vortigern, who determined to erect a fort
on the lower slopes, but was constantly
frustrated. Every night the work done the
previous day fell down.
V/O
His councillors advised him to find a boy
with no parents, who should be sacrificed
to appease the spirits opposing the Kings
work. The boy they found told the King
to ignore his advisers, and to dig down
beneath the fort, where he would find a
magic lake. Under this lake two dragons
were at constant war; it was their
ferocious fighting that shook down the
walls every night.

22

V/O
So they dug; it was as the boy said. No
great surprise, he was the child Merlin.
01:42:30

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225

Mountains

V/O
The red dragon of Wales and the White
dragon of England, released from the
mountain, continued their disputes
elsewhere. The red dragon finally won
and became the eternal symbol of the
Welsh.
V/O
The Arthurian legend is alive all down the
Western side of the British isles;
Snowdonia is reputed to be the final
resting-place of Arthurs sword Excalibur.
The dying King instructed one of his
knights to throw it into this lake - Llyn
Ogwen, as recounted in the great epic Le
Morte DArthur.
V/O2
Then Sir Bedivere lightly took up the
sword, and went to the waterside. And
threw the sword as far as he might: and
there came an arm above the water and
met it and so shook it thrice and
brandished, and then vanished away the
hand with the sword in the water...

Llyn Ogwen
01:43:26

87

V/O
As this mystical aerial journey draws to
an end it is the legend of King Arthur that
draws us back to England and the county
of Somerset.

Somerset Levels

V/O
This was the Isle of Avalon, surrounded
by water, which has long since drained
way, leaving the hills high and dry.
Glastonbury, famous now for its music
festival, has been a place of religious
significance for many centuries.

Glastonbury Landscape

V/O
A monastery was founded to house the
Holy Grail, and became one of the
greatest abbeys in the land. Arthur and
Guinevere are said to be buried here under

96
01:44:09

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96

the high altar.

96

V/O
England indeed the earth is supposedly
crisscrossed with bands of invisible force,
called Ley Lines. These invisible paths of
magnetic force, meet at this point on top
of Glastonbury Tor near this tower.

Glastonbury Abbey

Glastonbury Tor

V/O
Long before the legend of Arthur arose,
this had long been a haunting and haunted
location. The Celts thought here was the
entrance to the underworld, and many
local people still avoid the area at night. It
cant be a coincidence can it?

01:45:04

V/O
Ireland has its saints and giants; Wales its
dragons and brooding mountains. In
Glastonbury myths and tradition meet
religion and superstition.
Snowdon sunset
01:45:41
183

V/O
Modern man strives to understand and
explain everything. Perhaps its as well
that these beautiful and magical places
hold onto some of their secrets.
Credits

Closing titles