7. That he should in all honourable actions adventure his person, yet with respect to justice and truth, and in all enterprises proceed sincerely, never failing to use the utmost force of body and labour of mind.
8. That after the attaining of an enterprise he should cause it to be recorded, to the end the fame of the fact might ever live to the eternal honour and renown of the noble order.
9. That if any complaint were made at the court of this mighty king, of perjury and oppression, then some knight of the order whom the King should appoint ought to revenge the same.
10. That if any knight of foreign nation did come into the Court, with desire to challenge or make any show of prowess (were he single or accompanied) those knights ought to be ready in arms to make answer.
11. That if any lady, gentleman, or widow, or maid, or other oppressed person did present a petition declaring that they were or had been in this or other nations injured or offered dishonour, that they should be graciously heard, and without delay one or more knights should be sent to take revenge.
12. That every knight should be willing to inform young princes, lords, and gentlemen, in the orders and exercises of arms, thereby not only to avoid idleness, but also to increase the honour of knighthood and chivalry. Such were the rules which, combined with the disturbed state of the country, caused that—
“Every morning brought a noble chance,
And every chance brought out a noble knight.”
It may, as I have before stated, have been probably the taking of Winchester by the Saxon Cerdic in 515 which caused Arthur to concentrate his forces in the Western Peninsula. Cameliard was now his, in right of his wife. He determined therefore to fortify his kingdom, and at the three extreme points to place strong castles, which he strengthened by every available means. These points were Caerleon on Usk, which guarded the Sabrina or estuary of the Severn, and St. Michael’s Mount at the extreme south-west; but the post of danger and therefore of honour was held by Camelot. He pitched with an experienced eye upon this great Belgic fortress, situated in one of the most fertile and picturesque parts of South Somerset, as the place where the great stand must be made. The shape of the mound is irregular, neither quite round nor square; part of it was hewed from the solid rock, its circumference is about a mile. Four deep ditches in concentric rings with as many ramparts of earth and stones form the primary defences: these are further strengthened by a series of zig-zag terraces on inclined planes, so constructed that the besieged, though he retreated from his assailants, could still make a desperate resistance. On the top of this fortified mount is a moated mount or Prætorium, enclosing a space of at least twenty acres; and here Merlin raised the enchanted Palace of Camelot. The spot must have been well-nigh impregnable in days when artillery was unknown.
Here, then, was Arthur’s great rallying point; hither the persecuted fled for protection, the wronged for redress, the patriotic to assist in the defence of their county. Every possibility of defence and adornment was lavished here; and here were held, specially at Whitsuntide, chapters of the order of the Knights of the Round Table. Here, in intervals of peace, were held the mimic games of warfare, and from here, after a time of repose, they issued forth again and again against the heathen hordes. Within the Greater Triangle was a smaller and more sacred one; its three points were the Tor Hill at Glastonbury, the Mons Acutus or Montacute, and Camelot itself; lines drawn from point to point made an equilateral triangle, each side being twelve miles in length. This twice, trebly guarded territory was defended by saintly shield from invasion, and from any noxious or venomous creature.
It was the year 520 A.D. Exactly one hundred years had elapsed since the last Roman soldiers left Britain a prey to their enemies. But what a different Britain it was now. It is true the enemy were in the land, and held the greater part of it, but the Britons were no longer helpless or hopeless. From the towers of Camelot Arthur led forth an army full of confidence and eager for the fray; he led them beyond the bounds of Gladerhaf, for he would not that this beloved land should be soiled by the heathen’s tread. At Mount Badon, in Wiltshire, was fought the great battle in which Arthur was victorious, and the onward march of the Saxons was stayed for the time. At Camelot watch and ward was kept; from its summit could be seen the Mendip Hills, in the West of Somerset, the Blackdown summits in Devonshire, and the Bristol Channel on the south. Twelve great battles did Arthur fight; the eleventh is said by some to have been fought near Camelot, but I hold rather that the traces of a great conflict, which have been discovered there, took place in more recent times, when the Saxon dominion was extending itself still further to the West. For Gladerhaf remained British till after Arthur’s time, nor did Glastonbury pass under the Saxon sway till after they too had embraced Christianity, and conquerors and conquered knelt together at the same shrine.