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From Bullfinches Mythology
SIR MODRED was left ruler of all England, and he caused letters to be written,
as if from beyond sea, that King Arthur was slain in battle. So he called
a Parliament, and made himself be crowned king; and he took the queen,
Guenever, and said plainly that he would wed her, but she escaped from
him, and took refuge in the Tower of London. And Sir Modred went and laid
siege about the Tower of London, and made great assaults thereat, but all
might not avail him. Then came word to Sir Modred that King Arthur had
raised the siege of Sir Launcelot, and was coming home. Then Sir Modred
summoned all the barony of the land; and much people drew unto Sir Modred,
and said they would abide with him for better and for worse; and he drew
a great host to Dover, for there he heard say that King Arthur would arrive.
And as Sir Modred was at Dover with his host, came King Arthur, with
a great number of ships and galleys, and there was Sir Modred awaiting
upon the landing. Then was there launching of great boats and small, full
of noble men of arms, and there was much slaughter, of gentle knights on
both parts. But King Arthur was so courageous, there might no manner of
knights prevent him to land, and his knights fiercely followed him; and
so they landed, and put Sir Modred aback so that he fled, and all his people.
And when the battle was done, King Arthur commanded to bury his people
that were dead. And then was noble Sir Gawain found, in a great boat, lying
more than half dead. And King Arthur went to him, and made sorrow out of
measure. "Mine uncle," said Sir Gawain, "know thou well my death-day is
come, and all is through mine own hastiness and wilfulness, for I am smitten
upon the old wound which Sir Launcelot gave me, of the which I feel I must
die. And had Sir Launcelot been with you as of old, this war had never
begun, and of all this I am the cause." Then Sir Gawain prayed the king
to send for Sir Launcelot, and to cherish him above all other knights.
And so, at the hour of noon, Sir Gawain yielded up his spirit, and then
the king bade inter him in a chapel within Dover Castle; and there all
men may see the skull of him, and the same wound is seen that Sir Launcelot
gave him in battle.
In 55 BC, Julius Caesar landed near here with a force of about 6000
men, in the first wave of Roman Invasion. Later, under the Romans, the
walled town of Dover was called Dubris, and was the beginning point on
the important Roman road, known as Watling Street. At the highest point
of Dover Castle, adjacent to an Anglo-Saxon church, is a Roman lighthouse
or pharos. Built in the second half of the first century AD, it was one
of two on either side of the harbor. Originally an octagonal tower with
eight stepped stages, of which only four survive, a fire at the top would
have served as a beacon to guide ships across the Channel.
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