The search for Scotland's 600-year-old Merlin myth in the spotlight

Those investigating the locations of the Merlin legend in the Scottish Borders have been nominated in the Current Archaeology Awards 2025.

Also on the shortlist for the Research Project of the Year honour are those who found and excavated Scotland’s first legal distillery in Speyside as part of a project led by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

The Drumelzier’s Hidden Heritage project led by the Arthur Trail Association and GUARD Archaeology, together with volunteers, local heritage groups and specialists, investigated the archaeological roots of Drumelzier’s Merlin legend, which since at least the 15th century has claimed the magician and trusted adviser to King Arthur was buried near the village.

Ronan Toolis, chief executive of GUARD Archaeology, said: “Drumelzier’s Merlin legend was assumed to have originated from a wandering medieval minstrel, who had weaved random nearby landmarks into a local version of a tale that was widely known across medieval Europe.”

Fieldwork got underway in 2022 with the results published last year. A geophysics survey revealed an archaeological feature resembling a grave near to the reputed location of Merlin’s Grave at Drumelzier.

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Excavation of Tinnis Castle, a nearby site associated with Drumelzier’s legend, found the underlying hillfort was occupied around the late sixth and early seventh centuries AD - the time when the story was set and which has the hallmarks of a lordly stronghold of the time.

Dr Toolis said: “Given how many hillforts there are in this neck of the woods, almost all of which are much earlier Iron Age settlements, it seems a remarkable coincidence that a medieval storyteller attributed this tale purely by accident to the one hillfort nearby, which dates to exactly the same time as the story is set, especially when early medieval hillforts are exceptionally rare.

“The new archaeological evidence does not prove that the local tale was true. It’s a story, not history, but it does demonstrate that the legend originated in Drumelzier itself.”

Dr Toolis said the nomination was testament to the hard work of 43 volunteers who worked on the project from across Scotland, along with the Peeblesshire Archaeological Society and the Biggar Archaeology Group. Both organisations have worked on the Merlin project for many years.

The National Museums of Scotland, the universities of Aberdeen, Glasgow, St Andrews and Stirling, and the Arthur Trail Association were also involved and helped “shed new light upon the Dark Age cultural heritage of southern Scotland”, Dr Toolis added.

Meanwhile, the Pioneering Spirit project is working to uncover the hidden history of whisky making in the Scottish landscape, from its illicit beginnings to the rise of industrial distilleries.

Foundations for the original site of The Glenlivet Distillery, at Upper Drumin, have been uncovered, including the remains of the still room where George Smith set up his first legal distillery in the courtyard of his farm in 1824. Fire pits and spirit receivers have been located.

Artefacts recovered included copper piping and offcuts, numerous drinking glasses, clay tobacco pipes and a part of an official Excise padlock.

Derek Alexander, NTS head of archaeology, said: “Over the last three years, a team of NTS archaeological volunteers and locals have undertaken around a month’s worth of excavation on the site, with illuminating results.”