Scotland’s Early Dark Age heritage (between the departure of the Romans and the arrival of St Columba) is one of the most dynamic and dramatic periods yet it is much neglected in our history books where two hundred years often merit little more than a couple of paragraphs.
The Merlin Trail combines history, archaeology, etymology, topography, botany and folk memory to reveal a forgotten world. The Trail presents the evidence and challenges you to play detective. What is fact and what is legend? Follow the clues. Examine the sites. Arrive at your own conclusions. Discover the world of Merlin – a Scottish landscape of dense forests and subsistence farming, of powerful clans ruled by warriors and warlords, where itinerant druids and traditional gods are being challenged by new beliefs and international travel and trade is opening contact with distant places and peoples.