St. Ambrose and the Exhumation of Saints: The Prototype for Ambrosius and the Two Dragons of Dinas Emrys?

Double urn cremation burial

In the past, and again just recently, I've made my case for the "British" Ambrosius being but a legendary reflection of the 4th century Praetorian Prefect of Gaul of that name, perhaps fused with his much more famous son, St. Ambrose. I now have another reason for believing this last to be true, as St. Ambrose appears to play into the story of Dinas Emrys with its exhumation of the two "dragons"(originally the cremated remains of two chieftains placed in funeral urns).

For as it turns out, St. Ambrose did his own little bit of excavating of bodies.  He wrote about two such in one of his letters:

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/ambrose-letter22.asp

1. As I do not wish anything which takes place here in your absence to escape the knowledge of your holiness, you must know that we have found some bodies of holy martyrs. For after I had dedicated the basilica,1 many, as it were, with one mouth began to address me, and said: Consecrate this as you did the Roman basilica. And I answered: "Certainly I will if I find any relics of martyrs." And at once a kind of prophetic ardour seemed to enter my heart.

2. Why should I use many words? God favoured us, for even the clergy were afraid who were bidden to clear away the earth from the spot before the chancel screen of SS. Felix and Nabor. I found the fitting signs, and on bringing in some on whom hands were to be laid,2 the power of the holy martyrs became so manifest, that even whilst I was still silent, one3 was seized and thrown prostrate at the holy burial-place. We found two men of marvellous stature, such as those of ancient days. All the bones were perfect, and there was much blood. During the whole of those two days there was an enormous concourse of people. Briefly we arranged the whole in order, and as evening was now coming on transferred them to the basilica of Fausta,4 where watch was kept during the night, and some received the laying on of hands. On the following day we translated the relics to the basilica called Ambrosian.

http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/120122.htm

The miracle which was wrought at Milan when I was there, and by which a blind man was restored to sight, could come to the knowledge of many; for not only is the city a large one, but also the emperor was there at the time, and the occurrence was witnessed by an immense concourse of people that had gathered to the bodies of the martyrs Protasius and Gervasius, which had long lain concealed and unknown, but were now made known to the bishop Ambrose in a dream, and discovered by him. By virtue of these remains the darkness of that blind man was scattered, and he saw the light of day.

Paulinus in his VITA SANCTI AMBROSII mentions the same episode.

Coincidentally, the father of these two exhumed saints was named Vitalis  This is also the name of Vortigern's father.  Long ago (http://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2017/07/appendix-ii-vortigern.html) I demonstrated that Vitalis in the context of Votigern's ancestry was a Roman/Latin substitute for the Irish name Fedelmid.

ST. AMBROSE, ST. CELSUS AND UTHER PENDRAGON

Ambrose also dug up two other saints from a garden.  See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazarius_and_Celsus

Celsus has an interesting definition.  From William Whitaker's Words (http://archives.nd.edu/words.html):

cels.us              ADJ    1 1 NOM S M POS         
celsus, celsa, celsum  ADJ   [XXXAO]
high, lofty, tall; haughty; arrogant/proud; prominent, elevated; erect; noble;

As it happens Celsus exactly matches in meaning the original definition offered for Welsh uther by Professor John Koch.  For Uther is believed to be cognate with Welsh uachtar and meant 'high, lofty' (see CELTIC CULTURE: A HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA).

The mode of execution of Celsus was decapitation. Of course, one of the meanings of Welsh pen, as in Pendragon, was 'head' - as in the human head.

According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's fictional history, Uther was buried at Amesbury's Stonehenge. Amesbury was confused with Dinas Emrys in the tradition.  The former place-name was thought to mean the same thing as Dinas Emrys, i.e. the 'Fort of Ambrosius.'