SCOTLAND MAGAZINE
May 2004, pp. 74-75
Copyright © 2004, SCOTLAND MAGAZINE. All rights reserved. Reprinted with
permission. www.scotlandmag.com.
Macbeth: Bloody Tyrant or Popular King?
By Jackie Cosh
• Most of us know Shakespeare's version of Macbeth. What was the reality? Jackie Cosh
reports
In August 1606 William Shakespeare presented his new play to King James I at
Hampton Court. Macbeth, the story of a tyrant king whose ambitions lead him to
commit murder, was to become one of Shakespeare's most popular tragedies.
The name "Macbeth" was not unfamiliar but the story was. For unlike his fictional
namesake, the real Macbeth was anything but a ruthless, unpopular king.
Born around 1005, Macbeth was the son of Findlaech, chieftain of Moray.
The name Macbeth was not his surname but his given name and translates from
Gaelic as "son of life".
His mother was Donada, second daughter of King Malcolm II. His wife, known
simply as Gruoch, not Lady Macbeth, was a granddaughter of King Kenneth III. Gruoch
was the widow of Macbeth's cousin.
While Shakespeare's Duncan was a strong, wise, old man, in reality King Duncan was
probably the opposite.
According to historian Raphael Holinshead, Duncan was a weak and ineffective ruler,
probably aged about 30 when he died. Described as a spoilt and overzealous young man,
his reign was one of failed wars, with many Scottish casualties.
Macbeth was Duncan's cousin and had as good a claim to the throne as Duncan
himself. While there are conflicting stories about the events leading up to Duncan's
murder, it does appear that many in Scotland were unhappy with Duncan as king.
It was only a matter of time before someone challenged him, and this happened six
years into his reign.
After an unsuccessful invasion into Northumberland, Duncan returned to some very
unhappy lords. A revolt was inevitable, and heading this uprising was Macbeth.
Shakespeare gave Macbeth the title of Thane of Glamis, a title he could not possibly
have had, as the first thaneage did not appear until 1264. Neither did Macbeth kill
Duncan at the castle. Historians believe that Duncan was mortally wounded in battle with
Macbeth at Pitgaveny on 15th September 1040, and that he died in the nearby Elgin
castle.
Likewise, in the play the title of Thane of Cawdor was promised to Macbeth by the
witches. In fact the first Thane of Cawdor was not appointed until 1236 and Cawdor
Castle was not built until the late 14th century.
As for Banquo and Macduff, we do not know if they existed or not, as there is no
mention of them in the historical records. The three witches meanwhile, Shakespeare
took from an unreliable source. No doubt their place in the play was also influenced by
King James' obsession with the occult.
Much of Shakespeare's information came third or fourth hand, often from sources
written a few hundred years after Macbeth died. But entertainment not historical
accuracy was the main priority
Little is written about the part Gruoch played in Macbeth's decision to challenge
Duncan, but it is thought that her part was not an active one.
Unlike Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, Gruoch was not a scheming, ambitious wife, but
a kind, dutiful one who gave generously to the church. Did she commit suicide? Unlikely,
but no details of her death survive.
Macbeth's claim to the throne had to be ratified by the nobles and church officials.
No evidence survives of any dispute regarding this, so we must assume that everything
went smoothly. Perhaps he was considered the obvious man for the job.
With Duncan dead, his widow and eldest son Malcolm Canmore fled to Northumbria,
while another son Donalbane went to the Western Isles. Both were still young boys so did
not pose any immediate threat to Macbeth.
If Macbeth did worry about any payback he did not consider it an immediate threat
for it wasn't until five years later that he consolidated his triumph by slaying Duncan's
father at Dunkeld.
Macbeth was crowned High King of Scots at Scone, alongside Gruoch, his queen. He
ruled for 14 to 17 years. Historians differ on when exactly his reign ended.
Not much is known of his reign--a sign of a peaceful time.
He appears to have been a strong ruler, keeping the country stable, and safe from any
invasion, and under him North and South Scotland were united.
Many humane laws protecting women and children were passed during his reign. One
such law allowed daughters the same rights of inheritance as sons.
By 1050 Macbeth felt sufficiently safe in his position to allow him to leave the
country.
He visited Rome where he distributed gold to the poor.
But in England Malcolm Canmore was coming of age, and it was only a matter of
time before he would return for his inheritance. In 1054 supported by his kinsman Siward
of Northumbria, Malcolm brought a fleet and an army of horses to Scotland.
In July the fleet arrived at Dundee and took over the town and at dawn on July 27th on
the Feast of the Seven Sleepers, the battle began on the banks of Gowrie, west of Dundee.
It was a costly campaign on both sides but in the end Malcolm Canmore won.
A bit of confusion arises from the fact that Macbeth is recorded as having reigned
until his death in 1057, three years after the battle.
It isn't known whether he continued to reign in the north of the country, leaving
Canmore to reign in the south. Or perhaps the next three years were spent on the run.
Macbeth's death is recorded at the hands of Malcolm Canmore outside the tiny
village of Lumphanan in north-eastern Scotland on August 15th 1057.
He was buried on the holy isle of Iona, alongside all previous lawful Scottish kings,
probably at St. Oran's Cemetery.
With no children of his own, his stepson Lulach succeeded him briefly only to be
killed by Malcolm.
Shakespeare did get the end of the story historically correct. With Macbeth and his
stepson dead, Malcolm was crowned king, and reigned for 35 years.
A new era of Scottish history had begun.
Jackie Cosh. "Macbeth: Bloody Tyrant or Popular King?." Scotland Magazine May 2004: 7475. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 08 October 2009.
SCOTS MAGAZINE
(Vol. 163, No. 5)
Nov. 2005, pp. 502-504
Reprinted with permission from the author.
Our Maligned Monarch
Gordon Casely celebrates the 1000th anniversary of the birth of Macbeth.
By Gordon Casely
Macbeth was a competent monarch who suffered badly at the hands of William
Shakespeare. Certainly Nigel Tranter believed so, and told me in 1977 that his next book
would be devoted to righting what he called "our slighted monarch". The result was
Macbeth The King (1978), another best-seller from the master's pen.
Why, then, did Macbeth's PR machine go so badly wrong that the image still exists
today of a quarrelsome and violent sovereign? This is an appropriate time to consider the
matter, for he was born 1000 years ago. Here lies the first mystery, for the place of
Macbeth's birth eludes us, though it was most probably Moray, the ancient mormaerdom
that extended to a larger area than today's county.
Nor do we know for certain where he died, though the balance of probability suggests
Lumphanan in Aberdeenshire. One certainty: he lies among 25 Scots, Irish and Norse
kings, plus chiefs and prelates in the Reilig Odhrain, the sacred graveyard on Iona.
What kind of man was Macbeth, he who came of the line of King Kenneth
MacAlpin, and what did he look like? A brief pen portrait in an unnamed Irish annal
states: "...ruddy-complexioned, yellow haired tall one in whom I shall rejoice". The same
source describes him as the "generous king of Fortriu" (Pictland). So emerges a tall,
healthy-looking, fair-headed man of noble spirit, while his name may be translated as
"son of life". Macbeth was his Christian name, with the suffix being the same as in uisge
beatha, water of life.
Myth and Macbeth started early, long before the Bard of Avon penned a line. By
1527, Hector Boece in his Latin History Of Scotland narrates an account of Macbeth and
Banquo meeting witches, that he was a murderer who met his denouncement at
Dunsinane. Similarly Lady Macbeth--in reality Queen Gruoch, granddaughter of
Kenneth III (killed in 1005)--was neither a sleepwalker nor a murderess.
Macbeth, only child of Findlaech MacRuaridh, mormaer (one of the rulers of the
seven Celtic provinces in Scotland) of Moray, had a sound enough claim to the throne of
Scotland. Malcolm II (1005-1034) died without sons. One of his daughters, Bethoc
married Abbot Crinan of Dunkeld, and their son became King Duncan I (1010-1040).
Another daughter married Sigurd, Earl of Orkney and produced Thorfinn. Macbeth was
the third claimant, Mormaer of Moray in his own right, and with royal blood through
being the grandson of a king.
Perhaps his claim was even closer, for the register of the priory of St Andrews carries
an intriguing note: "Macbeth, son of Finlach, and Gruoch, daughter of Bodhe, king and
queen of Scots..." Macbeth ensured his certainty of the throne by allying with Thorfinn
in 1040 to kill Duncan at Pitgaveny near Elgin, with Macbeth taking the throne and
Thorfinn the spoils of no less than nine earldoms.
Gruoch had been married to Gillacomgain, the mormaer of Moray burned to death
with his followers in 1032. Mother of a son, Lulach, she married Macbeth as her second
husband. But while Lulach as Macbeth's stepson became king after Macbeth, Gruoch
and Macbeth had no children between them.
Macbeth ascended the throne as a talented man. He possessed first-hand experience of
government; and he had successfully ruled his province of Moray, an area whose
reputation for being difficult to administer verged on the notorious. The firm hand he
displayed there stood him well when he took the reins of national government. On this
count, Macbeth's detractors criticize him as a violent king, yet it remains a fact of life
that 11th-century Scotland was a violent place.
Tanistry can be upheld as one reason. This was the ancient system of choosing our
kings, rather than straightforward heredity. Noblemen were able to elect or appoint a
monarch from a pool of potential kings called tanists, any one of whom might have a
legitimate claim through ancestry or marriage.
That was the theory. In practice what happened was that the strongest or most cunning
of the tanists took power, not necessarily the best candidate. Thus tanistry encouraged
conflict as well as the elimination of other tanists and even reigning kings.
Macbeth's involvement as a tanist in murdering King Duncan I in 1040 was generally
seen as a good move, for Duncan's rule in Scotland was not the golden age portrayed by
Shakespeare. Rather than the wise, benevolent monarch he portrayed, Duncan was
described by Arthur M. Gunn as an "impetuous and spoiled young man whose six years
of kingship brought glory neither to Scotland nor his family". Macbeth would have
known this, for he was commander-in-chief of Duncan's forces. He would also have
known that Duncan's son Malcolm fled to England, and remained active there in his late
father's cause.
In contrast to Duncan's reign, King Macbeth's 17-year rule of Scotland between
1040-1057 was characterized by peace and tranquility, a period in which north and south
Scotland became united, and a semblance of law and order appeared across the land. We
know that he was generous to the church, and with his ally Thorfinn, went on a
pilgrimage to Rome in 1050, where his benevolence extended to "scattering alms like
seed corn". It says something for his personal self-confidence and the state of the nation
he left behind that he felt secure enough to be away from home for such a long journey.
On his return, he ruled for another seven years, a remarkable achievement for the times,
though not without challenge.
In 1054, Duncan's son Malcolm returned from exile in England at the head of an army
which included Scots, English and Normans. At Dunsinane in Perthshire, Macbeth was
defeated by Malcolm, and forced to retreat northwards, with Malcolm gaining control of
Lothian and Strathclyde.
Ambitious young Malcolm was the future King Malcolm III "Canmore" (great head
[of a following], as in chief), who ruled until 1093, married well twice, and with the help
of his Hungarian-descended queen, Margaret, put the kingdom of Scots on a European
footing. But that's another story.
Poor Macbeth saw his last in Aberdeenshire. The 14th-century historian John, from
Fordoun in Kincardineshire, tells us that mounting enemy forces made Macbeth flee "to
the north, in whose narrow passes, and in the depths of whose forests he hoped to find
safety. Malcolm, however, quickly followed him across the mountains to Lunfanan,
where he slew him..."
This was in 1057, on a date said to be 15th August in Lumphanan, in those days a tiny
spot made important in later centuries by the existence of a mighty peel. The motte
remains to this day, just west of the present village, and 200 metres north of the old
Deeside railway. In a field by the remnants of the line is a rock named "Macbeth's
Stone", a flat piece of granite on which tradition relates that Macbeth was beheaded.
Yet the exact circumstances of his demise raise a mystery, for tradition also relates
that he was slaughtered at the Perkhill just to the north of the peel by Malcolm and
English allies led by Earl Siward of Northumbria. Not so, according to legend; it says that
the monarch was slain by Macduff in a hand-to-hand fight and buried below a circular
cairn built of surface gatherings, known as Macbeth's Cairn. The cairn, however, covers
a site at least 4000 years old.
The Lumphanan of today has a Macbeth's Well where the doomed monarch slaked
his final thirst. The village boasts the Macbeth Arms Hotel--a doubly odd misnomer: for
Macbeth had no connection with the area (and therefore would not bestow his favour
upon an inn), and secondly he lived more than a century before heraldry came into use.
However elusive Macbeth's reputation remains, the fact that this king was borne to
hallowed ground on Iona and interred there confirms he was no usurper, but had earned
the respect of friends and enemies alike.
Lulach, stepson of Macbeth, became king on his stepfather's death. He was the first
monarch known to have been crowned at Scone but he was defeated and killed by
Malcolm Canmore at Essie, three miles west of Rhynie in Aberdeenshire seven months
after taking the throne.
The mac Alpin line had ended. Malcolm's dynasty was just beginning.
Macbeth's Place in a Complicated Lineage:
1005-1034 Malcolm II, king of Scots, 1034-1040 Duncan I, king of Scots and
grandson of Malcolm II through eldest daughter Bethoc. It was through his grandfather
Malcom II's line via Malcolm's second daughter Doada that Macbeth claimed kingship
in 1040. 1040-1057 Macbeth, grandson of Malcolm II, reigned as king of Scots. 1057-58
(a seven-month reign) Lulach, king of Scots, son of Gillecomgain, Mormaer of Moray
and Gruoch (married secondly to Macbeth). 1058-1093 Malcolm III Canmore, son of
Duncan I, king of Scots.
Gordon Casely. "Our Maligned Monarch." Scots Magazine (Dundee, Scotland) Vol. 163, No.
5 Nov. 2005: 502-504. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 08 October 2009.