170 



All his tyme was gret plente, 



Habundande bathe on lande and se : 



He was in justice richt lauchful, 



And til his legis al awfulle 



Quhen Pape was Leo the Nynt* in Rome, 



As pilgryme to the court he come; 



And in his alms he sew silver 



Til al pur folk that had myster. 



In al tyme oysit he to wyrk 



Profetabilly for haly kyrk. 



An examination of the places at which Duncan and Macbeth respec- 

 tively are said to have died will show us sometliing of the real value of 

 popular tradition. Tradition tells us that Duncan was killed in 

 Glammis Castle, and stains of blood are shown, which^ remain as a 

 witness of the deed at the end of 800 years ! Now, Macbeth is 

 certainly called " thane of Glammis " by Shakspeare ; but that village 

 is situated in the south of Forfarshire, near Dundee; whereas, we 

 know that the whole events took place on the north coast, near the 

 Moray Frith. Another tradition assures us that the deed was done in 

 Cawdor Castle ; and here the very bed is shown on which Duncan slept, 

 the night of the murder! This, again, is what Mr. Oldbuck of 

 Monkbarns would call " a lie with a circumstance ; " for even Shak- 

 speare does not say that Macbeth had inherited the lands or entered the 

 castle of Cawdor, at the time of the alleged " murder." The Shak- 

 sperian rubrics, as we may call the directions to the players, tell us that 

 it took place in Macbeth's castle at Inverness ; and here Lady Macbeth 

 was residing when she received the letter. For these three traditions 

 there is not one word of historic authority. On the contrary, the 

 " Register of St. Andrews " says — " Interfectus a Macbeth Mac-Finleg 

 in Bothgouanan, et sepuUus in lona:'' while "The Chronicon Elegia- 

 cum" says — '' Percussit ewn Macaheda, vulnere lethali, rex apud Elgin 

 obit." The whole confusion now disappears ; King Duncan was 

 wounded (at Bothgouan), and died at Elgin. " But there is no such 

 place as Bothgouan," says some one. This may be so, as it is a Celtic 

 word, meaning a smith's shop ; and somewhere near the forge he must* 

 have received the mortal wound. " But at least he was killed by 

 Macbeth," says another. Certainly, in open battle, but not even in a 

 duel, and especially not in cold blood. The authorities are numerous 

 and distinct that he was killed by his own people, of whom we may 

 naturally infer that Macbeth was the leader. 



The next question is, where was Macbeth killed ? and Shakspeare 

 has answered with great minuteness. He tells us the very castle, the 



* From 1048 to 1054 



