Birnain Wood, 297 



That man shut his eyes and imagined more than 

 other men could see with their eyes wide open even 

 when among the scenes depicted. The light does 

 " thicken," and the darkness creeps upon us and wraps 

 us in its mantle unawares. * 



Birnam, a wooded hill on the bank of the Tay, is 

 about twelve miles from Dunsinane or Dunsinnane Hill, 

 the traditional stronghold of Macbeth the Giant, as the 

 usurper was known to the country people. According 

 to the common story, when Macbeth heard from his 

 spies of the coming of Malcolm Canmore's troops from 

 Birnam with branches in their hands, he recalled the 

 prophecy of the witches, and, despairing of holding the 

 castle against them, deserted it and fled, pursued by 

 Malcolm, up the opposite hill, where finding it impossible 

 to escape, he threw himself from a precipice and was 

 killed on the rocks below. His place of burial is still 

 shown at a spot called Lang Man's Grave, not far from 

 the road where Banquo is said to have been murdered. 



Some Shakesperean scholars have thought that the 

 great bard must have collected the materials for his 

 tragedy upon the site. It is well known that Her 

 Majesty's Players exhibited at Perth in 1589, and it is 

 not impossible that Shakespeare may have been among 

 them ; but it is scarcely probable. The play follows 

 very closely the history of Macbeth as narrated by 

 Hollinshed, in which the usurper falls in single combat 

 with Macduff, and there can be little doubt that Shakes- 



