Macbeth of Scotland

Lady Macbeth

Maelbeatha, more popularly known as Macbeth, was a mormaer of Moray in the 11th century. Mormaer, originally a Celtic term, came later to be equated with the office of earl. Such men often refused allegiance to their monarchs and Macbeth had a genuine claim to
the throne through his wife and stepson.
The province of Moray, one of the seven divisions of Pictland, was extensive, embracing much of the Highlands, and its chief centre is thought to have been at Inverness. Here Macbeth had his castle; not on the hill above the River Ness, where the Victorian castle is
the latest in a long line of fortifications, but on the flat top of a bank called the Crown some four hundred yards to the northeast. No trace remains of the building, it was probably timbered, but it is recalled in the name of Auldcastle Road, which goes by the site.

"This castle has a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses"

So said the ill-fated King Duncan, speaking to his general Banquo, in Shakespeare's play. But Shakespeare was unfair to Macbeth. In an age when to 'wade through slaughter to a throne' was an all too common event this mormaer was true to his times. In fact, after Duncan had been killed in battle near Elgin, not treacherously stabbed on his host's instructions, as the bard has it, Macbeth ruled as justly as the times permitted for 17 years. He was a redoubtable fighter and as king he showed extra qualities of humility and diplomacy, cherishing the church and making the long pilgrimage to Rome in 1050. He established an early rapport with the Normans and also forced a wary peace on the powerful Earl Thorfinn of Orkney after a long conflict with the Norsemen.
Macbeth's wife was a strong-minded lady called Gruoch, the widow of his first cousin by whom she had a son named Lulach, known as 'the simple'.

Some suggest that Macbeth's dialogue with the Normans brought about his downfall. Impressed by his renown in war a group of knightly Norman mercenaries enlisted in his service. This seems to have enraged the Scottish nobles and Duncan's two sons, Malcolm and Donald, saw that the time to avenge their father's death was ripe. Malcolm, residing at the English court of Edward the Confessor, enlisted the military aid of the Scandinavian Siward, earl of Northumberland. They crossed the border at the head of a large army in 1054 and Macbeth was defeated at Dunsinane Hill in Perthshire. Macbeth survived the battle but three years later he was killed by Malcolm at Lumphanan in Mar.  He was given royal burial on lona.

Malcolm, whom Shakespeare represents as a paragon who delighted "no less in truth than life", followed the same imperative as Macbeth. After the latter's death his step-son Lulach mounted the throne but Malcolm, determined to liquidate his line of succession, killed him within a year.

Historically the great castle of Cawdor has no part to play in the saga of Macbeth. Indeed Shakespeare's references to it are anachronistic. The present building was constructed in 1454, but an earthwork castle of the 13th century stood on a site half a mile to the north.