Macbeth Trail Part III

My intermittent quest for places associated with Macbeth continues. On the return trip from the Western Isles, (Blog 13/07/17) a deviation along the A96 took me on the whisky trail past many famous distilleries but also to a couple of places where the true story of Shakespeare's "man of blood" was played out.

Pitgaveny, near Elgin, was the place where Duncan and Macbeth fought for the kingdom of Alba.

Originally on the shores of a sea-loch, Loch Spynie, a long arm of the North Sea which was accessible by ship, it became the site of Spynie Castle, the residence of the powerful Bishops of Moray.

Spynie Castle

The arms of the Bishop of Moray

Now, the only evidence of the loch side is the steep drop from the road to the palace into the woods below but in August 1040, Macbeth, the warrior " disdaining fortune with his brandished steel" would have watched Duncan's galleys beaching on the shoreline as they prepared to join in battle.

The steep drop from the roadway is the site of the old loch side

Map showing Loch Spynie as it was when Duncan sailed up to do battle

Duncan was wounded in the ensuing engagement and carried from the scene to the site of Elgin cathedral where he died.

Elgin Cathedral

Not the cowardly murder of a sleeping king but the defeat of an inept general by a superior one.

Duncan's death allowed Macbeth to be crowned king at Scone, deep in the heartland of his rival's power base (Blog 28/05/17) Duncan had paid the penalty for attacking Macbeth, the Mormaer of Moray, in his fiefdom.

Macbeth had regained the title of Mormaer held by his father in 1032 and seized by his cousin Gille Comgain after the killing of the older man. In revenging his father's death Macbeth made a widow

of Gille's wife Gruoch, herself a princess of the royal line.

In 1033, Macbeth married Gruoch and adopted her son Lulach. Lulach was destined to reign briefly after his stepfather's death in 1057 but lacking his leadership qualities and martial skill was defeated by Malcolm Canmore.

Birnie Kirk

It is believed that the marriage took place at Birnie Kirk. Parts of the building date to the 12th century though the building of stone churches to replace the wooden ones of the Celtic church was begun by Margaret the wife of Macbeth's nemesis, Malcolm Canmore - Malcolm III.

A Pictish incised stone, now much worn, showing an eagle. The church stands on any earlier sacred site

A Celtic bell, the Ronnel Bell, in the church is 1000 years old and could well have been rung at the wedding of Macbeth and Gruoch.

I left Moray and headed south with a brief stop at Dunnottar castle so impressive on the skyline above Stonehaven.

 A great fortress, its predecessor would have been one of the "duns" or fortified hills of Macbeth's time - Dun-add in Argyll, Dun-keld, Dun-edin or Edinburgh, Dun-fermline, the site of Malcolm Canmore's tower.

The much maligned monarch still lives in the country he ruled for seventeen years despite the efforts of his detractors.  Next visit must be to the site of his final battle.

The Long Island

We've just returned from a trip across the sea to a land where the natives speak an ancient tongue, a place where there are temples to the sun and the moon and tombs of the ancestors, a place of turquoise waters lapping on white sandy beaches, a place where orchids grow wild and dolphins splash in the surf.

 No, not the Spice Islands nor the Grecian archipelago – the Outer Hebrides!

We sailed from Oban up the sound of Mull to Barra. The entrance to Castlebay is dominated by Kisimul Castle. Our hotel room provided us with splendid views of the seat of the MacNeils of Barra. 

No visit to Barra is complete without witnessing the sight of an aeroplane landing and taking off from the beach Traigh Mhor

 

Sustained with superb local food, we crossed by a small ferry to Eriskay - the island of the Love Lilt and the Eriskay ponies and the original site of the story of "Whisky Galore" and proceeded up "The Long Island". South Uist, Benbecula and North Uist are all joined by causeways with only the ferry to Harris still need to complete the journey to Lewis.

Staying at Langass Lodge, we visited the 5000-year old, Neolithic tomb at Barpa Langas-Barpa Langais- a great mound of stones over a central tomb. The entrance passage is easily found but is partially collapsed. Apparently, cremated remains were found within. Not far away is the fine stone circle of Pobull Fhinn.

On the way to the ferry from Uist to Harris, we stopped at the island fort of Dun An Sitcir - the "fort of the skulker" - a 16th century redoubt built on the remains of an Iron Age broch.  

The dun was inhabited by Hugh MacDonald, one of the MacDonalds of Sleat and son of Hugh the Clerk, until 1602. He sheltered here after plotting to slaughter his kin, but was eventually captured to be starved to death in Duntulm Castle on Trotternish, in Skye. They were tough times in those days !

The ferry to Harris brought us to Tarbert and our stay at the Harris Hotel where again the cuisine was mouth-watering. A visit to the Harris distillery introduced us to Harris Gin with its unique infusion of local sugar kelp. The addition of a few drops of Sugar Kelp Aromatic Water as a bitters to the neat spirit was an experience!

The drive through the rocky landscape of Harris took us across An Clisham, the highest point of Western Isles to the flat moors of Lewis and our last stop at Aignish of the edge of Broad Bay where our old friends, the basking seals waved a flipper of welcome.

The next day a trip to the nearby moorland had us watching the arctic skuas harassing the terns to disgorge their catch, a bit foolish as the terns were heading out to sea. The skuas would have been better waiting until they returned after their fishing trip.

Another Neolithic chambered cairn, An Dursainean, occupied the high ground. It would seem that a stone circle or a tomb is around every corner in this trip up the Hebrides.

It passed only too quickly.