Britannos celebrata, quæ narrat tres olim Sibyllas occurrisse duobus Scotia proceribus, Macbetho & Banchoni, & illum prædixisse regem futurum, sed regem nullum geniturum; hunc regem non futurum, sed reges geniturum multos. Vaticinii veritatem rerum eventus comprobavit. Banchonis enim è stirpe potentissimus Jacobus oriundus." p. 29. Since I made the observation here quoted, I have been repeatedly told, that I unwittingly make Shakspeare learned at least in Latin, as this must have been the language of the performance before king James. One might perhaps have plausibly said, that he probably picked up the story at second-hand; but mere accident has thrown an old pamphlet in my way, intitled The Oxford Triumph, by one Anthony Nixon, 1605, which explains the whole. matter: "This performance, says Antony, was first in Latine to the king, then in English to the queene and young prince :" and, as he goes on to tell us, "the conceipt thereof the kinge did very much applaude." It is likely that the friendly letter, which we are informed king James once wrote to Shakspeare, was on this occasion. FARMER. Malcolm II. king of Scotland, had two daughters. The eldest was married to Crynin, the father of Duncan, Thane of the Isles, and western parts of Scotland; and on the death of Malcolm, without male issue, Duncan succeeded to the throne. Malcolm's second daughter was married to Sinel, Thane of Glamis, the father of Macbeth. Duncan, who married the daughter of Siward, Earl of Northumberland, was murdered by his cousin german, Macbeth, in the castle of Inverness, according to Buchanan, in the year 1040; according to Hector Boethius, in 1045. Boethius, whose history of Scotland was first printed in seventeen books, at Paris, in 1526, thus describes the event which forms the basis of the tragedy before us: "Makbeth, be persuasion of his wyfe, gaderit his friendis to ane counsall at Invernes, quhare kyng Duncane happennit to be for ye tyme. And because he fand sufficient opportunitie, be support of Banquho and otheris his friendis, he slew kyng Duncane, the vii zeir of his regne." After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth "come with ane gret power to Scone, and tuk the crowne." Chroniclis of Scotland, translated by John BelMacbeth was himself slain by Macduff in lenden, folio, 1541. the year 1061, according to Boethius; according to Buchanan, in 1057; at which time king Edward the Confessor possessed the throne of England. Holinshed copied the history of Boethius, and on Holinshed's relation Shakspeare formed his play. In the reign of Duncan, Banquo having been plundered by the people of Lochabar of some of the king's revenues, which he had collected, and being dangerously wounded in the affray, the persons concerned in this outrage were summoned to appear at a certain day. But they slew the serjeant at arms who summoned them, and chose one MACDOWALD as their captain. Macdowald speedily collected a considerable body of forces from Ireland and the Western Isles, and in one action gained a victory over the king's army. In this battle, Malcolm, a Scottish nobleman, who was (says Boethius) "Lieutenant to Duncan in Lochabar," was slain. Afterwards Macbeth and Banquo were appointed to the command of the army; and Macdowald being obliged to take refuge in a castle in Lochabar, first slew his wife and children, and then himself. Macbeth on entering the castle finding his dead body, ordered his head to be cut off, and carried to the king, at the castle of Bertha, and his body to be hung on a high tree. At a subsequent period, in the last year of Duncan's reign, Sueno king of Norway, landed a powerful army in Fife, for the purpose of invading Scotland. Duncan immediately assembled an army to oppose him, and gave the command of two divisions of it to Macbeth and Banquo, putting himself at the head of a third. Sueno was successful in one battle, but in a second was routed; and after a great slaughter of his troops he escaped with ten persons only, and fled back to Norway. Though there was an interval of time between the rebellion of Macdowald and the invasion of Sueno, our author has woven these two actions together, and immediately after Sueno's defeat the present play commences. It is remarkable that Buchanan has pointed out Macbeth's history as a subject for the stage. "Multa hic fabulose quidam nostrorum affingunt; sed, quia theatris aut Milesiis fabulis sunt aptiora quam historia, ea omitto. RERUM SCOT. HIST. L. VII. But there was no translation of Buchanan's work till after our author's death. This tragedy was written, I believe, in the year 1606. MALONE. ! MACBETH. ACT I. SCENE I. AN OPEN PLACE. Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches. 1 Witch. WHEN shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain? 2 Witch. When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won: 3 Witch. That will be ere set of sun. 1 Witch. Where the place? 2 Witch. Upon the heath: 3 Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 1 Witch. I come, Graymalkin! All. Paddock calls:-Anon. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Witches vanish. B SCENE II. A CAMP NEAR FORES. Alarum within. Enter King Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lenox, with attendants, meeting a bleeding Soldier. Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state. This is the sergeant, Mal. Sold. Doubtfully it stood; As two spent swimmers, that do cling together, And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald (Worthy to be a rebel; for, to that, The multiplying villainies of nature Do swarm upon him,) from the western isles Like valour's minion, Carv'd out his passage, till he fac'd the slave; And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewel to him, Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chops, And fix'd his head upon our battlements. come, Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark: But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, Dun. Dismay'd not this Yes; Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? Sold. As sparrows, eagles; or the hare, the lion. Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: I cannot tell: But I am faint, my gashes cry for help. Dun. So well thy words become thee, as thy wounds; They smack of honour both:-Go, get him sur[Exit Soldier, attended. geons. Enter Rosse. Who comes here? |