Assisted by that most disloyal traitor Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm, Dun. Rosse. That now 3 Great happiness! Sweno, the Norway's king, craves composition; Nor would we deign him burial of his men, Till he disbursed, at Saint Colmes' Inch,* Ten thousand dollars to our general use. Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest.-Go, pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. Rosse. I'll see it done. Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won. [Exeunt. SCENE III. A Heath. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 1 Witch. Where hast thou been, sister? 3 Witch. Sister, where thou? 1 Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, 1 By Bellona's bridegroom Shakspeare means Macbeth. Lapped in proof is defended by armor of proof. 2 "Confronted him with self-comparisons." By him is meant Norway, and by self-comparisons is meant that he gave him as good as he brought, showed that he was his equal. 3 It appears probable, as Steevens suggests, that Sweno was only a marginal reference, which has crept into the text by mistake, and that the line originally stood "That now the Norway's king craves composition." It was surely not necessary for Rosse to tell Duncan the name of his old enemy, the king of Norway. 4 Colmes' is here a dissyllable. Colmes' Inch, now called Inchcomb, is a small island, lying in the Firth of Edinburgh, with an abbey upon it dedicated to St. Columb. Inch or inse, in Erst, signifies an island. And mounched, and mounched, and mounched. Give me, quoth I; Aroint thee,' witch! the rump-fed ronyon 2 cries. Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger; 2 Witch. I'll give thee a wind. 3 Witch. And I another. 1 Witch. I myself have all the other; And the very ports they blow, All the quarters that they know I will drain him dry as hay; 2 Witch. Show me, show me. 1 Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wrecked, as homeward he did come. 3 Witch. A drum, a drum; Macbeth doth come. All. The weird sisters,5 hand in hand, Posters of the sea and land, [Drum within. 1 The etymology of this imprecation is yet to seek. Rynt ye, for out with ye! stand off! is still used in Cheshire, where there is also a proverbial saying," Rynt ye, witch, quoth Besse Locket to her mother." The French have a phrase of somewhat similar sound and import-" Arry-avant, away there, ho!"-Mr. Douce thinks that "aroint thee" will be found to have a Saxon origin. 2 "Rump-fed ronyon," a mangy woman, fed on offals. 3 i. e. the sailor's chart; carte-marine. 4 Forbid, i. e. forespoken, unhappy, charmed or bewitched. A forbodin fellow (Scotice) still signifies an unhappy one. 5 The old copy has weyward, evidently by mistake. Weird, from the Saxon, a witch, Shakspeare found in Holinshed. Gawin Douglas, in his translation of Virgil, renders the Parca by weird sisters. Thus do go about, about; Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, nine. Peace!-the charm's wound up. Enter MACBETH and BANQUO. Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. these, So withered, and so wild in their attire ; That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, me, By each at once her choppy finger laying Macb. Speak, if you can ;-what are you? 1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis !1 2 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Cawdor! 3 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be king here after. Ban. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?-I' the name of truth, Are ye fantastical, or that indeed Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner That he seems rapt withal; to me you speak not. If And say, which grain will grow, and which will not, 1 The thaneship of Glamis was the ancient inheritance of Macbeth's family. The castle where they lived is still standing, and was lately the magnificent residence of the earl of Strathmore. Gray has given a particular description of it in a Letter to Dr. Wharton. 2 i. e. creatures of fantasy or imagination. Speak then to me, who neither beg, nor fear, 1 Witch. Hail! 2 Witch. Hail! 3 Witch. Hail! 1 Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 2 Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 3 Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none; So, all hail, Macbeth, and Banquo! 1 Witch. Banquo, and Macbeth, all hail! Macb. Stay, you imperfect speakers; tell me more. No more than to be Cawdor. Say, from whence Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, And these are of them.-Whither are they vanished? Mach. Into the air; and what seemed corporal, melted As breath into the wind.-'Would they had staid! That takes the reason prisoner? Macb. Your children shall be kings. You shall be king. Ban. here? Who's 1 "Sinel." The late Dr. Beattie conjectured that the real name of this family was Sinane, and that Dunsinane, or the hill of Sinane, thence derived its name. 2 The insane root was probably henbane. In Batman's Commentary on Bartholome de Propriet. Rerum, a book with which Shakspeare was familiar, is the following passage:-" Henbane is called insana, mad, for the use thereof is perillous; for if it be eate or dronke it breedeth madnesse, or slow lykenesse of sleepe. Therefore this hearb is called, commonly, mirilidium, for it taketh away wit and reason." Enter ROSSE and ANGUS. Rosse. The king hath happily received, Macbeth, The news of thy success; and when he reads Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, His wonders and his praises do contend, 3 Which should be thine, or his: Silenced with that,' Rosse. And, for an earnest of a greater honor, Ban. What, can the devil speak true? Macb. The thane of Cawdor lives. Why do you dress me In borrowed robes? Ang. Who was the thane, lives yet, But under heavy judgment bears that life Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined With those of Norway, or did line the rebel With hidden help and vantage; or that with both 1 i. e. admiration of your deeds, and a desire to do them justice by public commendation, contend in his mind for preeminence: he is silenced with wonder. 2 i. e. posts arrived as fast as they could be counted. Dr. Johnson explains the passage thus:-"The news came as thick as a tale can travel with the post." Mr. Reeves reads " thick as hail." 3" Came post." The old copy reads can. dation. Rowe made the emen |