Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-19
COUNTRY Of MACBETH
Scenes From Which Shake
speare Took Tragedy.
PARTS OF THE PLAY RETOLD
Rise and Fall of the Thane of
CLAIMS.
F1FE's RIGHT TO CROWN KING
Good Stories About Ancient Scotch
Lairds-The Savage Wolf
Of Badenoch.
PARTS OF THE PLAY RETOLD
FIFE'S RIGHT TO CROWN KING
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.

Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
ABERDEEN. Scotland, September 13, 1903.
Every little hamlet in Scotland every
town and every stream. every mountain
and almost every meadow is historic, and
one who has never been here cannot real
ize the interest excited by the names of
places that he read about in his school
days. Along the railway between Perth
and Aberdeen we passed through Mac
beth's country, and he whom We vaguely
supposed to have been the creature of a
dream turns out to be a real king. The
people here say Shakespeare must have
visited the scenes he describes in the play,
because they are SO accurate in their
geographical and Typographical details.
But there is no other evidence that he was
ever in this part of the kingdom. Lew
Wallace gave us in Ben Hur' the best
description of Ephesus ever written, and
yet he was never there. He once ex-
planned, In answer to my inquiry on this
subject, that he got his ideas from the
captain of a steamer who had been trad
ing along the coast of Asia Minor for
many years and had frequently visited
Ephesus while his ship was loading and
unloading a Smyrna.
Scotch History and Plot of Macbeth.
Shakespeare found the plot for the play
of Macbeth in a volume of chronicles
of early Scottish history, and he must
have found somebody familiar with this
part of the country to describe the geog-
raphy for him. Sir Walter Scott used
several Of the legends of these ancient
villages in his historical novels, and other
authors have found them useful material.
1t Is interesting to know that Thrums,
the quaint little town SO well known to
the readers Of Mr.. J. NJ. Barrie is quite
near the Castle of Macbeth, and the house
In which Barrie was born is the same
from which he pictures his heroine watch
ing for the return Of her wandering son.
Soon after the Picts and Scots were con-
solldated into a single nation by Ken
meth MacAlpine, fleet of Danes sailed
over the seas and landed on the coast OF
Fifeshre. King Duncan of Scotland had
two young sons, Malcolm and Donald
bane, but both We're too young to COM
mand an army. so he sent Macbeth a
son of the Thane (EarD of CLAIMS. Mac
beth drove the Danes back to their ships
and the ocean was colored with their
blood. After the victory, while he was
marching home. he met three old witches.
'All HAIL. Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane
of Glamis!' cried the first.
"All hail, Macbeth, Hail to thee Thane
of CawdCr!' cried the second.
'All hail. Macbeth cried the third.
Hail to thee; thou shall be king here
after!"
How the Prophesies Were Fulfilled.
While Macbeth was wondering indiffer-
emily as to what they meant. messenger
came to tell him that his father was dead
and that he was Thane of Glamis. Be
fore his officers had finished their condoI-
ences and congratulations upon his COM
Ing into the title, messenger arrived
from Old King Duncan thanking him for
his victory over the Danes and announc-
ing that he had been created Earl of
Cawdor Thus the prophesies of two of
the old danes came true and Macbeth
. began to be anxious whether the third
prophesy should also be fulfilled, an am
bitiOn that was stimulated by his wife,
who was a very disagreeable woman.
She induced him to invite the king to
his castle, and Duncan came. accom-
panied by his young sons Malcolm and
Donaldbane. They were joyfuly received
and great feast was given in their honor
According to the custom Of the times King
Duncan and everybody else went to bed
drunk. Urged by his wife, Macbeth drug
ged the guards at his door and the
guests and stabbed the old man to the
heart In the morning, when the two
young princes learned of The tragic deaf 4
of their father, they fled from the castle
Malcolm finding his way to the English
court and Donaldbane taking refuge in
the western isles.
And, there being no other claimant to