Norwich bulletin., 1922-07-14
Famous Literary Mysteries
Did Shakespeare Visit scotiand2

Atiu@ SndkcSpeafe fiSIt. ccOt1dH07
 So little that Is authentic is known Of the life of William shakes9eare itsas ! the nabst minute incident connected a herewith is worked up and followed l with the closest attention. Shakespeare l was an actor before he was playwright, I but so far as $ posfs7els ss5n5wn, his l stage work was confined entirely to 4 England. But lie appears to have been so familiar with Scotch location and \ atmosphere that the question has arisen as to whether or not he ever visited \ the land of the thistle and if not, what were the source of his immortal tragedy
 of Macbeth the descriptions and sur roundings of which it would seem ifl- possible to set out without personal con tact
 The question as to whether Shakes Heare visited Scotland was first raised in 176F by William Guthrie in his Gen.
 eral History of Scotland In this work
 it is shown that the king to prove how
 thoroughly he was .emaneipated from
 the tutelage of his clergy, desired Eliz-
 abeth to send him, in 1899, a. company Of English comedians She complied. and James gave them a license to act in his capital and at his court. Was
 Shakespeare one of this number?
 But it has been cenjeetured that l Shakespeare visited Scotland at a much earlier period. There is a notice of Eng 1 fish players having appeared at Perth l on June. 2, 15S9, and Shakespeare may 1 have been one of them.
 l Sir John Sinclair, when speaking ] of the local traditions respecting l Macbeth's castle at Dunsinane, in- l fers from their coincidence with the drama, that Shakespeare in the
 capacity of actor travelled in Scot 1 land in 15S9, and collected on the l spot materials for the exercise of his imagination. But lsha1espeare's i biographers doubt the validity of the
 tices at some length the state of the i drama in Scotland previous to the ac- cession of James to the English crown 1 has no. mention of the opinion that
 Shakespeare had. visited Scotland l Therefore, 1t is extremely probable that I he never left London at this period. I In 1899 Shakespeare's King Henry ] V" was produced in Scotland, and His I torian Collier mentions that towards j the close of the year 1899 a company oi ! English players arrived in Edinburgh and he adds in a note: Tt has been sup ! posed by some that Shakespeare was 8 T member of this company, and that ht even took his description of Macbeth: T castle from local observation. But n' evidence can be produced either way, ex -f cept Malone's conjecture that Shakes ,l peare could not have left London in 159! \ in consequence of the production of hi
 Henry V in that year.
 . Mir Collier does not notice a supse
 auent visit of "a company of Englisi sl players to Scotland during Shakes : peare's lifetime, although other histor l fans speak of a company from Londol ol appearing in the north country in 1901 Il If Shakespeare ever appeared in Scot | land. this must have been the time. fo
 no mention Is made of his having az peared in the English capital in the fal of that year, although on the 8ths of Sep
 tenlber he was present at the funeral c . his father. .at Stratford.
 xI In a paper read to the Society of An
 tieuaries of Scotland by John Anderson
 "On the Site of Macbeth's Castle tn 1 author says: 'aThe extreme aceurac
 with which Shakespeare has followe ; the ninutiae of Macbeth's career ha ' given rise to the opinion that he hiTnse e visited these scenes which are immortal
 ized by his pen" but the general irnpres
 sion among scholars of today is that h t secured his information from Holin: e hed's narrative, and that ShakespeaI h never visited Scotland as an actor nc
 in any other capacity.