Fact Macbeth did kill Duncan, but in a battle at Pitgaveny, near Elgin. This was the time-honoured way in which Kings came to the throne in this period, so it’s unlikely he lost much sleep over it.

Myth #2 Lady Macbeth was childless and is portrayed as a lady, not a queen.

Fact Lady Macbeth was a royal Princess in her own right, as well as Macbeth’s Queen (she’s actually the first named Queen in Scottish history!)

She had already had a son by her first husband. That boy, Lulach, became king immediately after the death of Macbeth. However, it is true that she and Macbeth seem to have been childless, though that was presumably not her fault!

Myth #3 Banquo’s sons became Kings and were the lineage to James the 1st and 6th.

Fact Banquo is not likely to have been a real historical character, though the Stuarts, including James VI and I, did believe that they were descended from him until, in the nineteenth century, it was discovered that the Fitz Alans (the original name of the Stewarts) actually came from Brittany. Banquo is first found in a literary context in Holinshed’s chronicle as Macbeth’s accomplice. This is where Shakespeare got the story.

Myth #4 Macduff was Thane of Fife and made a pact with Malcolm and his Uncle Siward to regain Scotland from Macbeth.

Fact We don’t really know much about the mormaers, or earls, of Fife during the 11th century, though they are certainly around in the following century. The MacDuffs (the family name of the earls of Fife) were supposedly descended from a 10th Century King of Scots, called Dubh (which means ‘black’ in Gaelic).

It is possible that Lady Macbeth, whose real name was Gruoch, was actually a member of the Fife family. They may have been forfeited in the reign of Malcolm II (Duncan’s grandfather) because they had a very good claim to the throne which Malcolm wanted for Duncan.

If so, it is entirely possible that members of the family were trying to restore their position during Macbeth’s reign. They certainly managed to achieve it under Malcolm III, who eventually killed Macbeth. Siward was a real historical figure, the earl of Northumbria who defeated (but did not kill) Macbeth in 1054. We don’t know that he was Malcolm’s uncle though.

Myth #5 The play is not specific about the time Macbeth spent in power but it seems to be a short reign.

Fact In reality, Macbeth reigned for 17 years, a pretty long reign, considering most were less than a decade. He also managed to leave the country to go on pilgrimage to Rome in 1050 (the first Scottish King known to do so), not something you do if you’re worried someone’s going to try to get you off the throne.

Myth #6 Duncan is portrayed as “A noble old soul”.

Fact Duncan was probably in his thirties at the time (he certainly had fairly young sons). He had proved to be a rather ineffectual King, being beaten by the English in a siege at Durham in 1039.

He then went to seek out Macbeth in his territory, perhaps because he knew that people were thinking of replacing him, or maybe because he wanted to pick on someone to show he was a strong King.

Myth #7 The battle from which Macbeth and Banquo emerge as victors is against the Norwayen fleets.

Fact The Norse were certainly a very important aspect of Scottish (and English and Irish) politics in this period.

Orkney and Shetland were the centre of  Norse earldom, which also encompassed Caithness and Sutherland, the Hebrides and parts of the western Scottish mainland, as well as the east coast of Ireland and the Isle of Man.

The Norse were always looking to expand their territory, and Moray, Macbeth’s own earldom, was therefore on the frontline against them. Macbeth’s father, Earl Finlay, had certainly fought a battle against them, and it is entirely possible that Macbeth also sent his galleys north to defend Scottish territory.

Myth #8 Lady Macbeth dies after suffering madness and regret – “Canst thou not minister to a mind deseased? Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow . . . ”

Fact Sadly, we don’t know when Gruoch, Macbeth’s Queen, actually died. However, she has perhaps been maligned by history even more than her husband. We do know that, along with Macbeth, she gave lands in Fife to the monastery of St Serf’s in Loch Leven, a traditional pious thing for a queen to do.

Myth #9 Macbeth ascribes to supernatural beliefs in that he consults the weird sisters for prophecies – “I conjure you by that which you profess. How e’er you come to know it, answer me.”

Fact In the medieval Scottish chronicles, Macbeth does meet three weird sisters in his dreams. These are essentially the Norns, or Fates, who feature in Norse mythology with an ability to tell the future. But this is all part of the process of blackening Macbeth’s name by the descendants of Macbeth’s successor, Malcolm III.

Myth #10 Macduff kills Macbeth in his castle as revenge for Macbeth killing his wife and children.

Fact It was Malcolm, Duncan’s son, who is credited with killing Macbeth in battle at Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire in August 1057. Malcolm then killed Lulach, Macbeth’s step-son and immediate successor, five months later, before becoming King himself.

http://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/content/default.asp?page=s290

One tradition tells of Malcolm III going to the church at Monymusk before going on to fight MacBeth at the Battle of Lumphanan in 1057. Malcolm III is reputed to have said that if he won the battle, he would build a tower here and traced the outlines of it with a spear. Having won the Battle of Lumphanan, Malcolm III built the tower in its characteristic Norman style and hunted down MacBeth’s stepson and heir, Luath, who was killed near Luath’s stone on The Green Hill.

There are some striking resemblances between the architecture of a church near Whithorn, founded by St. Ninian in the 5th or 6th Century and St. Mary’s Church, Monymusk. The arches, pillars and capitals are similar in shape, diameter and architectural detail. This could simply mean that the builders of Monymusk Church copied the design of an earlier church or else that parts of Monymusk Church are of early Celtic origin.

The Chancel is particularly long compared with the Nave, which may indicate that monks prayed there, and there is a so called “priest’s door” leading into the chancel, as opposed to the “civil door” in the tower, which may also help to support this theory. The end part of the chancel is now roofless and is used as a private burial ground.

The tower today is 51 feet high but used to be 23 feet higher. It was lowered by 8 feet around 200 years ago to correct an area bulging outwards at the top, and was replaced by a slated spire, which in turn also became dangerous and had to be taken down in 1891. The tower was reduced by a further 17 feet and was topped with the grey granite battlements which still remain today.

The Norman part of the Kirk is of pink granite, most probably from the old quarry at Pitfichie, but the dressed masonry is of sandstone from Kildrummy rather than granite. It is thought that the masons of the day did not have the necessary tools to carve the hard granite, so sandstone was used for the corner stones and arches.

Dr W. D. MacPherson was a Minister of the church from 1868 until 1912, who was also a scholar and wrote a comprehensive history of the Church and Priory of Monymusk.

Church Artefacts

The clock, which is still in good working order, has been dated at 1792 and is thought to have been made by William Lunan of Aberdeen. However, a clock restorer named Dr Edwards suggested to the present Minister, Rev Ewan Glen, that it may have been rebuilt in 1792 and is probably at least 100 years older, for there are records in the Monymusk Papers which detail the purchase of a clock in this period.

The church bell is very old bearing the Latin and English inscriptions ‘ICA MOWAT ME FECIT AET ABD 1748′ (Jacob Mowat made me at Aberdeen in the Year of 1748) and ‘I fix the Sabbath, I bewail at funerals.’

The Communion register goes back to the year 1630, and the Bible on display in the church is recorded in the ‘Session Records’ from the time of Charles II, as having being purchased from a merchant in Aberdeen named Alexander Orem.

The Session Records also note the purchase of six communion cups which are still in use, 4 smaller ones in 1691 and two larger in 1712. The 4 smaller vessels are William and Mary church plate and were displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, being considered very fine examples of silver work. The patent silver Baptismal bowl was given to the church by Lady Grant (Dame June Johnson) in 1775.

Church Music

During the 1750s Sir Archibald helped to reform church singing at Monymusk. At this time the Minister or precentor (leader) would sing a line and then the congregation would repeat it. This method developed because there were not a lot of hymn books and not everyone could read, so the precentor would give out the line to the congregation to keep everyone together in the tune.

Thomas Channon was an English soldier who had sung at St Paul’s Chapel in London and was proficient in a new style of psalm singing being developed in England where the choir was trained to sing in harmonic parts in order to lead the congregation. In January 1755 Channon’s singers demonstrated the new style at Aberdeen West St. Nicholas Kirk and afterwards Sir Archibald invited Channon to teach it at Monymusk. Channon used a small instrument called a pitch-pipe to teach the new method and travelled with his singers from parish to parish.

A choir was formed at Monymusk which was helped and encouraged by Sir Archibald, who sang with them on Sundays, installed an organ (possibly a barrel organ) in the library at Monymusk House for choir practices and advertised in the Aberdeen Journal for a Schoolmaster who did ‘sing and teach Church music and play a musical instrument’. The church employed their new choir leader, bought new hymn books and built a singing loft, which was a gallery to accommodate a large choir. The loft was later taken down in 1929 when the church was restored as much as possible to its original plan.

The choir from Monymusk travelled around the local parishes in the North East to demonstrate the new method which sparked a reform of church music in the local area known as the Monymusk Revival, and which subsequently spread to the rest of Scotland. By the end of 1755 it was reported that there were 13 parishes in the local area using the new method and that by the end of 1756 all the churches in Aberdeen had adopted it. The choir from Monymusk even taught the new method to the congregation of St. Machar’s Cathedral, although it wasn’t accepted there for some years.

In 1761 the Rev John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, was making his way around Scotland and on reaching Aberdeen was invited by Sir Archibald to take a service at Monymusk Church. Wesley was impressed by the high standard of the choir singing, which he said was comparable with any Cathedral in England. He also reputedly remarked that he “may as well have been talking to the church walls for all the reaction he got from the congregation for his sermons!”

The Monymusk Stone

The church houses a class II Pictish Symbol Stone, known as the Monymusk Stone. The Stone is a 7 foot high granite slab, decorated with a equal arm shafted Celtic Cross, ornamented with knot work and the ‘step’ and Pictish ‘double disc’ symbols. It is thought that a carver of the stone knew about the Brecbennoch and that the ‘step’ symbol represents the casket.

It initially stood in a field at Nether Mains Farm but was moved sometime in the 18th Century to the edge of the field. In 1903, it was relocated to the Billiard Room of Monymusk House and then in 1978 it was moved again to St Mary’s Church. Click on this link to see photos of the Monymusk Stone being moved.

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© Copyright Monymusk Estate
Monday, February 7^th 2011
site by norhaus.com

http://www.railbrit.co.uk/location.php?loc=Lumphanan

In 1597 a coven of witches was uncovered at Lumphanan. A woman, Margaret Bean, named eight other women who had danced with her round a great stone on Craigleauch hill the Halloween before. For witches this was the traditional time for conferring with the devil and three of the women Margaret Bean named, right before she herself was burnt to death were Margaret Og Robbie and her two daughters. Margaret Og and Beatrix were brought to trial by the evidence of Robert Ross, William Ross (the farmer of Bogloch), John Ross (the minister of Lumphanan), and John Duguid, who was one of the judges as well as an accuser.

William Ross could recall several instances where Margaret Og had shown herself for a witch. About six years before she had taken her own ‘heidleas’ (head scarf) and cut it into nine pieces, which was the devil’s number. She had secretly laid these under his byre door and within the same year some ten or twelve of his cattle had died. He also recalled that, at about the same time, she had come to the Burn of Bogloch early one morning and cast water over her head. She had then taken a blanket and by her magic, drawn off all the dew on his green to her own house. Then in January 1597, when William’s wife had gone to borrow some green yarn at the house where Margaret was staying with her daughters, Margaret had refused her and had instead blown off a green ‘clew’ (bundle of yarn) in the wife’s face, “wherein she contracted a deidlie disease”. This illness, in which the victim spent half the day burning as if in a fiery furnace, the other half consuming away in a cold sweat, was a special point of witchcraft.

Archibald Schivas had also suffered it by Margaret Og’s hand. He was a burgess in Aberdeen and had caused some of Margaret’s possessions to be confiscated because of an unpaid debt. She had cursed him, telling him he would regret it, and soon afterwards he became ill for a long time with the witches sickness.

It was also recalled, by John Duguid, that Agnes Ross, the lady of Auchinhove, who had died of such a disease, had blamed it from her deathbed on Margaret and Beatrix. Twelve years before Agnes Ross had bought a shoulder of mutton off John Duguid at the Mill of Auchinhove and taken it to the house where Margaret was staying with her daughter. Agnes Ross had stayed there all night and then, when she ate some of the meat that Margaret and Beatrix had roasted, she had instantly contracted the illness and continued with it for three-quarters of a year until she died.

The Minister, whose duty it was to locate and denounce witches, added that a year before, when a cow held by her son was being served by a bull, Margaret had passed a knife back and forth across it three times to her daughter.

On the fourth of April 1597 the court found Margaret Og guilty on six points of witchcraft and she was ordered to be taken out, bound to a stake, strangled until dead and then burnt to ashes. The case against Beatrix was not so clear cut, though it was found she was “ane suspicious persone….and that scho is nocht of ane guide lyf” because she kept company with her mother. It was decided that she would be banished from Aberdeenshire for life. This was much cheaper of a verdict than execution which, judging from the amounts of money in the cost accounts, seems to have been a very expensive business.

http://robbieweb.net/trial.htm

A motte on this site is thought to have been in existence at the time of the Battle of Lumphanan. This battle was fought nearby in 1057, between King Macbeth and the future King Malcolm III. Macbeth was killed, and Macbeth’s Stone, upon which he is said to have been beheaded, is located 300 metres (980 ft) to the south-west.

The present mound was constructed in the 13th century by the De Lundin family, who later adopted the name Durward from their hereditary position of royal ushers or door-wards. Sir John de Melville paid homage to Edward I of England at the peel in 1296. The original ramparts may have been of turf rather than stone. The rectangular foundation is that of Halton House, which was built in the 15th century by Thomas Charteris of Kinfauns. The circular wall, originally thought to have been the curtain wall of a shell keep, was discovered through excavation in the 1970s to be of 18th-century date.

The site is under the guardianship of Historic Scotland, and is protected as a scheduled monument. It is considered to be of national importance as “a good surviving example of an earthwork castle with water-filled outer defences.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_of_Lumphanan