S e p t . 8*
D u n s in a n e .
grave-ftones; and relate that ihe was the wife of King Arthur
fuppofe the fame lady that we Welff call Guinever, and Guenhumt,
to whofe chaftjty neither hiftorians nor bards * do much credit. Ti
traditions of thefe parts are not more favorable to her memoij
The peafapts afiert, that after the defeat of her lover, Ihe was
prifoned in a fort on the hill of Barra, oppofite to this place, ail
that there Ihe died, and was interred in the parifh of Meigle. Othtii
again fay, that Ihe was torn to pieces by wild beafts, to whichB
fculpture alludes; if, as Mr. Gordon juftly obferves, the carvuigj
might not fometimes prove the foundation o f the tale.
It is reported, that her grave was furrounded by three Hones,'«
form of a triangle, mortifed into one another. Some of them Id
holes and grooves for .that purpofe, but are now disjointed, and«
moved to different places.
The ftone marked V is very curious: on it is engraved a charioq
with the driver and two perfons in it ; behind is a monfter, refemj
bling a Hippopotamus devouring a proftrated human figure. 0«
another ftone is the reprefentation of an elephant, or at leaft an anil
mal with a long probofcis. Whence could the artifts of a barbaroa
age acquire their ideas of Centaurs, or e f animals proper to tM
torrid zone ?
Leave Belmont. Pafs beneath the famous hill of Dunfmu. oil
the fouth fide of Strathmore> on whofe fummit ftood the caftle, ^
refidenceof Macbeth, full in view of Birnam wood, on the opp
fide of the plain. No place could be better adapted for the feat 08
a jealous tyrant; the fides are fteep, and of the moft difficult afcenta
Jeffrey o f Monmouth,, p. 351. Pony 's R eliju ts, III. 4.
tie
commanding a view to a great diftance in front and rear. D u n s in a n e .
At prefent there are not any remains of this celebrated fortrefs: its
|lace is now a verdant area, of an oval form, fifty-four yards by
ftirty, and furrounded by two deep ditches. On the north is a
hollow road, cut through the rock, leading up to the entry, which
Bs on the north eaft, facing a deep narrow chafm, between this and 1
the next hill. The hill has been dug into ; but nothing was difco*
Bred, excepting fome very black corn, which probably had under-
■¡¡Bne the operation of Graddan, or burning. This place was forti-
: fied with great labor, for Macbeth depended on its ftrength and
ijatural fteepnefs as a fecure retreat againft every enemy. He fum-
| loned the thanes from all parts of the kingdom, to affift in the
I fork. All came, excepting Macduff, which fo enraged the tyrant,
B.at he threatened to put the yoke that was on the oxen then
j laboring up the fteep fide of the hill, on the neck of the difobedient
II
. A little to the eafiward is a hill called the King’s-feat, where tradi-
I fion fays, Macbeth fat, as on a watch-tower, for it commands a more
j timprehenfive v.iew than Cunjinane. Here his fcout might be
laced who brought him the fatal news of the march of Birnam
Rood:
As I did fland my watch upon the h ill,
I look’d toward Birnam, and anon, methought
T h e wood began to move!
I On the plain beneath thefe hills are feveral other monuments of
antiquity, fuch as a great ftone lying on the ground, ten feet long,
Pled the long man's Grave. Here are alfo feveral tumuli compofed
Buchanan, lib. vii. c. u .
A a 2 of