King Malcolm II ... reigned from 1005 to 1034 and was the
last king in the direct male 
line to descend from Kenneth MacAlpine, who united the Scots and Picts in 843
A.D. and is considered the founder of Scotland. One of Malcolm's three daughters, Bethoc,
married Crinan, the secular hereditary Abbot of Dunkeld. Through her, the Abbot's son
[Duncan] was installed by Malcolm as the King of Cumbria in 1018. After Malcolm II's
murder by his nobles at Glamis, Duncan killed his opponents and seized the throne as King
Duncan I. His first cousins, Macbeth (of Shakespearian fame) and Thorfinn the Raven
Feeder, Norwegian Earl of Orkney, united to advance MacBeth's claim to the throne through
his mother, another daughter of Malcolm II. Duncan reigned from 1034 until he was defeated
in battle by their combined armies and killed by MacBeth in August 1040 at Elgin. Scotland
was then ruled by Thorfinn in the northern districts and MacBeth in the southern
districts. -- James E. Fargo, FSA Scot., Clan Donnachaidh History. Shakespeare's immediate
source for his story is Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and
Ireland (1577)
Macbeth is among the best known of
William Shakespeare's plays, as well as his shortest surviving tragedy. It
is frequently performed at professional and community theatres around the
world. The play, loosely based upon the historical account of King Macbeth
of Scotland by Raphael Holinshed and the Scottish philosopher Hector Boece,
is often seen as an archetypal tale of the dangers of the lust for power and
betrayal of friends. It has frequently been adapted. In the theatrical
world, many superstitions are associated with "Macbeth," all connected with
the belief that the play is somehow "cursed." Many actors will not mention
the name of the play aloud, referring to it as "the Scottish Play".
