him." Nor could he afterwards abide to look upon Macduff, either because he thought his puissance over-great, or else because he had learned of certain wizards, in whose words he put great confidence, that he ought to take heed of Macduff. And surely he had put Macduff to death, but that a certain witch, in whom he had great trust, had told him he should never be slain by a man born of any woman, nor be vanquished_till_the_wood of Birnam came to the castle of Dunsinane. By this prophecy Macbeth put all fear out of his heart, supposing he might do what he would. This vain hope caused him to do many outrageous things, to the grievous oppression of his subjects. At length Macduff, to avoid peril of life, purposed with himself to pass into England, to procure Malcolm to claim the crown of Scotland. But this was not so secretly devised, but that Macbeth had knowledge thereof: for he had, in every nobleman's house, one sly fellow or other in fee with him, to reveal all that was said or done within the same. Immediately then, being informed where Macduff went, he came hastily with a great power into Fife, and forthwith besieged the castle where Macduff dwelt, trusting to find him therein. They that kept the house opened the gates without any resistance, mistrusting no evil. Nevertheless Macbeth most cruelly caused the wife and children of Macduff, with all others whom he found in the castle, to be slain. He also confiscated the goods of Macduff, and proclaimed him traitor; but Macduff had already escaped out of danger, and gone into England to Malcolm, to try what he could do, by his support, to revenge the slaughter of his wife, his children, and other friends. Holinshed then proceeds to relate, at considerable length, the interview between Macduff and Malcolm at the English Court, setting forth the particulars of their talk in the same order, and partly in the same words, as we have them in the Poet's text. Soon after, Macduff, repairing to the borders of Scotland, addressed letters with secret dispatch to the nobles of the realm, declaring how Malcolm was confederate with him, to come hastily into Scotland to claim the crown. In the meantime, Malcolm gained such favour at King Edward's hands, that old Siward, Earl of Northumberland, was appointed with ten thousand men to go with him into Scotland, to support him in this enterprise. After this news was spread abroad in Scotland, the nobles drew into several factions, the one taking part with Macbeth, the other with Malcolm. When Macbeth perceived his enemies' power to increase by such aid as came to them out of England, he fell back into Fife, purposing to abide at the Castle of Dunsinane, and to fight with his enemies, if they meant to pursue him. Malcolm, following hastily after Macbeth, came the night before the battle to Birnam wood; and, when his army had rested awhile there, he commanded every man to get a bough of some tree of that wood in his hand, as big as he might bear, and to march forth therewith in such wise, that on the next morning they might come closely within view of his enemies. On the morrow, when Macbeth beheld them coming in this sort, he first marvelled what the matter meant; but in the end remembered himself, that the prophecy, which he had heard long before, of the coming of Birnam wood to Dunsinane-Castle, was likely now to be fulfilled. Nevertheless he brought his men in order of battle, and exhorted them to do valiantly; howbeit his enemies had scarcely cast from them their boughs, when Macbeth, perceiving their numbers, betook him straight to flight. Macduff pursued him with great hatred, till Macbeth, perceiving that he was hard at his back, leaped beside his horse, saying, "Thou traitor, what meaneth it that thou shouldst thus in vain follow me, who am not appointed to be slain by any creature that is born of a woman: come on, therefore, and receive thy reward"; and therewithal he lifted up his sword, thinking to have slain him. But Macduff, quickly leaping from his horse, answered, with his naked sword in his hand, "It is true, Macbeth; and now shall thy insatiable cruelty have an end: for I am even he that thy wizards told thee of, who was never born of my mother, but ripped out of her womb": therewithal he stepped unto him, and slew him. Then, cutting his head from his shoulders, he set it upon a pole, and brought it to Malcolm. This was the end of Macbeth, after he had reigned seventeen years over the Scottishmen. Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants, Messengers, and Apparitions. SCENE.- In the end of the fourth Act, in England; through the rest of the Play, in Scotland. Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches. I Witch. When shall we three meet again 2 Witch. When the hurlyburly's done, 3 Witch. That will be ere th' set of Sun. 2 Witch. Upon the heath. Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Exeunt. 1 The origin and sense of this word are given by Peacham in his Garden of Eloquence, 1577: "Onomatopeia, when we invent, devise, fayne, and make a name imitating the sound of that it signifyeth, as hurlyburly, for an uprore and tumultuous stirre." Thus also in Holinshed: "There were such hurlie burlies kept in every place, to the great danger of overthrowing the whole state of all government in this land.” 2 Graymalkin is an old name for a gray cat.-Paddock is toad; and toadstools were called paddock-stools. In the old witchcraft lore, witches are commonly represented as having attendants called familiars, which were certain animals, such as dogs, cats, toads, rats, mice, and some others. So in The Witch of Edmonton, by Rowley, Dekker, and Ford, ii. 1: I have heard old beldams Talk of familiars in the shape of mice, Rats, ferrets, weasels, and I wot not what, That have appear'd, and suck'd, some say, their blood. And in that play, mother Sawyer, the Witch, is attended by a black dog, or rather by a devil in that shape, who executes her commands. Generally, in fact, the familiar was supposed to be a devil assuming the animal's shape, and so waiting on the witch, and performing, within certain limits, whatever feats of mischief she might devise; the witch to pay his service with the final possession of her soul and body. 3 Anon! was the usual answer to a call; meaning presently or immediately. Here the toad, serving as familiar, is supposed to make a signal for the Witches to leave; and Anon! is the reply. 4 This is probably meant to signify the moral confusion or inversion which the Witches represent. They love elemental wars; and "fair is foul, and foul is fair" to them in a moral sense as well as in a physical. Alarums within. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENNOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Sergeant. *Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report, *As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt *The newest state.1 *Mal. This is the sergeant,2 *Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought *'Gainst my captivity. — Hail, brave friend ! *Say to the King thy knowledge of the broil *As thou didst leave it. *Serg. Doubtful it stood; *As two spent swimmers, that do cling together The multiplying villainies of nature Do swarm upon him from the Western Isles *And Fortune, on his damnèd quarrel 5 smiling, 1" The newest state" is the latest condition. -- 2 Sergeants, in ancient times, were not what are now so called; but men performing feudal military service, in rank next to esquires. To that end, or for that purpose; namely, to make him a rebcl. 4 Of, here, has the force of with, the two words being often used indiscriminately. Touching the men here referred to, Holinshed has the following: "Out of Ireland in hope of the spoile came no small number of Kernes and Galloglasses, offering gladlie to serve under him, whither it should please him to lead them." Barnabe Rich thus describes them in his New Irish Prognostication: "The Galloglas succeedeth the Horseman, and he is commonly armed with a scull, a shirt of maile, and a galloglasaxe. The Kernes of Ireland are next in request, the very drosse and scum of the countrey, a generation of villaines not worthy to live." 5 Quarrel was often used for cause. So in Bacon's essay Of Marriage and Single Life: "Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middie age, and old men's nurses; so as a man may have a quarrel to marry when he will." See, also, the quotation from Holinshed in scene 4, note 8. |