Dunsinane Hill

"Dunsinane" redirects here. For the 2010 play of that title, see Dunsinane (play).

Dunsinane Hill
Dunsinane Hill from Black Hill.
Elevation	310 m (1,017 ft)
Prominence	c. 53 m
Listing	none
Location
Location	Perth & Kinross, Scotland
Range	Sidlaw Hills
Topo map	OS Landranger 53
OS grid	NO213316

Dunsinane Hill (/dʌnˈsɪnən/) is near the village of Collace in Perthshire, Scotland. It is mentioned in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

The village of Collace from Dunsinane Hill

It has the remains of two early forts. This is believed to be the site of a battle where Malcolm Canmore defeated Macbeth in 1054. In reality this was only a limited defeat for Macbeth, who was not fully defeated and killed by Malcolm Canmore until 1057, at Lumphannan near Aberdeen.

The pronunciation called for in Shakespeare's play has the accent on the first or third syllable, with a long 'a'. However the correct pronunciation has the accent on the second syllable, with a short 'a'. The correct spelling of the name is Dunsinnan, Gaelic dùn, 'fort, hill-fort', + 'Sinnan', perhaps a personal name.

The best access to Dunsinane Hill is from the rear of the Perthshire village of Collace on the Northern side of Dunsinane Hill, between the village and the quarry. There is a small parking area there suitable for 4 or 5 cars from which a clearly defined path leads directly to the summit.

The impressive ramparts are still very obvious, though the interior was much disturbed in the 19th century by antiquarians attracted to the site by its Shakespearean connection. Unfortunately, little of value was learned about the history of the monument from these unscientific excavations.

References

• Aitchison, Nick (1999). Macbeth: Man and Myth. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7509-1891-6. 

External links

• "Joe Dorward's website with a panoramic view from Black Hill showing Dunsinane Hill". Archived from the original on Jan 04, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20100703203724/writerguy.users.btopenworld.com/Panoramas/DunsinaneHill/DunsinaneHillWeborama.html.