Macbeth's Cairn *

Region: Aberdeen(shire) & Moray

In this region: <<<<<  >>>>>

Description:

It is the year 1057. After a desperate battle with the invading army of Earl Siward of Northumbria near the site of Dunsinane hill fort, Macbeth was forced to retreat across the foothills of the Grampian mountains. He reached Lumphanan where his forces were caught. Macbeth was pulled from his horse and dragged to a stone where his head was cut off. Local legend records the decapitation stone as standing near the present day farm of Cairnbeathie.

He was temporarily buried under stones a mile or so away, now known as Macbeth’s Cairn, recognizable as a ring of trees on the slope north west of Lumphanan along the A980.