Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 9.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

[196] equality, and every year visited his provinces to hear the complaints of the poor, and as far as he could prevent it, suffered none of them to be oppressed. But as these virtues procured for him the affection of the good, so they weakened his authority among the lovers of turbulence. Duncan in the seventh year of his reign, was waylaid by Macbeth and killed, but not in the manner as stated by Shakespeare.

Duncan married a daughter of Siward, Earl of Northumberland under Hardicanute and Edward the Confessor. Under the latter reign Siward assisted the Crown in resisting the rebellion of Earl Godwin; and such was the vigor of his movements that Godwin was defeated, and, for a time, obliged to quit the kingdom. After this, Siward gained much reputation by his military operations in Scotland against Macbeth.

Knight thus speaks of him: “This was the Siward of Shakespeare; war-like Siward; old Siward, the protector of his grandson Malcolm, the son of the murdered Duncan, the father of young Siward, who perished on the battlefield where Macbeth fell. ‘ Where were his wounds?’ said the stout old Earl. ‘In the front.’ --‘ Then I would wish no better fate.’ ”

It is stated that when he found himself in the arms of death, he caused his servants to clothe him in complete armor, and sitting erect on his couch, with spear in hand, declared that in that position, the only one worthy of a warrior, he would patiently await the fatal moment. Duncan had two sons by his wife, daughter of Siward. The eldest son,

II.--Malcolm, having defeated Macbeth, was proclaimed King at Scoon, April, 1057. It is stated that, now being established on the throne, a secret conspiracy was formed against his life. The plot being revealed to Malcolm, he invited the chief conspirator to court, and, having engaged him in a familiar conversation, led him to a retired valley. The King being alone with the conspirator, after upbraiding him with the favor conferred upon him, confronted him with a detail of the plot, and added, “Now we are both armed; attack me if you dare, and obtain by your valor, the prize you seek by treachery.” The surprised noble threw himself to the ground, and obtained pardon from one not less merciful than brave. Malcolm married Magaret Atheling, the granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, and the daughter of Edward Atheling, by Agatha, daughter of the Emperor Henry II, of Germany. In the year 1068 Edgar Atheling, with his mother and two sisters, privately withdrew from the court of William the Conqueror, and took shipping, with the intention of seeking refuge in Hungary; but the