Dunsinane, a hill and an estate in Collace parish, Perthshire. One of the Sidlaws, ' high Dunsinane hill ' culminates 8 miles NE of Perth, and, conical in form, with truncated summit, rises gradually on the NW side, steeply or murally on the other sides, to an altitude of 600 feet above the circumjacent ground, and 1012 above the level of the sea. It commands a fine view of Strathmore and Blairgowrie, and is crowned with vestiges of a strong ancient fort. This-Macbeth's Castle, according to Shakespeare and local tradition-occupied an oval area 210 feet long and 130 feet wide, and was defended both by a rampart and by fosses quite round the upper part of the hill. Excavations, made on its site in 1857, led to the discovery of a doorway and an underground chamber, and of an exquisitely worked bronze finger. comprises the entire parish, and has long been the property of the Nairnes, who held a baronetcy from 1704 to 1811, the fifth and last baronet, Sir William Nairne, having in 1786 been raised to the bench as Lord Dunsinane. The present proprietor, William Nairne, Esq. (b. 1852; suc. 1866), owns 3330 acres in the shire, valued at £3529 per annum. The mansion, 3 miles WNW of the hill, and 7 NNE of Perth, has a fine southern exposure, and is an elegant edifice, greatly improved and modernised about 1830, with extensive and beautiful grounds.Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.
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