Dunsinane Hill

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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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.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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