a Scotch nobleman in the eleventh century, nearly allied to Duncan, King of Scotland, and the hero of Shakspeare's tragedy of Macbeth. The most authentic account of Macbeth represents him as the vassal of Thorfinn, a Norwegian prince, then master of the north of Scotland. Being called upon in the Norseman's absence to defend his territory against King Duncan, who attempted to regain it, Macbeth met the Scots king at Elgin, A.D. 1040, defeated his army, slew himself, and seized his crown. After various fruitless attempts to regain his crown, Malcolm Kenmore, son of the late king, succeeded, by the assistance of Siward, Earl of Northumberland, after a battle in which Macbeth was slain, in gaining possession of his father's throne. (See Skene's Highlanders of Scotland, vol. i., p. 115.)