HIDDEN TREASURE

Evening Star, Issue 19663, 16 September 1927, Page 1

HIDDEN TREASURE

DUHSINANE'S " POT OF GOLD " In thrro a hidden trcasuro-a pot of gold—hidden on Duusinano Hill? punsinanc Hill, eight miles from Perth, is oue of the Sidlaw range separating the Carse of Gowrie from Strathmore. It seems to have been llio abode of some mighty man of old for locally it is known as the Giant's Hill. At its base a long narrow stone embedded in tbo ground is pointed out as tbo giant's grave, and a lingo stone standing alono ia behoved to have been thrown there by a giant's hand. Hut it is through its association with Shakespeare’s ‘ Macbeth ’ that Dunsinane Hill is interesting. There, I,oooft above sea level, Macbeth built a strongly-forti-fied castle in order, Hollinehed tells ns, he might the more cruelly oppress his people. The site was eminently suited for this purpose, dominating, as it did, the most important part of his kingdom. To transport the material to this height was a big undertaking, but Macbeth solved the difficulty by calling on his nobles or thanes in turn to come with their men and do their share of the work.Then, when the castle was completed, began that reign of oppression and crucify that effectually alienated his thanes, and drove them to serve under the banner of Malcolm, son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had murdered some years before. But Macbeth viewed with equanimity the desertion of his thanes, for had not the witch at Forres told him — Macbeth shall never vanquished bo until Groat Birnum Wood to high Duusiane Hill Shall come against him. ELEVENTH CENTURY CAMOUFLAGE. As one stands on the top of tho hill on tho site of tho castle, few traces of which can now be seen, looking towards the north tho long, wide, fertile plain of Strathmore stretches out below. A long range of hills outlines the horizon —broken in one part by a narrow gap. It was through this cleft that Birmun" wood—the eleventh century camouflage for an army—came towards Dunsinane. , They' were still a long way off when the soldiers threw, away the branches and stood revealed as Malcolm’s army, and there was ample time for Macbeth to prepare his iii-my for battle, Iml thoroughly demoralised by tbo fear of his approaching doom, he tied to tho plain below to meet ins death at the hands of Macduff. But, it is said that before Macbeth fled from Inn castle he buried a golden pot or kettle full of gold somewhere on the hill. About the middle of last century excavations carried out on tho supposed sity of (he castle brought to light traces of a moat and ramparts, an underground chamber and doorway, and a bronze linger ring in the form of a double spiral serpent, exquisitely fashioned; but no pot of gold was foun d. Ono day the picks of the diggers struck against a hard substance. As the earth was cleared from it amidst a good deal of excitement, a gleam of reddish gold wa.s seen, and hopes ran high But it was only a discolored stone. There is one due to the whereabouts of tho treasure. It says: When the sim shines on tho Milntcn Mill wheel, It shines on the lid of the kctllo. The finder is also described. It will bo found by a woman with auburn hair, the seventh child of a seventh child. As oliilrlreu, wo heard tho story at our mother's knee, and, as the teller fulfilled these conditions, it was a. childish dream that one day she would have sufficient enterprise: (o seek for and find the pot of gold. But alas! she never had. So that drcam_ never wa.s, and now never can he, realised.— Edith Willsband, in the ‘ Weekly Scotsman.’