Dunsinane Hill

Location: Collace, Perth PH2 6JD
Opening times: 24 hours.
Entry: No charge.
Access: Limited car parking at beginning of walk.

Everyone has heard of Dunsinane Hill even if no one seems to know where it is.

By ‘everyone’, I mean everyone familiar with Shakespeare’s Macbeth, specifically the prophecy spoken in Act IV, Scene I and paraphrased an inordinate number of times thereafter: “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until / Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill / Shall come against him”.

And by ‘no one’, I mean everyone I told I was going / had been to Dunsinane Hill. The average response can be distilled down to, “Oh, right. From Macbeth” followed by, “Where is that exactly?”

I admit to not having a scooby myself, but a little bird, i.e., AA Route Planner, informed me that it is near the village of Collace, about 10 miles or 20 minutes northeast of Perth. To get there, I took the A94 out of Perth and joined the B953 at Balbeggie. I followed this east and turned left when Collace was signposted. I parked at some farm gates at a relatively sharp bend at some farm gates just prior to entering Collace, where there was space for two to three cars without blocking the gates. The pathway to Dunsinane Hill is signposted here but could easily be missed while driving. I was fortunate to get a space here, but if it was full I could have parked in Collace itself, just a short walk away.

The signpost for Dunsinane Hill. Can you believe literature’s most famous hill has not a single brown sign to its name, yet the David Douglas Memorial had three? Truly, the Brown Sign Gods are quite mad.

Dunsinane Hill may be best known for its association with Macbeth, but it has its own history. An information board tells me that there were once two separate forts on the hill, the largest of which dated to the Iron Age (1,000BCE – 500CE), with the smaller one constructed later. Early maps of the area referred to the hill enclosure as ‘Macbeth’s Castle’, but while it is possible these forts were occupied into the early mediaeval period, which ended around the time of the historical king Macbeth (c.1004 – 1057), there is no archaeological evidence to support this. However, it is traditionally the site of the very real Battle of Dunsinane (27 July 1054) where Macbeth was defeated by the joint forces of the Earl of Northumbria and Malcolm Canmore, later Malcolm III of Scotland. Contrary to Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth lived to fight another day, eventually succumbing to wounds sustained at the Battle of Lumphanan three years later.

The view up the hill from the parking area. Despite being a prominent natural feature, i.e., a hill, there was no sign of it anywhere once I reached the top of this section, so I followed the most obvious path, turning left at the end of the wooded area to the left of the path at the top of this photo. Naturally this proved to be the wrong way, so anyone considering this walk is advised to veer right at the end of the wood.

*The summit soon came into view once I was on the right path.*

The tell-tale contours evidencing former fortifications become increasingly obvious as I approach the top. Although barren now, it is incredible to think this hill was once populated by people for nearly a thousand years.

*More contours, more evidence of man’s hand in shaping the landscape. Outer ramparts and inner walls would have stood here once.*

*Looking down toward Collace village. This and the previous photograph make clear the strategic advantage of Dunsinane Hill*, its 360° view across the surrounding countryside allowing the defenders to see would-be attackers long before they reached the fort. In Macbeth, Siward and Malcolm disguise their numbers by ordering each man to carry a branch cut from Birnam Wood, thus fulfilling the prophecy. One can only assume they were well knackered, considering Birnam is sixteen miles away!

*A broken heart forms part of the cairn* *at the summit.*

Destination or Diversion?

Dunsinane Hill is only 1,020 feet high (or 310 metres) and is moderately steep, but how long it takes a person to go up and down the hill really depends on both their level of fitness and their reason for climbing the hill. I probably spent about an hour overall, and that is allowing for taking photographs, so would suggest that for anyone reasonably fit and above it is no more than a diversion. However, others may find it more challenging, or may simply decide to enjoy a picnic at the top, or be climbing Dunsinane as part of a longer walk. The bottom line is that Dunsinane Hill could be a destination or a diversion depending on fitness level and purpose for being there.

Destination or Diversion?

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