From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Shakespearean character. For the town in Scotland, see Banff and Macduff.

Macduff is a fictional character in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

A Scottish nobleman hostile to Macbeth's kingship from the start. He eventually becomes a leader of the crusade to unseat Macbeth. The crusade's mission is to place the rightful king, Malcolm. He is the Thane of Fife, and flees to England to Malcolm, the son of King Duncan when he suspects that the king was slain by Macbeth. He later fights Macbeth during a war to take back the throne; it has been prophesied that Macbeth cannot be killed by any "man of woman born," but Macduff reveals he was born by caesarean section, and kills him.

It is thought that a castle may have been built here by the MacDuff Thanes (or Earls) of Fife in the 11th century, at the time of Macbeth. The present castle was built by the Wemyss family in the 14th century. Edward I of England paid a visit here in 1304, staying with MacDuff's descendant, Michael Wemyss. However, Wemyss later joined forces with Robert the Bruce and Edward ordered the castle to be destroyed.

After the Wemyss family moved to nearby Wemyss Castle, it passed to the Livingstones and then in 1530 it was taken over by the Colvilles who built a second tower in the south-west corner and an enclosed courtyard. It is that second tower which still survives.

The castle, which is now owned by Historic Scotland, is supposedly haunted by a "Grey Lady", said to be a Mary Sibbald who was found guilty of theft and died in the castle.

While Macduff is a fictional character, the MacDuff Clan were the most powerful family in Fife in the medieval ages. The ruins of their castle now lie in East Wemyss cemetery.

• "Turn, hell-hound, turn!"
• "What, all my pretty chickens and their dam at one fell swoop?"
• "Despair thy charm; and let the angel whom thou still hast served tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd."

Note that the common English saying, "Lead on, Macduff", meaning "Go ahead and I'll follow you" is a misquote of Macbeth's final lines in the play: "Lay on Macduff, and damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'"

This theatre-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.