Lady Macbeth, wife of King Macbeth

Shakespeare's lady, and the real woman of that name, have nothing much in common except that particular drive which every female has in abundance, selfsurvival. The first was driven by the demons which were eventually to destroy her, and the latter, that feminine goal of survival. If Shakespeare's character was correct, then not only did she conspire in the murder of Duncan but of Macbeth's father also.

Let's start at the beginning. Macbeth's father Findlaech, Mormaer of Moray, was, next to King Malcolm, the most powerful man in the kingdom. His wife was a daughter of Malcolm whose son and Findlaech's heir is our young Macbeth. He also had two nephews called Malcolm and Gillacomgain to whom our subject, Gruach, was married . Of that union a son called Lulach was born. Now the two brothers conspired to murder Findlaech in the year 1020 leaving Macbeth and his mother to seek sanctuary in the court of Malcolm II. This deed made Gillacomgain Mormaer with Gruach at his side and, their son Lulach as heir to the title. The point I make here is that if Shakespeare's version of Gruach is correct then she must have had a part to play in that murder too, or at the very least, insider knowledge, but as we know from history this was not the case.