Glamis is a small village in

Angus, Scotland Angus ( sco, Angus; gd, Aonghas) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City and Perth and Kinross. Main industries include ...

, located south of Kirriemuir and southwest of Forfar. It is the location of Glamis Castle, the childhood home of

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was th ...

History

Glamis village and the distant Grampians

The vicinity of Glamis has prehistoric traces – within the village there stands an intricately carved Pictish stone known as the Glamis Manse Stone. There are various other Pictish stones nearby the village, such as the Hunter's Hill Stone, and the Eassie Stone, which stands in the nearby village of Eassie. The last Alpínid king of Scotland,

Malcolm II Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( gd, Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich, label=Modern Scottish Gaelic; anglicized Malcolm II; c. 954 – 25 November 1034) was King of Scots from 1005 until his death. He was a son of King Kenneth II; but the name of his mot ...

, died at Glamis in 1034. Some other small fragments of Pictish stones from Glamis are preserved in the Meffan Institute in Forfar. On 20 October 1491 it was declared a

burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town ( burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

. This gave Glamis the right to hold a weekly market, and an annual fair which was held on 17 November, the feast day of

Saint Fergus In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

. This legacy can be seen in the mercat cross which still stands in the village square. The humorous poet

Agnes Lyon Agnes Lyon (1762–1840) was a Scottish humorous poet of the 18th and 19th century. Biography Born in Dundee in early 1762, Lyon was the eldest daughter of Agnes (née) Hamilton and John Ramsay L'Amy of Dunkenny, Forfarshire. Her younger brother ...

lived in the town. Glamis was the location of a flax spinning mill which in 1818 was leased by William Baxter, who later founded the major Dundee textile firm Baxter Brothers & Co Ltd.

Important buildings

Glamis is a well-preserved conservation village. Much of its historic core was built to house estate workers in the late 18th century. The Angus Folk Museum, run by the National Trust for Scotland, is located in the village. It is a museum of days past, recreating scenes of rural life such as a minister's parlour; a schoolroom; a laundry; and an

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

area, along with displays of tools, everyday artifacts, and old crafts. It is housed in an adapted row of single storey stone cottages, originally built in 1793. The parish church of Glamis, dedicated to

, was founded in the early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

period (probably 8th century AD). The present building is 18th-century with an interior recast in the 1930s, but retains a vaulted 15th-century aisle from the medieval church which preceded it. The aisle is the burial place
photo
of the Bowes-Lyon family, owners of Glamis Castle. One of its park gates is situated near the parish church. The

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

hosts various events throughout the year, notably the

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

evening when thousands of people traditionally turn out with picnics ranging from the small to the elaborate.

In Shakespeare

In the tragedy of ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

is the Thane of Glamis. He later becomes the Thane of Cawdor and the king of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, in fulfillment of the witches' prophecy. Even though Glamis is only a small village, several cities in Britain have streets named after it. This is due to the popularity of naming streets after Shakespearean characters and locations during the

Victorian Era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

References

{{Authority control Villages in Angus, Scotland

History

Important buildings

In Shakespeare

See also

References