Menteith
Encyclopedia
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, roughly comprises the territory between the Teith
River Teith
The River Teith in Scotland flows from the north-west into the River Forth near Drip north-west of Stirling.- Etymology :The name comes from the Scottish Gaelic Uisge Theavich, which translates into English as the "pleasant river".- Course :...
and the Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
. The region is named for the river Teith, but the exact sense is unclear, early forms including Meneted, Maneteth and Meneteth.
First recorded as the Mormaerdom of Menteith, it became the Earldom of Menteith. Gille Críst
Gille Críst, Earl of Menteith
Gille Críst is the first known Mormaer of Menteith, but almost certainly not actually the first. He is named in a charter of King Máel Coluim IV, dated to 1164, regarding the restoration of Scone Priory, which had recently been destroyed by fire...
is the first known mormaer
Mormaer
The title of Mormaer designates a regional or provincial ruler in the medieval Kingdom of the Scots. In theory, although not always in practice, a Mormaer was second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a toisech.-Origin:...
. The lands and the earldom passed to Walter Comyn (d. 1258) in right of his wife Isabella
Isabella, Countess of Menteith
Isabella, Countess of Menteith was the eldest daughter of Muireadhach II, Mormaer of Menteith. When the old mormaer died without legitimate male heir in 1233, the province passed to Isabella....
, and then through Isabella's sister Mary
Mary I, Countess of Menteith
Maire inghean Mhuireadhaich or Mary, daughter of Muireadhach II, Mormaer of Menteith, was Countess of Menteith, successor to her sister Isabella . She inherited the title from her father, and married Walter Bailloch, son of Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland...
to Stewarts
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
, and finally to the Grahams, becoming extinct in 1694.
The Lake of Menteith
Lake of Menteith
The Lake of Menteith , is a loch in Scotland, located on the Carse of Stirling, the flood plain of the upper reaches of the rivers Forth and Teith, upstream of Stirling. Until the early 19th century, the more usual Scottish name of Loch of Menteith was used...
, situated 24 miles south of Loch Venachar
Loch Venachar
Loch Venachar is a freshwater loch in Stirling district, Scotland, situated between Callander and Brig o' Turk...
, measures 14 miles long by 1 mile broad, and contains three islands. On Inchmahome (Innis MoCholmaig, island of St Colmaig) stand the ruins of Inchmahome Priory
Inchmahome Priory
Inchmahome Priory is situated on Inchmahome , the largest of three islands in the centre of Lake of Menteith, close to Aberfoyle, Scotland....
, an Augustinian priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
founded in 1238 by Walter Comyn, and built in the Early English
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
style, with an ornate western doorway. Mary, Queen of Scots, when a child of four, lived on the island for a few weeks before her departure to Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle
Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...
, and on to France in 1548. On Inch Talla stands the ruined tower of the earls of Menteith, dating from 1428.
The village of Port of Menteith
Port of Menteith
Port of Menteith is a village and parish in the Stirling district of Scotland, the only significant settlement on the Lake of Menteith. It was established as a burgh of barony, then named simply Port, in 1457 by King James III of Scotland...
stands on the north shore of the lake.
In Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Menteith is "a noblemen of Scotland," appearing in Act V, allied with Malcom et al. to oppose Macbeth's usurpation.