Clan Skene/De Skene, Forbes and Douglas Ancestry

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The story of "Forest of Stocket"

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The story of "Forest of Stocket" where the "scene" took place with King Malcolm III (son of the killed King Duncan) being threatend by a wolf and the future Clan Skene second son (hero) killed the wolf with his dagger:

In later days, King Robert the Bruce was very ill and sought protection in Aberdeen-port, when recovered from illness he made a vast donation to the brurgess of Aberdeen called the Freedom Lands: the Forest of Stocket. The Aberdeen inhabitants received not only this vast land but all mills, farms, etc., on it. To the west, its border was the border with the lands that Clan Skene owned. In order to prevent misunderstandings, the Aberdeen inhabitants (and Clan Skene members, perhaps) made the border of the Freedom Lands clearly visible by placing borderstones around the Forest of Stocket and the Freedom Lands (in sixteenth century) -- more than one hunderd stones in total, of which the majority still exists (Refer to March Stones Aberdeen). Unhappily enough, the Clan Skene members forgot to mark the rest of their own territory, which resulted in a legal battle with their eastern neighbors (family of the Keith Marischal) for centuries, spending almost all their money on court proceedings and bringing forth countless wittnesses and counterwitnesses (Memorials..., p. 24), resulting in several court orders sometimes in favor of the Skene clan, but as many times against them, where the Skenes accused their opponents of forgery and fraud, as told by William Forbes Skene.

Source: Age Lubbers, with links for Memorials... and King Robert the Bruce added by James "Jamie" Arthur Johnson

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Clan Skene connections to
Shakespeare's Macbeth

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Clan Skene has a historical connection to the events depicted in Shakespeare's Macbeth although the clan itself is not directly mentioned in the play. The connection lies in the historical figures and events that inspired Shakespeare's tragedy.

Historical Context:
The play Macbeth is set in 11th-century Scotland and dramatizes the rise and fall of Macbeth, who becomes king after murdering King Duncan. The historical Macbeth was a real king of Scotland, ruling from 1040 to 1057, and his reign followed that of King Duncan I.

Clan Skene's Legend:
Clan Skene's traditional origin story involves a member of the Robertson clan who saved the life of King Malcolm III by killing a wolf with his dagger. This event is said to have occurred in the Royal Forest of Stocket. Malcolm III was the son of Duncan I, the king whose murder is central to the plot of Macbeth. The clan's name and arms, featuring three wolves' heads, impaled on daggers, commemorate this legendary event.

Shakespeare's Depiction:
Shakespeare's play is a fictionalized account that draws on historical figures but takes significant creative liberties. The play presents Macbeth as a tyrant who murders King Duncan to seize the throne, driven by ambition and the prophecies of three witches. This portrayal is not historically accurate and was likely influenced by the political climate of Shakespeare's time, particularly the reign of King James VI and I, who was a descendant of Malcolm III through the House of Bruce and the House of Stewart.

William Forbes Skene:
William Forbes Skene, a notable member of Clan Skene, was a Scottish historian and writer who contributed to the understanding of Scottish history and clan genealogies. His works, such as Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, provide insights into the historical context of the period depicted in Macbeth.

In summary, while Clan Skene is not directly featured in Macbeth, the clan's legendary origins are intertwined with the historical figures and events that inspired Shakespeare's play. The clan's connection to King Malcolm III, the son of King Duncan, places them within the broader historical narrative that Shakespeare dramatized.

Source: Age Lubbers, with various links added by James "Jamie" Arthur Johnson

I (James "Jamie" Arthur Johnson) will add another (and certain) connection from Clan Skene to MacBeth: My ancestor Agnes (Forbes) Skene is daughter of James Forbes, son of Elizabeth/Mary (Douglas) Forbes, daughter of Princess Mary Stewart Douglas, daughter of King Robert III (John Stewart) and Annabella Drummond. Both King Robert III and Annabella trace back to Malcolm III "Canmore", son of Dunstan who was slain by MacBeth. King Robert III's father King Robert II further traces back to Malcolm through both parents -- Walter, Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert the Bruce. Further, Robert the Bruce traces back to Malcolm through both of his parents -- Robert De Brus, Earl of Carrick, and his wife Margaret/Marjory, Countess of Carrick. Eventually, as seen on my website, all the Wyvern flags follow lines back to Alfred the Great through Saint Margaret, wife of Malcolm "Canmore". So, if one follows those flags, one gets to St. Margaret, her husband Malcolm III "Canmore" and his father Duncan. So, through the slain Duncan's son Malcolm III "Canmore" we eventually get to Agnes (Forbes) Skene through multiple lines.

Stone of Scone

Age Lubbers explained about the possible origin of either the territorial or the clan name Skene from the town of Skene in Sweden and the province of Skone in Sweden. Now we turn to the extra intriguing part of the story, though there's no real evidence (and caution must be used):

Prince Charles was crowned as King of England, recently, as tradition prescribed "on the Stone of Scone" (and in the throne of Scone). This Stone of Scone is a very old "throneshaped" stone, stolen by the English from the Scottish who used it to crown their kings in the Middle Ages. The stone was found in the ruins of the castle of Macbeth. That castle was called Scone Castle (near Perth, Scotland). When workers were digging, the soil caved in and they fell into a pit where they found themselves in the cellar of the castle. There they found the stone or throne of Scone, which was hidden there by (presumably) Macbeth. NOTE: This story needs further investigation as any connection with the Clan Skene is uncertain.

Wikipedia article "Stone of Scone" has the following:

"A letter to the editor of the Morning Chronicle, dated 2 January 1819, states:

On the 19th of November, as the servants belonging to the West Mains of Dunsinane-house, were employed in carrying away stones from the excavation made among the ruins that point out the site of Macbeth's castle here, part of the ground they stood on suddenly gave way, and sank down about six feet, discovering a regularly built vault, about six feet long and four wide. None of the men being injured, curiosity induced them to clear out the subterranean recess, when they discovered among the ruins a large stone, weighing about 500 lb [230 kg], which is pronounced to be of the meteoric or semi-metallic kind. This stone must have lain here during the long series of ages since Macbeth's reign. Beside it were also found two round tablets, of a composition resembling bronze. On one of these two lines are engraved, which a gentleman has thus deciphered. -- 'The sconce (or shadow) of kingdom come, until Sylphs in air carry me again to Bethel.' These plates exhibit the figures of targets for the arms. From time immemorial it has been believed among us here, that unseen hands brought Jacob's pillow from Bethel and dropped it on the site where the palace of Scoon now stands. A strong belief is also entertained by many in this part of the country that it was only a representation of this Jacob's pillow that Edward sent to Westminster, the sacred stone not having been found by him. The curious here, aware of such traditions, and who have viewed these venerable remains of antiquity, agree that Macbeth may, or rather must, have deposited the stone in question at the bottom of his Castle, on the hill of Dunsinane (from the trouble of the times), where it has been found by the workmen. This curious stone has been shipped for London for the inspection of the scientific amateur, in order to discover its real quality.[1]”

¹ "The stone of Destiny". ↗ English Monarchs. www.englishmonarcs.co.uk. 2004-2005. Retrieved 30 August 2014.