At that time it was held to be
unquestionable that the correct costume of Macbeth should be that of
the Highlander of the snuff-shop; but in later days it was discovered
that even the tartan was an anachronism in such case, and that Macbeth
and his associates must be clad in stripes, or plain colours. Even the
bonnet with the eagle's feather, which Sir Walter Scott induced Kemble
to substitute for his "shuttlecock" headdress of ostrich plumes, was
held to be inadmissible: the Macbeth of the antiquaries wore a conical
iron helmet, and was otherwise arrayed in barbaric armour. But when
Garrick first played Macbeth there were good reasons why the reform to
be introduced by Macklin at a later date could not be attempted. Mr.
Jackson, the actor from Edinburgh, who wrote a history of the Scottish
stage, records that, being engaged at Drury Lane, he had resolved to
make his first appearance in the part of Young Norval, in the tragedy
of "Douglas." He writes: "I had provided for the purpose, before I
left Edinburgh, a Highland dress, accoutred _cap-a-pie_ with a
broadsword, shield, and dirk, found upon the field of Culloden.
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