Birnam

'I will not be afraid of death and bane
Till Birnam Forest come to Dunsinane'

Well, Macbeth knows the game's up when a messenger tells him: 'I look'd toward Birnam, and anon me thought/The Wood began to move'. You can re-enact Shakespearean scenes on Dunsinane Hill, to the south-east of the village of Birnam.

Birnam is linked to its twin village, Dunkeld, by a seven-arched bridge by Thomas Telford. The village is surrounded by lovely Perthshire countryside, especially The Hermitage, a wooded gorge. The area inspired Beatrix Potter, who spent her childhood holidays here. She is celebrated in the Birnam Institute and the Beatrix Potter Garden.