CAWDOR

village and castle in the Highland council area, historic county of Nairnshire, Scotland, south of Nairn, near Inverness. The local castle, according to a now discredited tradition perpetuated by Shakespeare, was the scene of the murder of King Duncan I by Macbeth, the thane of Cawdor, in 1040. The oldest part of the present castle dates from 1454, however, and there is no evidence of an earlier structure. The castle was considerably enlarged in the 17th century and remains the seat of the earls of Cawdor. Pop. (1981) 617.