During one of the progresses of James I. on passing the gate of St. John's
College, at Oxford, his majesty was saluted by three youths, representing
the weird sisters (sibyllae,) who, in Latin hexameters, bade the
descendant of Banquo hail, as king of Scotland, king of England, and king
of Ireland; and his queen as daughter, sister, wife, and mother of kings.
The occasion is memorable in dramatic history, if it be true that this
address, or a translation of it, led Shakspeare to write on the story of
Macbeth. Much has been said for the probability of this supposition; but
surely the legend of Macbeth and Banquo must have been abundantly
discoursed of in England between James's accession and the year when this
pageant was exhibited; and Shakspeare could find every circumstance
alluded to by the Oxford speakers, and many more in Holinshed's Chronicle,
which, through a great part of Macbeth, he has undoubtedly taken for his
guide.--_Ibid_.
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