Pamela Hill has put flesh on the bones of the assumption that Shakespeare went to Scotland. The acceptance of this fact, presumed not least by the information in ?Macbeth?, together with the matter of the cryptic messages in his plays, has been well-founded by many historians. In ?A Tale of Strawberries? Shakespeare?s visit to Scotland happens in the years 1592-93, when theatres in London are closed because of plague. He tours Scotland with a small band of players. He arrives in time to hear rumours about the murder of a young earl in February, meets the suspected murderer Huntly and his possible instigator, the enigmatic King James VI. The king?s fears, jealousies and devious forms of revenge giving Shakespeare many new stories, several of which will be used in his plays, including ?Othello?. The people he meets, some of whom remember the king?s dead mother Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots), and the fate of those who had helped or hindered her and her son, are varied enough to make a kind of tapestry. They accept him as a writer and player, allowing him to know some of their secrets. The tale of the blood-stained strawberry embroidered handkerchief, produced by Mary Stuart herself, which passes from Huntly to his sister Jean, being but one of many. Following these journeys throughout Scotland, Shakespeare returns to London by Christmas 1594.