Glenbogle
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
estate, created by Compton Mackenzie
Compton Mackenzie
Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE was a writer and a Scottish nationalist.-Background:Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, but many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his grandfather Henry Compton, a well-known...
in his Highland novels, and featured in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Monarch of the Glen. The novels place the estate near Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. It is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William....
(one of the laird's titles is "The Ben Nevis"), but the series is filmed in and around the Cairngorms
Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are a mountain range in the eastern Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain of the same name - Cairn Gorm.-Name:...
, Badenoch
Badenoch
Badenoch is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by the Cairngorms and Braemar, on the south by Atholl and the Grampians, and on the west by Lochaber...
and Strathspey
Strathspey, Scotland
Strathspey is the area around the strath of the River Spey, Scotland, in both the Moray council area and the Badenoch and Strathspey committee area of Highland....
, with Ben Nevis replaced by the fictional Ben Bogle.
In the books and series, the estate has historic connections with the neighbouring Kilwillie and Drumsticket estates. In the books, it also has connections with the islands of Little Todday and Great Todday, best known from Mackenzie's Whisky Galore.
Locations in the estate mentioned in the books include Ben Booey, Ben Glass and Ben Gorm (the Three Sisters of Glenbogle); Loch na Craosniach (the Loch of the Spear); Glenbristle; the River Bogle; Strathdiddle; Loch Hoch; and Drumcockie Moor. Loch Hoch and the Three Sisters mark the borders of the estate. The TV series has added more locations, including Ben Bogle (as mentioned above) and Glenbogle Loch. The series also introduced Glenbogle town; in the books there is specifically no town near the estate.
In the TV series, some of the town scenes are filmed in Kingussie
Kingussie
Kingussie is a small town in the Highland region of Scotland. It is one settlement in the Highland Council ward of Badenoch and Strathspey, and is the capital of the district of Badenoch. It lies beside the A9 road, although the old route of the A9 serves as the town's main street...
and Laggan
Laggan, Badenoch
Laggan is a village in Badenoch, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is beside the River Spey, about 10 km west of Newtonmore. The A86 road passes through the village and crosses the river on a nearby bridge...
, while scenes involving the loch use Loch Laggan
Loch Laggan
Loch Laggan is a freshwater loch situated east of Fort William, in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. The A86 road from Spean Bridge to Kingussie follows along its north bank...
. The majority of the program was filmed on and around the Ardverikie Estate situated on the South-East bank of Loch Laggan, with Ardverikie House depicting Glenbogle Castle.
Several scenes in the series were set at Glenbogle Station. These were filmed at Broomhill Station, near Nethy Bridge
Nethy Bridge
Nethy Bridge is a small village in Strathspey in the Highland Council Area of Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Abernethy and Kincardine...
. This station is the terminus of the Strathspey Railway, a restored steam railway.
The MacDonalds of Glenbogle have a traditional rivalry with the MacIntoshes. According to the novels, Hector of the Great Jaw speared eleven MacIntoshes and drowned them in Loch na Craosniach (hence, presumably, the name). His descendant, the ninth laird (also named Hector), was involved in numerous disputes with the MacIntoshes, responding to one outrage by roasting 45 of them in a church. The series shows the feud continuing to the present day; in the third series, Stuart MacIntosh plans to avenge his clan by buying the estate from the bank, should the MacDonalds lose it.
The estate's near bankruptcy has been a recurring theme in the series. Attempts to rectify this have included a wildlife preserve (with wolves), a jam-making concern (Glenbogle Preserves), and a plan to make Glenbogle Castle into a hotel. It may be assumed that the first two enterprises are continuing; the third failed to gain start-up capital.
Lairds of Glenbogle
- Hugh MacDonald (dates unknown)
- Hector MacDonald (Hector of the Great Jaw) (novels) (c. 1482)
- Hector MacDonald (novels) (c. 1546) (9th MacDonald of Glenbogle)
- Rory MacDonald (Rory of the Silver Arm) (1656–????)
- Hector MacDonald (novels) (c. 19th century?) (20th MacDonald of Glenbogle)
- Albert Alastair 'Bertie' MacDonald (Lloyd OwenLloyd OwenLloyd Owen is a British actor of Welsh descent. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr...
) (18??–1900) (killed in the Boer WarSecond Boer WarThe Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
) - Hamish MacDonald (Callum Williams) (1900–19??)
- Donald MacDonaldDonald MacDonaldDonald MacDonald may refer to:*Donald MacDonald , Scottish military officer who saw service for France, Charles Edward Stuart, and Great Britain...
(novels) (c. 1930s) (23rd MacDonald of Glenbogle) - Hector Naismith MacDonaldHector Naismith MacDonaldHector Naismith MacDonald, Laird of Glenbogle MC, is a fictional character in the BBC TV series Monarch of the Glen. Hector is played by English actor Richard Briers.-Plot:...
(Richard BriersRichard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
) (19??–2001) - Archie MacDonaldArchie MacDonaldArchibald 'Archie' Horatio Hector MacDonald is a fictional character in the BBC TV series Monarch of the Glen. Archie is played by Scottish actor Alastair Mackenzie....
(Alastair MacKenzieAlastair MackenzieAlastair Mackenzie is a Scottish actor. He was born in 1970 in Trinafour, near Perth and educated at Westbourne House School and Glenalmond College in Perthshire.Mackenzie left home at the age of 18 and moved to London...
) (2001–2003) - Paul Bowman-MacDonald (Lloyd OwenLloyd OwenLloyd Owen is a British actor of Welsh descent. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr...
) (2004—) - Donald Ulysses MacDonaldDonald Ulysses MacDonaldDonald Ulysses MacDonald is a fictional character in the TV series Monarch of the Glen. Donald is played by English Doctor Who actor Tom Baker....
(Tom BakerTom BakerThomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
) (2004 (briefly))