Monarch of the Glen

In 2005, our daughter Stephanie brought home a DVD from the library. It was the first season of the "Monarch of the Glen" television series, produced by Ecosse Films and BBC and set in Scotland. Daniel and I particularly were captivated by the cinematography, by the family oriented storylines, and we were quickly hooked. One by one, we either bought or borrowed each of the DVDs as were available to that point. We later learned that the final season of Monarch was in production, and that all of the props were going to be sold nearby the site of filming near Lagganmore in Scotland. Daniel was excited as I contacted the prop master and bought a few things. Shortly after I made contact with another person who went to the sale in Scotland and who bought a great deal, and I bought a considerable number of souvenirs from him which grace our home now. We also have a large collection of drawings, plans, continuity pictures, stationery, checkbooks, mail, etc. and likely have the largest "Monarch" memorabilia collection outside the UK. This was all to be Daniel's someday, souvenirs of his favorite program, collected through dumb luck and happy accident.
The Monarch of the Glen, Series 1-7 are available as BBC DVDs now. (Season 8 will be available shortly) Daniel absolutely loved these, and in an odd way, we began to feel as if the characters were actual family of ours. We were often reminded of our UK family members while watching the program. Strangely, when Daniel passed, I wanted to let all of the characters know. I somehow expected that they would all come and comfort us, and that somehow they knew that Daniel was their biggest fan. This is how very good the series were. They convinced us not only that they were a family, but they endeared us to them sufficiently that we left thinking they were OUR family as well. We wish all the crew, cameramen, series score composer, writers, producers, actors, propmasters, and continuity people best wishes as they move on to other projects. Thank you all for so many hours of enjoyment,on behalf of Daniel, myself and the rest of our family.






Update:       February 22, 2015

      For those of you with a deep and abiding love of this series, it was filmed at Ardverikie Castle in Scotland.

This is how it might look today.

How you might stay at  the Ardverikie Estate


 These are posts to this blog which I wrote later than this first one which relate in some way to the Monarch of the Glen series.

 http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2013/02/richard-briers-will-be-missed.html

 http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2012/01/dawn-steele-welcomes-daughter-coco.html

 http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2011/11/dawn-steele-is-due-anytime.html

 http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2011/06/simon-brint.html

 http://learnedfromdaniel.blogspot.com/2009/09/things-i-remember-that-daniel-loved.html