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by james macgregor | July 20th, 2001 | contact: james@netribution.co.uk

To Be or Not To Be...in Scotland

Here’s a selection of film locations where Scotland stood in for somewhere else…

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Film: Hamlet

Location: Dunnottar Castle

Director: Franco Zeffirelli

Starring: Mel Gibson, Glenn Close, Alan Bates

The shooting script


Hamlet may be the great Dane, but two Scottish castles star as Elsinore in Zeffirelli’s version of the Shakespeare classic, rather than the real thing, Denmark’s Kronborg castle. Exterior shots were done at Dunnottar, on a rock formation perched 160ft above the sea. Zeffirelli first saw Dunnottar in 1989, and later told writer Brian Pendreigh, "There are rocks you have never seen and there is not one tree. It looks like something from another planet." His love of the place didn’t preclude making a few alterations: Zeffirelli had a facade built to extend the castle ruins. Blackness Castle, near Linlithgow, provided some interior locations. They used the hall in Stern Tower for Ophelia’s room, and shot other scenes at the entrance to the tower.

The real location

Located near Stonehaven, south of Aberdeen. Despite its seemingly impregnable location, Dunnottar changed hands repeatedly. England’s Edward III captured it in 1330, but the Scots nabbed it back. Mary Queen of Scots visited in 1562. In 1651 the Scottish Crown Jewels were hidden here for safekeeping, and 70 men held out for eight months to keep them from falling into Cromwell’s hands. In 1685, 167 Covenanters were imprisoned here in a room with only one window affording a sea view. After the Jacobite rebellion the castle was abandoned, and fell into ruins.

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Film: The House of Mirth

Location: Glasgow City Chambers

Director: Terence Davies

Starring: Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, Eric Stoltz

The shooting script

"Don’t forget my prescription. It’s on the bureau." Mrs Hatch gives her list of orders to Lily Bart as they descend the marble stairs of some glamorous New York building. Poor Lily Bart. This is the beginning of the end for her. Cast out of society she has found employment as assistant to Mrs Hatch, a woman whose sole aim is to use her connections to get into society. Actually the building is Glasgow City Chambers, but no matter. It looks right. When director Terence Davies set about filming his lavish adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel concerning the social mores of turn-of-the-century New York, he scouted locations in Albany, Philadelphia and Baltimore. None had architecture with the kind of monumental Victorian feel he wanted, so Davies ended up bringing the production to Glasgow for the nine-week shoot. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum also stood in for a Manhattan train station.

The real location

The design of the City Chambers was the result of not one, but two different competitions, with the commission eventually won by Paisley-born, Glasgow-trained William Young. With a budget of £150,000, he created a grandiose building full of intricate mosaics, trompe l’oeil paintwork, and generous helpings of Carrera marble. In 1883 more than half a million spectators watched as the foundation stone was laid by Lord Provost John Ure. Five years later, Queen Victoria herself performed the inauguration ceremony.


Film: Monty Python And The Holy Grail

Location: Doune Castle

Directors: Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Starring: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman

The shooting script

There’s a certain irony that Arthur, the most English of legends, was relocated to Scotland in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Arthur and his knights gallivant around Scotland on a holy quest to find Christ’s drinking vessel. The principal location of their antics is Doune Castle, situated between Dunblane and Stirling. Doune Castle appears as the Castle of Guy de Lombard, where Sir Lancelot causes chaos, and Anthrax, where Sir Galahad has an interesting offer! Other locations used include the Cave of Caerbannog at Loch Tay where Arthur learns of Tim the Enchanter, and Rannoch Moor, for the scenes after the Bridge of Death. Castle Stalker, 25 miles north of Oban, is used as the castle which supposedly holds the grail. The current caretaker is happy to demonstrate the use of coconut shells for horse hooves on request.

The real location

Founded on the origins of a Roman fort, the castle was built for the powerful Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, who was Regent of Scotland from 1389-1399. He tried to ensure he remained there by starving his brother’s eldest son and the castle’s rightful heir to death, but the building failed to stay in Stewart hands after the Duke’s death, as his son Murdoch was killed by James I. The castle then stayed in the hands of the Crown, later being passed on as a dower house for the consorts of James II, III and IV. It also housed the exiled Mary Queen of Scots in 1545, before finally being seized by the Jacobites in 1745 and used as a prison.

Film: Mrs Brown

Location: Duns Castle

Director: John Madden

Starring: Judi Dench and Billy Connolly

The shooting script

Queen Victoria never lived at Berwickshire’s Duns Castle, but it made a handsome substitute for her true Scottish residence, Balmoral, during the filming of Mrs Brown. Producer Sarah Curtis explains that the decision to film at Duns was precipitated by the importance of capturing the feel of royal life. "The grand opulence had to be there on the screen. Fortunately, we live in a country that is filled with palaces and stately homes." But they were unable to use current royal domiciles because of the somewhat controversial nature of the film. Madden also wanted to contrast lavish palace life with the wildness of the Highlands, and wound up shooting in some of the worst weather imaginable. "Scotland threw absolutely everything it has at us within the first six days," said Curtis.

The real location

Duns Castle was built around a 14th century peel tower given to the Earl of Moray by Robert the Bruce. In 1696, the Earl of Tweedale bought the castle for his son, William Hay of Drumelzier, and the Hay family have occupied this tourist attraction ever since. Maybe tourists come to see the ghost of Alexander Hay, who died at the Battle of Waterloo, and is said to haunt his ancestral home. The Scottish Covenanters used the castle as their base, and later, the National Covenant was signed there.

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Film: The Wicker Man

Location: Castle Kennedy, near Stranraer

Director: Robin Hardy

Starring: Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland

The shooting script


The neo-pagan cult classic is supposedly set on the Summer Isles, a small group of islands at the mouth of Loch Broom in the Inner Hebrides, off Ullapool. However, as these islands have been uninhabited for some time, the film cunningly uses several locations on the West Coast to masquerade as a mountainous island. Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on the island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a local girl, and finds himself led into dream-like intrigue involving pagan ritual and strange sexual practices. Castle Kennedy was used for the surreal naked dances and colourful May Day procession that Woodward stumbles upon during his investigation. The stone circle seen at the location was fake.

The real location

Castle Kennedy, near Stranraer, has been described as one of Britain’s most dramatically located gardens. Seventy-five acres in size, its mild winter climate and acid soil nourishes a range of plants from the Southern hemisphere and allows trees to grow much taller than in cooler parts of the country. The castle itself doesn’t amount to much these days, having been burnt down in 1716. Much of the garden’s design was established by the Second Earl of Stair, a military commander in 1720. A British ambassador to Paris, his ambitions for the gardens were to create something as spectacular as Versailles. Sadly they were neglected after his death, but were resurrected at the end of the 19th century by the eighth Earl.


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