Lord Banquo, the Thane of Lochaber, is a semi-historical character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally of Macbeth and they meet the Three Witches together. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his descendants will be. Later, Macbeth in his lust for power sees Banquo as a threat and has him murdered by three hired assassins; Banquo's son, Fleance, escapes. Banquo's ghost returns in a later scene, causing Macbeth to react with alarm in public during a feast.
Théodore Chassériau (1819–1856), The Ghost of Banquo 1855
Macbeth and Banquo with the Witches by Henry Fuseli
Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Three Witches by John Wootton
Canada Lee as Banquo in the Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth (1936)
Lochaber is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation of Quoad Sacra parishes in the 19th century. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a district called Nether Lochaber, to beyond Spean Bridge and Roybridge, which area is known as Brae Lochaber or Braigh Loch Abar in Gaelic. Lochaber is now also used to refer to a much wider area, one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region. The main town of Lochaber is Fort William.
Loch Eil
The viaduct at Glenfinnan
Inverlochy Castle, caput of the provincial lordship of Lochaber and site of a possible earlier Pictish settlement