Bolshan, an estate in Kinnell parish, Forfarshire. It belonged anciently to Arbroath abbey; passed, before the middle of the 15th century, to Sir John Ogilvy of Lentrathen; was sold, in 1634, to the first Earl of Southesk; went to the crown in 1716, on the attainder of the fifth Earl; was sold, in 1720, to the York Buildings' Company; and, on the bankruptcy of that company in 1764, was purchased by Sir James Carnegie of Pittarrow. A castellated mansion, the special residence of the Ogilvy family, stood on the estate, and had a chapel with a cemetery; but was entirely removed in the latter part of last century.

(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)