History

The town’s name, Portree, or Port Rìgh in Gaelic, means ‘King’s Port,’ and is said to commemorate a visit by King James V in 1540. For much of its history, however, it was a small crofting and fishing settlement. Its importance grew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as it became a key departure point for islanders emigrating during the Highland Clearances, a poignant history that is still part of the local story.

Portree’s most romanticised historical connection is with the fugitive Bonnie Prince Charlie. Following his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746, it was in a tavern in Portree that he said his final farewell to Flora MacDonald, the young woman who had bravely disguised him as her maid to help him escape the government troops. Today, the town’s character is shaped less by kings and princes and more by its role as the administrative and cultural centre for the whole of Skye.