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Portsoy

Coordinates: 57°40′59″N 2°41′17″W / 57.683°N 2.688°W / 57.683; -2.688
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Portsoy
Portsoy old harbour
Portsoy is located in Aberdeenshire
Portsoy
Portsoy
Location within Aberdeenshire
Population1,690 (2022)[1]
OS grid referenceNJ589660
• Edinburgh121 mi (195 km)
• London439 mi (707 km)
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBANFF
Postcode districtAB45
Dialling code01261
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
57°40′59″N 2°41′17″W / 57.683°N 2.688°W / 57.683; -2.688

Portsoy (Scottish Gaelic: Port Saoidh)[2] is a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Historically, Portsoy was in Banffshire until 1975. The original name may come from Port Saoithe, meaning "saithe harbour".[3] Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth coast of northeast Scotland, 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Aberdeen and 65 miles (105 km) east of Inverness. It had a population of 1,752 at the time of the 2011 census.[4]

History

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The Old Town Hall, now used as a venue for religious gatherings

Portsoy became a burgh of barony in 1550, under Sir Walter Ogilvie of Boyne Castle, and the charter was confirmed by parliament in 1581.[5][6]

From the 16th century until 1975, Portsoy was in the civil and religious parish of Fordyce but was administered by its own Town Council and Banffshire County Council.

Following the commencement of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, on 16th May 1975, lower Banffshire, including Portsoy, became part of Banff & Buchan District Council area which was, in turn, part of the larger Grampian Regional Council area.

A further reorganisation of local government in Scotland came via the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. With effect from 1st April 1996, 32 unitary authorities came into existence covering the whole of Scotland, Banff & Buchan District Council and Grampian Regional Council ceased to exist and Portsoy came under the jurisdiction of the Aberdeenshire Council unitary authority.[7]

The "old harbour" dates to the 17th century and is the oldest on the Moray Firth. The "new harbour" was built in 1825 for the growing herring fishery,[8] which at its peak reached 57 boats.[9] The Old Town Hall in The Square was completed in 1798.[10]

Economy

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Portsoy is known for local jewellery made from "Portsoy marble" (which is not marble, but rather serpentinite). The annual Scottish Traditional Boat Festival was started in 1993 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the old harbour.[11][12]

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Portsoy, notably the harbour, has featured in BBC period dramas The Camerons, The Shutter Falls and Peaky Blinders[13] and a Tennent's Lager advert parodying the 1949 film Whisky Galore!. It was also the principal location for Gillies MacKinnon's film Whisky Galore!, a 2016 remake of the 1949 film; Portsoy represented the fictional island of Todday.[14]

Transport

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Portsoy railway station was formerly the terminus of the Banff, Portsoy and Strathisla Railway branch of the Great North of Scotland Railway system.[15] It closed in 1968.

Notable people

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  • Jimmy MacBeath, the wandering singer, was born in Portsoy and is buried there
  • William Boyd, Canadian pathologist and medical textbook writer, was born in Portsoy
  • Eoin Jess, the former Aberdeen and Scotland footballer, was born in Portsoy
  • Jim Paterson, trombonist with Dexys Midnight Runners, was born and raised in Portsoy[16]

See also

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  • Shore Inn, public house dating to the mid 1700s

References

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  1. ^ "Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland database". Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  3. ^ "Scottish Parliament: Placenames collected by Iain Mac an Tailleir" (PDF). Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Locality 2010 / Portsoy". Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  5. ^ Groome, Francis H. "Portsoy". Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Ratification of the burgh in barony of the town of Portsoy, with certain other privileges". Records of the Parliament of Scotland. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Burgh of Portsoy". ScotlandsPlaces. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Portsoy". Banffshire Coast. Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  9. ^ McKean, Charles (1990). Banff & Buchan: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Mainstream Publications Ltd. ISBN 185158-231-2.
  10. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "The Square, The Hall (LB40311)". Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Scottish Traditional Boat Festival". Portsoy Community Enterprise. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  12. ^ Banffshire Journal, 11 Aug 2009 Archived 12 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Peaky Blinders filming locations: where is it set as Cillian Murphy and cast seen in Portsoy shooting season 6" – The Scotsman, 9 February 2021
  14. ^ "Whisky Galore (2016) - Port Soy". Scotland: The Movie Location Guide. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  15. ^ Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Frances Hindes Groome (1901), p. 1350
  16. ^ "Dexys Midnight Runner musician returns to Portsoy" – The Press and Journal, 15 June 2016

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portsoy.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Portsoy.
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