James Ross at one time kept the Broadford Hotel, which is at the end of my road and is credited with being the home of Drambuie. There is a mixture of history, myth and legend here......
The legend is after the failed Jacobite rebellion in 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie fled to Skye where he was sheltered by Capt. John Mackinnon. On leaving Skye to return to Europe he gave the Mackinnons the recipe for his personal elixir which was a mix of whisky, honey, herbs and spices. Over a hundred years later one of the Mackinnons gave the recipe to James Ross who produced a drink like the one we have now, which was really for local family and friends. Sadly he died relatively young and his widow had to sell the recipe, to get the money to fund the childrens'education, to another Mackinnon family who then commercialised it.
This is the memorial looking north-west towards Irishman's Point
Just around the corner from the memorial is a bench with this plaque
(Professor) Ross Mitchell was a pioneering paediatrician who was born on Skye but was sent south to Glasgow to be educated. It makes me wonder whether he would have been able to do what he did without the benefits from the sale of his grandfather's recipe.
