Fresgoe is the main harbour for the village of Reay

Reay

Reay is a village which has grown around Sandside Bay on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. It is within the historic Parish of Reay and the historic county of Caithness....

, overlooking Sandside Bay in Caithness

Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...

 in the Scottish highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...

. It was built in the early 1830s, by a Major William Innes, primarily to encourage fishing and was also used on the north coast trading route.

Of the main features in Fresgoe's history was the Fresgoe Inn (now called Fresgoe House); this was at the harbour and was used by ship’s crews, often French and Dutch. It was run by Mary Moss, a French girl who married William Campbell, a Reay man who had been away fighting at the battle of Waterloo. Mary Moss was a good hostess, speaking fluent French and English.