Sticking with our 'Oooh... I didn't know that!' name aim. The Fifie isn't a windmill. It's a type of traditional fishing boat that was developed on the east coast of Scotland and used by Scottish fishermen from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. Sail powered, these boats were mainly used to fish for herring using drift nets and were a very common sight in East Neuk harbours for many years. If you want to see what one looks like then we can highly recommend a visit to the Fisheries Museum in Anstruther where you can see a real Fifie, the 'Reaper'.

So why the windmill? Well, the windmill has its own interesting history. It was used to pump seawater up into a number of salt pans on the shore where a roaring salt trade once existed in the mid to late 1700s. A little walk along from St Monans will get you to the windmill and the remains of the pans. Right.... but why the Fifie?! Well, the windmill is in St Monans but what you might not know is St Monans was also the home to J W Miller & Sons Ltd. Boatbuilders who had a worldwide reputation for quality and craftmanship... and among the various types of boats that were built by this iconic East Neuk boatbuilding firm was none other than the Fifie.