Ferryden owes its name to the ferry crossing that crossed the South Esk river to and from Montrose, with the earliest record of a ferry crossing being recorded in 1178 when King William the Lion granted the ferryboat of Montrose and its lands to Arbroath Abbey.

The village itself began to grow in the 1700s when fishermen from the North East were encouraged to settle by Patrick Scott of Rossie.

[3] The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica lists the population of the island (160) as separate from the village of Ferryden (1330):[4] In the mouth of the channel of the South Esk lies the island of Rossie, or Inchbrayock (pop.

160), which in 1829 was connected with the burgh by means of a suspension bridge 432 ft. long and by a drawbridge with the south bank near the fishing village of Ferryden (pop.

The harbour lies between the suspension bridge and the sea, and is provided with a wet dock.