The 'counties of Scotland' were
local government subdivisions of
Scotland until
1975. Scotland's current
lieutenancy areas and
registration counties are largely based on them.
Scottish counties may trace their origins to the
mormaerdoms,
stewartries and
sheriffdoms of the
High Middle Ages. Many of these early entities, while sharing a root of a name with a later county, represent a greater or smaller area. The case of the
Mormaerdom of Moray, which included parts the county of
Moray, and of
Nairnshire,
Banffshire and
Inverness-shire is a striking example of this difference.
[1]
The counties became a basis of
local government, alongside
burghs, when 34
county councils were created in Scotland by the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. About 90 years later, under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, these county authorities were abolished as local government bodies and were replaced with
regions and districts and
island council areas.
Areas for Lieutenancy, areas similar to those of the counties, were created at the same time. Local government was reorganised again under the
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 to create the currently existing
council areas.
Although the counties themselves no longer fulfil any administrative function, the boundaries of the majority remain in use by the
Scottish Land Register as the
registration counties - the only differences being that
Glasgow forms a separate county from
Lanarkshire and
Orkney and
Zetland together form a combined county for these purposes. The boundaries also remained in use in an adapted form as
postal counties until 1996.
Some of the names, such as
Aberdeenshire, have been revived for the post-1996
council areas. Some also remain in use for
lieutenancy areas and for
area committees of the present councils.
Counties until 1890
It may be noted that the map depicts a large number of
exclaves physically detached from the county that they were politically deemed to be part of.
Cromartyshire's borders, a particularly fragmentary example, were achieved as late as
1685, although at that time the word "county" was not applied to the
sheriffdom.
The process whereby the patchwork of early mormaerdoms, sheriffdoms and stewartries became the later counties may be linked to the expansion, then concentration of sheriffdoms. Perhaps the earliest counties are those of the south-east, such as
Haddingtonshire and
Berwickshire, whose form was larger established in the High Middle Ages. For some northern counties, the process continued through the
Late Middle Ages and beyond. In
England, the term
shire, as in
Northamptonshire, the county associated with
Northampton, can be considered a
synonym for county, the same is not true for Scotland. Many small shires, of which
Clackmannanshire and
Kinross-shire are the only surviving examples, existed until modern times. Examples are many. Proceeding downstream from Clackmannanshire on the north shore of the
River Forth, the shires of
Culross,
Dunfermline,
Kinghorn, and
Crail, all lay within the ''traditional county'', so-called, of
Fife.
By the reign of
James IV, the sheriffdoms were used to select Commissioners (MPs) to the
Parliament of Scotland, forming the basis of the "landward
constituencies", which existed distinct from the
burgh constituencies until the
Representation of the People Act 1918. Prior to the
Union of 1707, Commissioners could represent multiple counties, or, on occasions, a part of one. After Union, eight counties were paired, electing a member at alternating elections to the
Unreformed House of Commons. A number of sheriffdoms, such as those of
Ross and
Cromartyshire were also merged during the 18th century. As a result of the 1832
Reform Act the pairing system ended, and
Elginshire and
Nairnshire were merged into a single constituency, as were
Ross and
Cromartyshire and also
Clackmannanshire and
Kinross-shire.
Bute and
Caithness, previously paired, became separate constituencies.
Orkney and Zetland (Shetland) were generally treated as a single county, with Orkney being described an '
Earldom' and Zetland being described as a '
Lordship'. They constituted a single
Orkney and Shetland constituency in the House of Commons, as they had done in the Scots Parliament, and were counted together in the census.
[2]
From the seventeenth century the counties started to be used for local administration. In
1667 Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each "shire" or "county" to collect the land tax. The commissioners eventually assumed other duties in the county. In
1794 Lords-Lieutenant were appointed to each county, and in
1797 county
militia regiments were raised. In
1858 police forces were established in each county under the
Police (Scotland) Act 1857. It should be noted, however, that
burghs were largely outside the jurisdiction of county authorities.
Kirkcudbrightshire is commonly called the 'Stewartry of Kirkcudbright', or just 'the Stewartry'.
Counties from 1890 to 1975
The
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established
county councils in Scotland. Unlike in
England and
Wales, where corresponding legislation created new entities called
administrative counties, the Act amended the existing counties for local government purposes, including merging
Ross and
Cromartyshire into
Ross and Cromarty, and setting up a boundary commission to make further changes as necessary. Generally speaking,
exclaves were abolished, the only significant exclave left untouched being the part of
Dunbartonshire between
Stirlingshire and
Lanarkshire.
Following the 1889 act, Elginshire became known officially as Morayshire or the County of Moray. Early in the twentieth century, the county council of Dumbarton adopted the form "Dunbartonshire" in preference to "Dumbartonshire" and this became the accepted official form.
These local government counties excluded from their area the 'counties of cities' in
Scotland. Originally only the city and royal
burgh of
Edinburgh had this status, but
Glasgow,
Dundee and
Aberdeen were added in
1893,
1894 and
1900 respectively. Each of these counties of cities were enlarged on a number of occasions at the expense of the surrounding counties. These are not shown on the map below as separate entities.
In
1921 the county of the city of Edinburgh was enlarged by the
City of Edinburgh Extension Act 1920. The three counties adjoining the city were renamed as follows:
★ The County of Edinburgh became Midlothian
★ The County of Haddington became East Lothian
★ The County of Linlithgow became West Lothian
In
1928 Forfarshire was renamed Angus.
In
1930, the county councils were re-constituted, including two joint county councils covering
Perthshire and
Kinross-shire, and
Morayshire and
Nairnshire by the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929.
[3]
The
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 created new administrative areas named 'counties', 'counties of cities',
large burghs and
small burghs. Although these had been established by earlier legislation, the Act listed the various counties and other divisions for the first time.
In
1963 the Government published a
white paper which proposed a reduction in the number of counties from thirty-three to between ten and fifteen.
[1] A process of consultation between county councils and officials from the
Scottish Office was begun to affect the amalgamations. Following a change of government, it was announced in
1965 that a "more comprehensive and authoritative" review of local government areas would be undertaken.
[2] Accordingly a Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland, chaired by
Lord Wheatley was appointed in
1966.
[3] The commission's report in
1969 recommended the replacement of the counties with larger regions.
[4] Another change in government control in
1970 was followed by the publication of a white paper in
1971 implementing the commission's reforms in a modified form.
[5] The abolition of counties for local government purposes was enacted by the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, with counties playing no part in local government after
May 16 1975.
County constituencies
Scotland still has
county constituencies of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom (
Westminster), and the same term is used in reference to constituencies of the
Scottish Parliament (
Holyrood), created in 1999.
Historically, county constituencies did represent specific counties (minus
parliamentary burghs within the counties). Now, however, ''county'' in ''county constituency'' means ''predominantly
rural''. Similarly,
burgh constituencies are predominantly
urban constituencies.
References
1. The Modernisation of Local Government in Scotland (Cmnd. 2067)
2. ''Scots council reform plans changed'', The Times, March 6, 1965
3. ''Tasks set for planners of local government - Members of royal commissions named'', The Times, May 25, 1966
4. Report of the Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland 1966 - 69 (Cmnd.4150)
5. Reform of Local Government in Scotland (Cmnd. 4583)
See also
★
List of burghs in Scotland
★
Regions of Scotland
★
Lieutenancy areas of Scotland
★
Subdivisions of Scotland
★
List of places in Scotland
★
List of Scottish council areas by population
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