The Scottish Administrative Region of Argyll and Bute

Population and area summary of the Region of Argyll and Bute

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The Region of Argyll and Bute is located in Argyll and Bute Region of Scotland, it covers an administrative area of 6,909Km² and in 2001 was home to a population of 90,870 persons, that represents 1.80% of that of Scotland and 0.00% of the population of the entire United Kingdom.

More detailed information including visitor attractions and event venues in Argyll and Bute is available on this site by following the links below to the Boroughs and/or Districts or follow this link to select a different county.

Boroughs/Districts of the Region of Argyll and Bute

Unitary Authorities and Metropolitan Areas are shown below as these locations are historically associated with this county. These areas today are self-governing and are no longer responsible to the Region Administration.

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Historical notes about The Scottish Administrative Region of Argyll and Bute

ARGYLLSHIRE

With an areaof 3110 square miles, a tenth of all Scotland, Argyllshire has a coastline more than 2000 miles long. It is the seaward end of the Grampians, which here dip deep into the Atlantic, their main ridges forming the peninsulas of Cowal, of Knapdale and Kintyre, of Ardgour, Morvern, and Ardnamurchan. Their elevated plateaux and summits rise above the waters in the islands of Mull, Jura, Islay and Colonsay, not to mention Arran and Bute, which are outside the political boundary.

Argyll's Scenery

Not a spot in Argyllshire is more than a dozen miles from the sea; inland lakes are innumerable, and nowhere in clear weather are the mountains out of sight. In short, the essential elements of Highland scenery are all present: mountain and glen, river and forest, loch and diversified seashore. The loftier peaks are congregated for the most part well inland, and according to Munro's official list, no fewer than fifty-seven of the Argyllshire summits attain the impressive height of 3000 feet, besides eight frontier peaks, half within the county and half in Perthshire or in Inverness. It is only in big rivers that Argyllshire is comparatively undistinguished. In fact, the Awe, which is not a normal river at all, is the only large and imposing stream in Argyllshire, and it has a course of barely half a dozen miles from where it flows out of Loch Awe to where it meets the tides.

Argyllshire comes next in size to the over-grown county of Inverness; but after Sutherland it is the most sparsely populates of all. This is due to the predominance of mountain and moorland.

Out of about 3000 square miles there are only 56000 acres of arable land and 76000 of pasture. So that a million and a half acres of forest or barren soil remain. There is not a town of 10000 inhabitants in the whole area, and only one approximation to an industrial one, Campbeltown. After that the next largest are the pleasure towns, Dunoon and Oban.

Argyllshire is a land of romance - the best romance - that of real life and historical fact. This was the ancient Dalriada, the Celtic colony established about A.D. 500 by the Scots who came over from Ireland under Fergus Mor.

On Iona, the holiest spot in Argyllshire, St Columba in 563 established his monastery, and set out to convert the Picts. He put Aidan on the throne of Dalriada, to reign prosperously for thirty-seven years. After Aidan, it was conquered by the Angles and annexed to Benicia. Iona, or Icolmkill, St Columba's isle, was plundered by the Northmen, and the monastery repeatedly burned, from 794 onward. Then, in 844, a king of Dalriada, Kenneth MacAlpin, descended from Aidan, became king of the united Picts and Scots, and the name Scotia was transferred from Ireland to Albyn. Harold Fairhair at the end of the 9th century and, two hundred years later, Magnus Barefoot, stand out among Norwegian kings who claimed all the isles and some of the mainland. In the 12th century, Argyll was under the sway of the mighty Somerled, who fell in 1164, and Alexander II recovered the disputed territory in 1222. It was under his successor, Alexander III, that Haco of Norway was routed at Largs, the Bruce was here and in Arran, in the dark years before Bannockburn. All over the county there are castles and battlefields that mark chapters in the annals of Scotland.

In a sense, Argyllshire is the hinterland of Glasgow; at any rate, this is its commercial centre. No other industrial town in the world has such a gateway opening straight upon the sublimities of mountain, sea and wilderness. Rob Roy's country is not far off, and is still almost as desolate as in his own times. But there are tracts of Argyllshire still wilder, and the traveller on the West Highland line sees a good deal of it when the train crosses from Gareloch-head and skirts the eastern shore of Loch Long.

"Argyll's Bowling Green"

Already, across the Gareloch, he will have noticed a castellated residence of the Argylls at Rosneath, on the spot outside the county borders where the great Marquess retreated in his galley after Montrose had raided Inveraray, in 1644. But now, beyond the shining reaches of Loch Long, we have before us the picturesque slice of Argyll, cut off on the other side by Loch Goil, and now christened Ardgoil, or more familiarly "Argyll's Bowling Green." The reasons for the nickname are obvious. Yonder are the skittles: the Saddle, Cnoc Coinnich, the Brack, with Ben Donich, south of Glencoe, rearing a higher mass behind. Then, from beside the railway after Arrochar, towers a loftier group of summits, first the whimsical Cobbler, a peak for his bowed head and a crag for his last, and then Ben Vane and Ben Vorlich, with a glimpse of Ben Ime up the intervening corrie.

Now for a while the railway leaves Argyllshire, and does not re-enter the county until Tyndrum is passed, with a fleeting backward glance at the kingly shape of Ben Lui, that huge corner-stone between lovely Glen Falloch and austere Glen Lochy. But, although after skirting the slopes of Ben Doran and the shaggy banks of the Orchy and Loch Tulla, the railway presently slips past the county boundary again and out to the Moor of Rannoch; the view vouchsafed of the frontier ehights of Black Mount Forest is one that no lover of Argyllshire can afford to miss. Lonely Loch Tulla, in the midst of a vast wilderness, solemnly beautiful, mirroring the dark survivors of the old Caledonian forest close at hand, and the savage front of Stob Gabhar in the distance, is a thing unique if not incomparable. The Stob and the Clachlet to its right are the external buttresses of a wide extent of peaks and glens and sanctuaries which can be seen at long range from a few accessible points of view.

But Arrochar is the station where those bound for the heart of Argyll must alight. It is on the motor road from Glasgow, Cowal or Inverarary. Hence the pass of Glencoe, between the Cobbler and Ben Ime on the north and Ben an Lochain on the south, is better known, perhaps, than the one which is almost its namesake, and which has many of the same characteristics. Buses and cars go on down Glen Kinglas, hitting the shores of Loch Fyne at the Cairndow Inn. The adventurous tramp may turn at Rest-and-be-Thankful up to the bealach or pass on the left, leading over to Hell's Glen, a picturesque and by no means terror-striking part of the way from Loch Goil to Loch Fyne. A track goes from Ardentinny on Loch Long, a place easily reached by steamer, up the shores of Loch Goil, past the ruins of Carrick Castle, right on to Lochgiol-head, affording views of the peaks opposite. But the road over to Whistlefield on Loch Eck is better known, and the view from the summit level is worth seeing, of the loch, one of the narrowest in the Highlands, stretched like an uncoiled snake under the dark green slopes of Ben More.

"Argyllshire from the Water"

But most people prefer the boat for any destination in Cowal, so that a view of the great estuary of the Clyde, ringed by wooded shores, with the rugged skyline of the Grampians soaring behind should be the frontispiece to any account of the scenery of Argyll. Beneath or between the woods of the promontories, at Strone Point where the Holy Loch opens into Loch Long, and then along the coast, with hardly a break even between the extremity of Cowal at Toward Point and the end of Bute, villages growing into little towns are almost continuous.

Opposite, the white of the Cloch lighthouse focuses the eye, with Renfrewshire heaving up to Creuch Hill behind, and another ribbon of gleaming towns along the coast. Dunoon is commonplace, but it has a ghost of a castle, which gives it a niche in Scottish history, for the fortress was stormed by Bruce early in the war of independence. The coast road from Loch Eck and the Holy Loch goes south past Innellan, round Toward Point, and up Loch Striven on the far side of Cowal. In among the woods at the corner lie the ruins of Toward Castle, ancient seat of the Lamonts, Lords of Cowal, who were at feud with the Campbells. Loch Striven runs far inland between green hills and lofty moorlands, with a fringe of woods and plantations along the coast and in sheltered nooks. A second Strone Point on the other side is portal to the famous Kyles of Bute.

This famous sea-way has a prospect which is continually changing. Loch Riddon is the next great arm after Loch Striven, and its sides are much more richly wooded. At the far head of it lies one of the most fertile valleys of the whole region, Glendaruel; it forms another pleasant and un-hackneyed approach to Loch Fyne. Braes green with deep bracken or purple with heather extend from the strips of woodland; there are jolly little seaside resorts, such as Colintraive and Tighnabruaich; pretty islands, an old castle or two, and then the Kyles open to the Sound of Bute, and at the dramatic moment Arran appears ahead, often through a well-known mist-effect seemingly right overhead, its peaks and pinnacles swimming above a veil of cloud.

Argyll

Argyll, the eponymous district which contains the miniature county town and is the heart of the shire, lies between Loch Fyne, which is a vast arm of the sea, and Loch Awe, which is landlocked. The great heights that usually encircle the head of a lake are here at the tail; for at some distant epoch the river Awe cut through the watershed under Ben Cruachan and produced the Pass of Brander, reversing the drainage system.

The charm of Inveraray, apart from the spell of historical associations, is in the beauty of its site - a piece of open strath at the mouth of romantic Glen Aray, just where this would have united with Glen Shira, had not that wild glen plunged straight into Loch Fyne to form the bay called Loch Shira. The shores of Loch Fyne are magnificently wooded; the climate is soft, and not only forestry but also landscape gardening flourishes here on a great scale. Steep hills rise out of the woods, in front is the great loch winding far out of sight, in the distance are the mountains. Inveraray and its environs are an oasis in the midst of a far-spread wilderness. The point from which to enjoy it is Duniquoich, the abrupt, wooded hill between the two tributary glens, from which you look down on castle, park and townlet.

The main highway out of the huge glen containing Loch Fyne is round the far-stretching head of the loch through Glencoe. A road has been engineered up the neighbouring Glen Aray, forming an exit towards the lower and grander end of Loch Awe. There are picturesque falls on the way, and at the head the outlook over the broad sheet of water studded with islets, mighty Ben Cruachan towering all along the background, is superb. Entering the Strath Orchy, the road passes near a memorial to the Gaelic poet, Duncan Ban MacIntyre, who celebrated this region; and thereabouts is a view over the loch, with the shell of Kilchurn Castle in the foreground and the colossal Ben in the rear.

For the dare-devil tramper there are a few other exits from this heart of Argyll, tracks over to Loch Awe, with a ferry at Portsonachan across to the land of Lorn. There is even a right of way up Glen Fyne, piercing the grim solitudes under Ben Lui, and by certain bealachs and larigs bringing the adventurer out to Inverarnan, above the head of Loch Lomond. Lorn is not mountainous but undulating country, furrowed with glens and rocky or wood-lined passes, such as Glen Nant or the Pass of Melfort; verdure alternates with purple heather, streams and waterfalls abound; it is all sprinkled with lakes, and bordered by a picturesque coast. The great and compulsive factor in almost every panorama of Lorn is the touch of immensity impated by the vast bulk of Ben Cruachan, whether dark and frowning or half-veiled with sun-shot mists. Nothing could exceed the beauty of it with such a lovely patch of water as Loch Nell in the foreground.

Lorn and its isles are coasted by the steamer for Oban, from Crinan or by the outer route from Glasgow. The graceful Paps of Jura have been charming the eyes far astern, when we find ourselves passing Dorus Mor, "the great door," between the end of that island and Craignish, and see ahead the isle of Scarba.

The Isles of the Sea

Then beyond Scarba the Isles of the Sea are the outermost of those fringing the entrance to the Firth of Lorn on this side; and all along the distance are ranged the dark cliffs of Mull, with lofty Ben More and the sharp silhouette of Ben Talla behind. Soon the boat glides through the Sound of Kerra, past the isle which forms such a perfect screen without cutting off too much of the seascape from Oban, and that pretty watering-place heaves in sight upon its bay.

The mountains of Benderloch, to the left of Cruachan, have now come into view, and away north loom the high points of Morvern, and presently of Ardgour, across the waters of Loch Linnhe. Near at hand, Dunollie Castle juts up out of its woods, a complete ruin, ivy-clad. There are other strongholds. Gylen Castle on Kerrera, seen in the approach to Oban, is better preserved. Farther off, guarding the entrance to Loch Etive, was the more important fortress of Dunstaffnage. It is now a dismal ruin, and one of the most historic places in the Highlands. Here James I in 1431 received the submission of the Lord of the Isles, who afterwards conspired with the disgraced Douglas, in 1461. Here Old Colkitte was hanged, and Flora Macdonald imprisoned.

Beyond the Falls of Lora lies the region of Benderloch; and then, beyond Loch Creran, the Appin country, home of the Stewarts, who succeeded the MacDougalls as Lords of the Isles. Balcaldine Castle, though a ruin, dates only from the 15th century; but the Stewart strongholds, beyond the loch - Shuna on its island and Stalcaire which is itself an island - have the grace of antiquity as well as intrinsic beauty. This seaboard of Appin looks well enough from the deck of a steamer going up Loch Linnhe, with the peaks of Benderloch and Ben Vair forming a grandiose frame; but for serene and perfect beauty the view seawards to Argour and Morvern, with the Stewart castles in the middle distance, cannot be surpassed. Then the massive shape of Ben Nevis grows clearer in front, and the rugged heights cloven by the Pass of Glencoe stepping forward with more amiable greeting.

By one way or the other, we have now reached the pier of Ballachulish, and can gaze into the jaws of Lochleven, full of mist or cheerful with sunshine, the peaks of Mamore Forest between it and Ben Nevis laden with snow and ice or bare, but always stern and forbidding.

The Pass of Glencoe

It is not far from Ballachulish to Glencoe. All the great pictures of Glencoe have been painted so as to show the eastern sides of the enormous buttresses taking the thrust of Bidean nam Bian, the great southern peak, which is the highest in Argyllshire. The desolation of Glen Sligachan, the rugged grandeur of Glen Lichd, the terror of the Coolin's heights and the depths, are not surpassed by Glencoe.

The finest approach to Glencoe is by way of Glen Etive and the loft pass between the Buchailles and Bidean which drops into the road at the Study. From Taynuilt and on to the Clachaig Inn makes a long and arduous day. But sometimes a steamer can be taken to the head of Loch Etive, and then there is not much more than half a dozen miles of that long and inhospitable glen to be traversed on foot before the climb begins.

Argyllshire ought to end with Lorn; but history has interfered with geography, and incorporated with it the huge shattered massif from Ardgour to Ardnamurchan Point and to the Ross of Mull. A strait like the Kyles of Bute cuts this island of Mull from the mainland; but that is a minor detail, for there are several deep glens and lochs that all but sever other blocks, and the sea would not have to rise many feet to turn the whole region into an archipelago. Everywhere, land and sea, lake and mountain, are tangled up together. The scenery is as romantic as among the outer isles, which are often actually within the range of vision. It is a region of fantasy, and its very history is fantastic.

Mull is usually circumnavigated by steamer from Oban, and embarking upon this voyage is like beginning Scott's "Lord of the Isles." The vessel glides between Duart Castle on its cliff and the green isle of Lismore, and if the tide be at the right level the surf will be seen washing over the Lady's Rock, where a Maclean exposed his wife. But the lady he wanted to get rid of was a Campbell; she was rescued, and the husband himself was murdered in Edinburgh soon after by the brother of Argyll. There is another stronghold of the Lords of the Isles in Aros Castle, close to Salen, which is the best landing-place for those who would explore this green, pastoral island. A long tramp from Salen, past Loch Ba and Ben More, the crowning height leads eventually to Corsaig pier on the south shore, where the boat may be picked up for Oban.

But the great majority continue the round to Iona. As the Sound opens out, the scenery expands. Sithean or Shiant soars aloft in Morven; Ben Hiant towers straight ahead in Ardnamurchan; and far up Loch Sunart, which winds inland on the right, may be seen the shadowy form of Ben Resipol. On the basalt cliffs of Ardnamurchan scowls another ruined stronghold, Mingary Castle, and far to the left of it the long peninsula extends to the point and lighthouse where the Scottish mainland ends.

But our present objective is Iona. Between the extreme point of Ardnamurchan and the island of Coll, across breadths of sea placid or foam-flecked, we are confronted by those extraordinary isles: Eigg with its monolithic Scuir; the sierra of peaks and curving ridges thrust out from the sea, which is the island of Rum; then Skye, with the jagged crest of the Black Coolin; and in the remoteness, the outer isles, perhaps with Ben More faintly showing sixty miles away, in South Uist. The boat rounds Caliach Point; Tiree is seen south of Coll; and we steam between the volcanic Treshnish Isles and Campbell's Ulva, catching a glimpse of Lord Ullin's Lochgyle or Loch na Keal, to which it blocks the entrance. In due time we are at Staffa, ready for the visit to Fingal's Cave, and our next landing is on Iona.

The return journey to Glasgow round the Mull of Kintyre affords a nearer view of Jura and Islay, and also of Kintyre, the ultimate point of which reaches within thirteen miles of Ireland. Colonsay is glimpsed before the entry to the Sound of Jura. Doubling the Mull of Kintyre, we are soon in sight of Ailsa Craig and then of Arran: we are in home waters again.