County town: Rothesay
Bute was an island county in the Firth of Clyde, its Norse and early medieval history tied to control of the western sea routes. The island was a possession of the Stuart family from the 13th century.
Bute is an island county in the inner Firth of Clyde, comprising the Isle of Bute and the smaller Inchmarnock and Cumbraes. Rothesay Castle, whose circular curtain wall is one of the finest examples of early medieval Scottish castle architecture, was a royal residence from the 13th century. The island became a fashionable Victorian resort, accessible by steamboat from Glasgow, and Rothesay's esplanade hotels and villas reflect this holiday trade. Mount Stuart, the extravagant Gothic mansion of the Marquesses of Bute, is one of the most remarkable Victorian houses in Scotland. The island's agricultural and fishing economy was typical of the inner Hebrides.
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland — the Old Statistical Account (1791–99) and the New Statistical Account (1834–45) — provide detailed parish-by-parish descriptions of Bute at two moments of transformation. Aubrey draws on these accounts when generating reports for Scottish locations, providing historical context specific to the parish and county.
Scotland's 33 traditional counties, established as sheriffdoms from the 12th century onward, were the administrative framework of the country until the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1975 replaced them with regional councils. They remain the reference framework for historical records, genealogy, and cultural identity.
This page introduces the historic county of Bute. A full Aubrey report for a location within it pulls together everything the record actually holds about that ground, from the geology beneath it to the last coin dropped in a field:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Read in-depth research reports on notable historical places across the UK — explore →
Bute contains 87 scheduled monuments — sites of national importance protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.
Browse scheduled monuments in ScotlandAn Aubrey report for a specific location in Bute draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data, Statistical Account records, and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.