The lieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremonial lord-lieutenants, the monarch's representatives, in Scotland. The lord-lieutenants' titles chosen by the monarch and her legal advisers are mainly based on placenames of the traditional counties of Scotland. In 1794 permanent lieutenancies were established by Royal Warrant. By the Militia Act 1797 (37 Geo.3, C.103), the lieutenants appointed "for the Counties, Stewartries, Cities, and Places" were given powers to raise and command County Militia Units.
While in their lieutenancies, lord lieutenants are among the few individuals in Scotland officially permitted to fly a banner of the Royal Arms of Scotland, the "Lion Rampant" as it is more commonly known.
Lieutenancy areas are different from the current local government council areas and their committee areas. They also differ from other subdivisions of Scotland including sheriffdoms and former regions and districts.
The Lord Provosts of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow also act ex officio as lord-lieutenants. This is a unique right in the United Kingdom: all other lord-lieutenants are appointed by the monarch, rather than being elected politicians.
Each Lord-Lieutenant of a county holding office immediately prior to the local government reorganisation of Scotland on 16 May 1975 was appointed to an area (usually the traditional county area) within the regions and districts which were established on that date. The regions and districts were themselves superseded on 1 April 1996, but the lieutenancy areas remain the same (with minor border adjustments in some based on new council area boundaries).
| County | Lieutenancy title | Former region | Part of the former region included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | Aberdeenshire | Grampian | The County of Aberdeen as existing before 16 May 1975, except that part in the City of Aberdeen |
| Angus | Angus | Tayside | District of Angus |
| Argyll | Argyll and Bute | Strathclyde | District of Argyll and Bute |
| Ayr | Ayrshire and Arran | Strathclyde | Districts of Cunninghame, Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Kyle and Carrick and Cumnock and Doon Valley |
| Banff | Banffshire | Grampian | the county of Banff as existing before 16 May 1975 |
| Berwick | Berwickshire | Borders | District of Berwickshire |
| Caithness | Caithness | Highland | District of Caithness |
| Clackmannan | Clackmannan or Clackmannanshire | Central | District of Clackmannan |
| Dumfries | Dumfries or Dumfriesshire | Dumfries and Galloway | Districts of Nithsdale and Annandale and Eskdale |
| Dunbarton | Dunbartonshire (the County being spelt with "N" Dunbartonshire and the town with "M" Dumbarton) | Strathclyde | Districts of Dumbarton, Clydebank, Bearsden and Milngavie, Strathkelvin and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth |
| East Lothian | East Lothian | Lothian | District of East Lothian |
| Fife | Fife | Fife | Entire Region |
| Inverness | Inverness or Inverness-shire | Highland | Districts of Lochaber, Inverness and Badenoch and Strathspey |
| Kincardine | Kincardineshire | Grampian | The county of Kincardine as existing before 16 May 1975, except that part in the City of Aberdeen |
| Kinross (held jointly with Perth) | Perth and Kinross | Tayside | District of Perth and Kinross |
| Stewartry of Kirkcudbright | Kirkcudbrightshire or Stewartry of Kirkcudbright | Dumfries and Galloway | District of Stewartry |
| Lanarkshire | Lanarkshire | Strathclyde | Districts of Monklands, Motherwell, Hamilton, East Kilbride and Lanark |
| Midlothian | Midlothian | Lothian | District of Midlothian |
| Moray | Morayshire | Grampian | Such part of the county of Moray as existing before 16 May 1975 as lies within the Region |
| Nairn | Nairn | Highland | District of Nairn |
| Orkney | Orkney | Orkney Islands Area | Entire area |
| Peebles | Peeblesshire | Borders | District of Tweeddale |
| Perth (held jointly with Kinross) | Perth and Kinross | Tayside | District of Perth and Kinross |
| Renfrew | Renfrewshire | Strathclyde | Districts of Eastwood, Renfrew and Inverclyde |
| Ross and Cromarty | Ross and Cromarty | Highland | Districts of Ross and Cromarty and Skye and Lochalsh |
| Roxburgh (held jointly with Selkirk) | Roxburgh or Roxburghshire (held with Ettrick and Lauderdale) | Borders | District of Roxburgh |
| Selkirk (held jointly with Roxburgh) | Ettrick and Lauderdale (held with Roxburgh) | Borders | District of Ettrick and Lauderdale |
| Stirling | Stirling and Falkirk | Central | Districts of Stirling and Falkirk |
| Sutherland | Sutherland | Highland | District of Sutherland |
| West Lothian | West Lothian | Lothian | District of West Lothian |
| - | Western Isles | Western Isles Islands Area | Entire area |
| Wigtown | Wigtown or Wigtownshire | Dumfries and Galloway | District of Wigtown |
| Zetland | Shetland | Shetland Islands Area | Entire area |
A lord-lieutenant is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility over the local militia was removed. However, it was not until 1921 that they formally lost the right to call upon able-bodied men to fight when needed.
The administrative geography of the United Kingdom is complex, multi-layered and non-uniform. The United Kingdom, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe, consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For local government in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have their own system of administrative and geographic demarcation. Consequently, there is "no common stratum of administrative unit encompassing the United Kingdom".
Local government in Scotland is organised through 32 unitary authorities designated as councils which consist of councillors elected every five years by registered voters in each of the council areas.
The shires of Scotland, or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes, from the 17th century they started to be used for local administration purposes as well. The areas used for judicial functions (sheriffdoms) came to diverge from the shires, which ceased to be used for local government purposes after 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas", which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1997 of being known as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic name; only Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has chosen this option, whereas the Highland Council has adopted its Gaelic form alongside its English equivalent informally.
The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas in England, as well as in Wales and Scotland, are defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 as "counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies in Great Britain", in contrast to the areas used for local government. They are also informally known as "geographic counties", to distinguish them from other types of counties of England.
Lieutenancy areas are the separate areas of the United Kingdom appointed a lord-lieutenant – a representative of the British monarch. In many cases they have similar demarcation and naming to, but are not necessarily conterminate with, the counties of the United Kingdom.
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berwickshire to the north. To the south-west it borders Cumberland and to the south-east Northumberland, both in England.
Ettrick and Lauderdale was one of four local government districts in the Borders region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996.
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994.
A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term shire county is, however, an unofficial usage. Many of the non-metropolitan counties bear historic names and most, such as Wiltshire and Staffordshire, end in the suffix "-shire". Of the remainder, some counties had the "-shire" ending but have lost it over time, such as Devon and Somerset.
The Lord Lieutenant of Angus, is the British monarch's personal representative in an area which was defined by the Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996 as consisting of the unitary Angus council area, in Scotland.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Inverness is the British monarch's personal representative in an area which has been defined since 1975 as consisting of the local government districts of Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey, and Lochaber, in Scotland, and this definition was renewed by the Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996. The area of the lieutenancy used to be the county of Inverness, which was abolished as a local government area by Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The districts were created, by the 1973 act, as districts of the two-tier Highland region and abolished as local government areas under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, which turned the Highland region into a unitary council area.
The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. The older term, shire is historically equivalent to county. By the Middle Ages, county had become established as the unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century, all of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland had been separated into counties. In Scotland shire was the only term used until after the Act of Union 1707.
The Lord Lieutenant of Ross and Cromarty, is the British monarch's personal representative in an area which has been defined since 1975 as consisting of the local government districts of Ross and Cromarty and Skye and Lochalsh in Scotland, and this definition was renewed by the Lord-Lieutenants (Scotland) Order 1996. Previously, the area of the lieutenancy was the county of Ross and Cromarty, which was abolished as a local government area by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The districts were created, under the 1973 act as districts of the two-tier Highland region and abolished as local government areas under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994, which turned the Highland region into a unitary council area.
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It contains the local government council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, as well as parts of Glasgow and is occasionally named Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish the county from the modern council area.
The Lieutenancies Act 1997 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that defines areas that lord-lieutenants are appointed to in Great Britain. It came into force on 1 July 1997.
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.
A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act.
Media related to Maps of traditional counties of Scotland at Wikimedia Commons