Dunbartonshire

Coordinates: 55°58′N 4°32′W / 55.96°N 4.53°W / 55.96; -4.53

Dumbarton Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann
Historic county
Country	Scotland
County town	Dumbarton
Area
• Total	241 sq mi (624 km2)
	Ranked 29th of 34
Chapman code	DNB

Dunbartonshire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann^[1]) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Perthshire to the north, Stirlingshire to the east, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire to the south, and Argyllshire to the west. The boundaries with Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire are split in two owing to the existence of an exclave around Cumbernauld (see below).

The area had previously been part of the historic district of Lennox, which was a duchy in the Peerage of Scotland related to the Duke of Lennox.

Name[]

Looking across the River Clyde towards Dumbarton Castle

The town name "Dumbarton" comes from the Scottish Gaelic Dùn Breatainn meaning "fort of the Britons".^[2] Historically, the spelling of the county town and the county were not standardised. By the 18th century the names "County of Dunbarton" and "County of Dumbarton" were used interchangeably.^[3] The n in "Dunbarton" represents the etymology Dùn "fort"; the "m" in "Dumbarton" reflects a pronunciation with assimilation of /n/ to the labial /m/, due to the influence of the neighbouring labial /b/ sound.^[4]

Different county bodies used the two spellings: the Dunbarton County Constabulary were formed in 1857 by the Commissioners of Supply for the County of Dunbarton.^[5]

Dumbartonshire County Council, set up under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, adopted the spelling "Dunbartonshire" by 1914, a fact recognised by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947.^[6][7]

The correct spelling remains a source of contention. Current practice uses Dumbarton for the town and Dunbarton for the former county and subsequent local authority areas.

History[]

County Buildings, Dumbarton

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties. Subsequently, Dunbarton County Council was created in 1890. Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Duke of Edinburgh, visited the area to open the new county buildings in Dumbarton on 28 June 1965.^[8]

The administrative arm, but not the placename of county used for "local government" purposes was dis-established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, when the Administrative Section became part of the large Council of Strathclyde Region.

Strathclyde was divided into nineteen districts, with the area being divided between Dumbarton, Bearsden and Milngavie, Clydebank, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and Strathkelvin Districts, the latter also containing a small part of the former Lanarkshire.

The regional identity, the "place-name" was retained for some major functions such as fire service and police at the next reorganisation of local government in 1996.

The county then was administered by three new unitary councils:

• Argyll and Bute Council (which took over the Helensburgh and Lomond part of Dumbarton District)
• East Dunbartonshire Council, with its administrative headquarters at Kirkintilloch
• West Dunbartonshire Council, with its administrative centre at Dumbarton.

Cumbernauld was not included in either of the new Dunbartonshire councils, instead being placed in the North Lanarkshire area.

Geography[]

Loch Lomond as seen from the summit of the island of Inchcailloch to Torrinch, Creinch, Inchmurrin and

The northern half of the county is sparsely populated and dominated by Loch Lomond (now part of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park), which it shares with Stirlingshire. There are many islands in the loch which form part of the county, the most notable being Island I Vow, Tarbet Isle, Inchlonaig, Inchconnachan, Inchmoan, Inchtavannach, Fraoch Eilean, Inchgalbraith, Torrinch, Creinch, Inchmurrin and Aber Isle. The much smaller , , and Loch Sloy can also be found here. The area is also home to Ben Vorlich, the highest point of Dunbartonshire at 943 m (3,094 ft) and the 229th tallest mountain in Scotland.

Ben Vorlich, the tallest mountain in Dunbartonshire

South-western Dunbartonshire has a long coastline along Loch Long, culminating in the Rosneath peninsula which is separated from the main body of the county by Gare Loch. Both of these lead into the Firth of Clyde which forms the southern border. The area east of the river Leven is dominated geographically by the Kilpatrick Hills which also contains a number of small lochs and reservoirs. In the far south-east the county encompasses a portion of the Greater Glasgow conurbation.

Duncolm, tallest peak in the Kilpatrick Hills

The Cumbernauld exclave is largely flat and heavily urbanised.

Boundaries and the Cumbernauld exclave[]

The county retained a large exclave situated five miles (eight kilometres) east of the main part of the county despite the boundary changes in the 1890s elsewhere in Scotland, consisting of the civil parishes of Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld, between Stirlingshire and Lanarkshire. This area had originally been part of Stirlingshire, but had been annexed to Dunbarton in the reign of David II at the request of Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown, the owner of the land, who was also Sheriff of Dumbarton.^[9]

The exclave was dealt with in 19th century legislation as greater administrative duties were given to the counties.

The Police (Scotland) Act 1857 established police forces throughout Scotland. A section of the act allowed for the parishes to be transferred to the jurisdiction of either Stirlingshire or Lanarkshire Constabulary on resolution of two-thirds of the Commissioners of Supply for the County of Dumbarton.^[10]

Similar provisions allowing for the transfer of the area for all purposes were included in the County General Assessment (Scotland) Act 1868.^[11] No such resolution was made, and the two parishes remained in Dunbartonshire.

The Roads and Bridges (Scotland) Act 1878 provided that for the purposes of that act all detached parts of counties should be placed in the county by which they were surrounded, or with which they had the longest boundary.^[12] Accordingly, Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch came under the control of the Stirlingshire Road Board. It was originally anticipated that the area would be transferred to Stirlingshire for all other purposes by the boundary commissioners proposed by the Local Government Bill of 1889^[13] However, a clause was inserted in the bill that stated "the parishes of Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch, including the burghs and police burghs situate therein, shall for the purposes of this Act, be considered as forming part of the county of Dumbarton". The clause was vigorously opposed by the Stirlingshire Commissioners of Supply as they had incurred considerable expense in maintaining the roads of the two parishes. The Act as passed provided that the Dunbartonshire County Council was to financially compensate Stirlingshire on the transfer of road powers.^[14]

Transport[]

The Firth of Clyde at Kilcreggan, with PS Waverley approaching across Loch Long

The West Highland Line runs through the county connecting Glasgow to Oban and Fort William and is popular with tourist due to its scenic view of the Highlands. The North Clyde line serves the towns of the Vale of Leven, and many suburban and commuter lines serve those parts of Dunbartonshire that form part of the Glasgow conurbation. Two lines run west–east through the Cumbernauld exclave, linking this area to Glasgow and Falkirk.

Various ferries criss-cross Loch Lomond, linking some of the towns along its banks. The Rosneath peninsula is connected by a ferry from Kilcreggan to Gourock in Renfrewshire.

Settlements[]

Towns[]

• Alexandria
• Balloch
• Dumbarton
• Helensburgh

• 

  Colquhoun Square, Helensburgh

• 

  Dumbarton town centre

Villages and hamlets[]

• 

  Bonhill

• 

  Kilcreggan

• 

  Luss

• 

  Rhu

Glasgow conurbation[]

• 

  Clyebank Town Hall

• 

  New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Bearsden

Cumbernauld exclave[]

• 

  Carbrain

• 

  Cumbernauld

• 

  Kirkintilloch

Civil Parishes[]

Dumbartonshire Civil Parish map c. 1854 Boundaries are outlined in red

Military Connections[]

During the rise of the Volunteer Force, the military in Dunbartonshire was widely expanded. See: .

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dumbartonshire.

Bibliography[]

• "The Book of Dumbartonshire", J. Scott Keltie in Macmillan's Magazine, Vol. LXII, May to Oct., 1880, pp. 33–42
• A Short History of Dumbartonshire I.M.M. MacPhail