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Thehistory of local government in Scotland is a complex tale of largely ancient and long establishedScottish political units being replaced after the mid 20th century by a frequently changing series of differentlocal government arrangements.
Anciently, the territory now referred to asScotland belonged to a mixture ofBrythonic groups (Picts andCumbrians) andAngles.
The Picts were based north of theForth–Clyde line, traditionally in seven kingdoms:
In later legendsAlbanactus, the legendary founder of Scotland, had seven sons, who each founded a kingdom.De Situ Albanie enumerates the kingdoms in two lists, the first of which locates the seventh kingdom between the Forth and theEarn, while the second additionally replaces Cat with the area that became Dalriada.
The Cumbrians were based in the southwest, in two principal kingdoms:
The Angles were based in the southeast, in theKingdom of Northumbria, which was divided into a number of sub-kingdoms, some of which were located in territory now considered part of Scotland:
When the Irish groupScotii invaded, they established the Kingdom ofDál Riata in the area betweenGlen Coe andLoch Long, which they organised into four geographic kin-groups:
For reasons which are extremely opaque to historical enquiry, most of the Pictish lands became a kingdom of the Scotii based atScone – theKingdom of Alba. The statuses of Fortriu and Dalriada are extremely unclear; it seems that theoretically they were meant to owe some form ofvassalage to the King of Alba, but in practice were somewhat independent. The other Pictish kingdoms were divided up, with the King of Alba retaining the more useful coastal parts, while handing the remainder of each former kingdom to a powerful governor. The king controlled his lands through a number of stewards (maer inGaelic), hence the powerful governors weregreat stewards (mormaer in Gaelic).
Northumbrian pressure causedRheged to collapse, establishingGalloway as an independent state. Strathclyde took the opportunity created by Rheged's collapse to expand towards the southeast, into what is now northern Cumbria. Records are unclear, but it seems that Scotii raids led to Galloway submitting to the authority of Alba, and the transfer ofCarrick from Strathclyde to Galloway.
Danish invasions caused the power of Northumbria to collapse, and ultimately its lands to become parts of a unifiedEngland. Meanwhile,Norse invasions of the islands to the north and west of the mainland conquered Cat, and established:
Norse invaders also besiegedDumbarton Rock, the capital of Strathclyde, eventually causing its defeat. As a result, Dunbarton Rock was abandoned, and Strathclyde moved its capital upriver, toPartick. Alba took the opportunity to seize the now-undefendedarea around Loch Lomond. Similarly, the weakening of Northumbria enabled Alba to push south and take over thearea around Stirling.
By the 10th century, the governance of the area now known asScotland thus broke down as follows:
| Former ethnicity | Former area | Outcome | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pictish | Cat | Caithness | Norsejarldom |
| Sutherland | Norse jarldom | ||
| Ce | Buchan | Mormaerdom | |
| Banff | Stewardry | ||
| Mar | Mormaerdom | ||
| Circinn | Mearns | Stewardry | |
| Angus | Mormaerdom | ||
| Fib | Fothriff | Stewardry | |
| Fife | Mormaerdom | ||
| Fotla | Gowrie | Stewardry | |
| Atholl | Mormaerdom | ||
| (possibly Fidach) | Menteith | Mormaerdom | |
| Strathearn | Mormaerdom | ||
| Fortriu | Ross | Mormaerdom | |
| Moray | Quasi-independent | ||
| Cumbric | (Scottish) Rheged | Galloway | Quasi-independent vassal |
| Strathclyde | |||
| Lennox | Mormaerdom | ||
| Strathclyde (remainder) | Independent | ||
| Anglian | Lothian | Stirling | Stewartry |
| Lothian (remainder) | Englishealdormandom | ||
| (Scottish) Bernicia | (Scottish) Bernicia | Englishealdormandom | |
| Gaelic | nÓengusa | Islay | Norse jarldom |
| Loairn | Mull | Norse jarldom | |
| Lorn | Quasi-independent vassal | ||
| nGabráin | Argyll | Quasi-independent vassal | |
| Comgaill |
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In thelater medieval period, government combined traditional kinship-basedlordships with a relatively small system of royal offices. Until the 15th century the ancient pattern of major lordships survived largely intact, with the addition of two new "scattered earldoms" ofDouglas andCrawford, thanks to royal patronage after theWars of Independence, mainly in the borders and south-west. The dominant kindred were theStewarts, who came to control many of the earldoms. Their acquisition of the crown, and a series of internal conflicts and confiscations, meant that by around the 1460s the monarchy had transformed its position within the realm, gaining control of most of the "provincial" earldoms and lordships. Rather than running semi-independent lordships, the major magnates now had scattered estates and occasional regions of major influence. In the lowlands the crown was now able to administer government through the system of sheriffdoms and other appointed officers, rather than semi-independent lordships. In the highlandsJames II created two new provincial earldoms for his favourites: Argyll for theCampbells and Huntly for theGordons, which acted as a bulwark against the vastLordship of the Isles built up by theMacdonalds.James IV largely resolved the Macdonald problem by annexing the estates and titles ofJohn Macdonald II to the crown in 1493 after discovering his plans for an alliance with the English.[1]
Theshires of Scotland have their origins in thesheriffdoms orshires over which asheriff (a contraction ofshirereeve) exercised jurisdiction. The termshire is somewhat misleading, as it should not be confused with an Englishcounty. In medieval Latin, the latter was referred to as acomitatus which, in Scotland, was the region controlled as a province or lordship (as opposed, for example, to aLairdship), such as amormaerdom, or an earlyEarldom, and typically survived as aregality (though this is a broader term encompassing also more junior authority).Shire instead came into use, in Scotland, to refer to the region in which a particularsheriff operated; in Scottish medieval Latin this was sometimes called thevice-comitatus.Malcolm III appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing native "Celtic" forms of government withAnglo Saxon andNormanfeudal structures.[2] This was continued by his sonsEdgar,Alexander I and in particularDavid I. David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existingthanedoms.[3][4] Many of the shires were directly analogous to existing provinces (e.g. the province ofTeviotdale and theshire of Roxburgh), whilst other formed from combinations of provinces (e.g. theshire of Ayr consisting ofCunninghame,Carrick andKyle).
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The firstburghs existed from the 12th century, whenKing David I (r. 1124–1153) establishedEdinburgh,Stirling,Dunfermline,Perth,Dumfries,Jedburgh,Montrose andLanark asRoyal Burghs.[5] Most of the burghs granted charters in his reign probably already existed as settlements. Charters were copied almost verbatim from those used in England,[6] and early burgesses were usually invitedEnglish andFlemish settlers.[7] They were able to impose tolls and fines on traders within a region outside their settlements.[7] Most of the early burghs were on the east coast, and among them were the largest and wealthiest, includingAberdeen,Berwick,Perth, andEdinburgh, whose growth was facilitated by trade with otherNorth Sea ports onContinental Europe, in particular in theLow Countries, as well as ports on theBaltic Sea. In the south-west,Glasgow,Ayr andKirkcudbright were aided by the less profitable sea trade with Ireland and to a lesser extent France and Spain.[8]
Burghs were typically settlements under the protection of a castle and usually had a market place, with a widened high street or junction, marked by amercat cross, beside houses for the burgesses and other inhabitants.[7] 16 royal burghs can trace their foundation to David I traced to the reign of David I (1124–53)[9] and there is evidence of 55 burghs by 1296.[10] In addition to the majorroyal burghs, the late Middle Ages saw the proliferation of baronial and ecclesiastical burghs, with 51 created between 1450 and 1516. Most of these were much smaller than their royal counterparts. Excluded from foreign trade, they acted mainly as local markets and centres of craftsmanship.[8] Burghs were centres of basic crafts, including the manufacture of shoes, clothes, dishes, pots, joinery, bread and ale, which would normally be sold to "indwellers" and "outdwellers" on market days.[7] In general, burghs carried out far more local trading with their hinterlands, on which they relied for food and raw materials, than trading nationally or abroad.[11]
From the sixteenth century, the central government became increasingly involved in local affairs. Thefeud was limited and regulated, local taxation became much more intrusive and from 1607 regular, local commissions ofJustices of the Peace on the English model were established to deal with petty crimes and infractions.[12] Greater control was exerted over the lawless Borders through a joint commission with the English set up in 1587.[12]James VI was much more hostile to the culture and particularism of theScottish Highlands than his predecessors. He sent colonists from Fife to parts of the region and forced theHighland chiefs to acceptLowland language and culture through theStatutes of Iona 1609.[13] In 1685 SirGeorge Mackenzie, recently madeViscount of Tarbat and later elevated toEarl of Cromartie, secured two Acts of theParliament of Scotland transferring his lands inEaster Ross fromRoss-shire toCromartyshire,[14] making Cromartyshire the last of the shires to be established.
From the seventeenth century the function of shires expanded from judicial functions into wider local administration,[15] and in 1667Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each sheriffdom or shire to collect thecess land tax.[15] From this point shires came to be regarded as the main division of the country in preference to the former provinces.
The parish also became an important unit of local government, pressured by Justices in the early eighteenth century, it became responsible for taking care of the destitute in periods of famine, like that in 1740, in order to prevent the impoverished from taking to the roads and causing general disorder.[16] Behaviour could be regulated through kirksessions, composed of local church elders, which replaced the church courts of the Middle Ages, and which dealt with moral and religious conduct.[16] The localcourt baron remained important in regulating minor interpersonal and property offences. They were held at the behest of the local baron when there was a backlog of cases and could appoint birleymen, usually senior tenants, who would resolve disputes and issues. The combination of kirk sessions and courts baron gave considerable power to local lairds to control the behaviour of the populations of their communities.[17]
From the eighteenth century the shires (used for administration) began to diverge from the sheriffdoms (used for judicial functions) (seeHistorical development of Scottish sheriffdoms).[18]
As a result of the dual system of local government,burghs (of which there were various types) often had a high degree of autonomy. In 1858 police forces were established in each county under thePolice (Scotland) Act 1857. In 1890 with theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1889 came into force. It established a uniform system ofcounty councils in Scotland. The county councils assumed many of the powers of existing organisations such as theCommissioners of Supply and County Road Trustees and many of the administrative powers and duties of the Justices of the Peace and parochial boards.
Between 1890 and 1929, there were parish councils and town councils, but with the passing of theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1929, the functions of parish councils were passed to larger district councils and a distinction was made betweenlarge burghs (i.e. those with a population of 20,000 or more) andsmall burghs. The Act also created two joint county councils coveringPerthshire andKinross-shire, andMorayshire andNairnshire, but retained residual Nairnshire and Kinross-shire county councils.
This system was further refined by the passing of theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 43) which created a whole new set of administrative areas known as 'counties', 'counties of cities', 'large burghs' and 'small burghs'. These were to last until 1975. At the same time, the role of local government inpostwar Britain reduced due to theLabour Party's social and economic reforms, whichnationalized many functions traditionally performed by them such as healthcare and electricity.[19]
A Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland in 1969 (theWheatley Report) recommended that the interests of local government would best be served by large Regional councils instead of councils based on small counties. The report was largely implemented by theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973 – creating a system ofregions and districts in 1975.
The system was only to last for 21 years as with the passing of theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 the regions and districts were re-organised into all-purpose unitarycouncil areas.
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