Thelieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremoniallord-lieutenant, themonarch's representative inScotland's Lieutenancy areas. The lords-lieutenant titles, chosen by themonarch and his legal advisers, are mainly based on placenames of thetraditional counties of Scotland. In 1794, permanent lieutenancies were established byRoyal Warrant. By theMilitia 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, lords-lieutenant are among the few individuals in Scotland officially permitted to flya banner of theRoyal Arms of Scotland, the "Lion Rampant" as it is more commonly known.
Lieutenancy areas are different from the currentlocal governmentcouncil areas and theircommittee areas. They also differ from othersubdivisions of Scotland includingsheriffdoms and formerregions and districts.
TheLord Provosts ofAberdeen,Dundee,Edinburgh, andGlasgow also actex officio as lord-lieutenants. This is a unique right in theUnited 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 or something very similar to it) within the regions and districts which were established on that date. The lieutenancy areas were not given names in the 1975 order transferring the lieutenancies.[1] When local government was reorganised again on 1 April 1996, the lieutenancy areas remained essentially the same, with minor border adjustments in some based on new council area boundaries. The order transferring the lieutenancies in 1996 gave each lieutenancy a name, usually taken from the names of the pre-1975 counties which roughly correspond to the lieutenancy areas. Some lieutenancy names differ though, with the pre-1975 county of Peeblesshire now corresponding to a lieutenancy of Tweeddale.[2]
| Pre-1975 lieutenancy (County) | Current Lieutenancy area | Former region | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeenshire | Aberdeenshire | Grampian | The County of Aberdeen as existing before 16 May 1975, except that part in the City ofAberdeen |
| Angus | Angus | Tayside | District of Angus |
| Argyll | Argyll and Bute | Strathclyde | District ofArgyll and Bute |
| Ayr | Ayrshire and Arran | Strathclyde | Districts ofCunninghame,Kilmarnock and Loudoun,Kyle and Carrick andCumnock and Doon Valley |
| Banffshire | Banffshire | Grampian | The county of Banffshire as existing before 16 May 1975 |
| Berwick | Berwickshire | Borders | District ofBerwickshire |
| Caithness | Caithness | Highland | District of Caithness |
| Clackmannan | Clackmannanshire | Central | District of Clackmannan |
| Dumfries | Dumfries | Dumfries and Galloway | Districts ofNithsdale andAnnandale and Eskdale |
| Dunbarton | Dunbartonshire[a] | Strathclyde | Districts ofDumbarton,Clydebank,Bearsden and Milngavie,Strathkelvin andCumbernauld and Kilsyth |
| East Lothian | East Lothian | Lothian | District of East Lothian |
| Fife | Fife | Fife | Entire region |
| Inverness | Inverness | Highland | Districts ofLochaber,Inverness andBadenoch and Strathspey |
| Kincardineshire | Kincardineshire | Grampian | The county of Kincardineshire as existing before 16 May 1975, except that part in the City ofAberdeen |
| Kinross (held jointly withPerth) | Perth and Kinross | Tayside | District of Perth and Kinross |
| Stewartry of Kirkcudbright | Stewartry of Kirkcudbright | Dumfries and Galloway | District ofStewartry |
| Lanark | Lanarkshire | Strathclyde | Districts ofMonklands,Motherwell,Hamilton,East Kilbride andLanark |
| Midlothian | Midlothian | Lothian | District of Midlothian |
| Moray | Moray | Grampian | The county of Moray as existing before 16 May 1975, excluding the parts inHighland (being the pre-1975 burgh ofGrantown-on-Spey and district ofCromdale) |
| Nairn | Nairn | Highland | District of Nairn |
| Orkney | Orkney | Orkney Islands Area | Entire area |
| Peebles | Tweeddale | Borders | District ofTweeddale |
| Perth (held jointly withKinross) | Perth and Kinross | Tayside | District of Perth and Kinross |
| Renfrew | Renfrewshire | Strathclyde | Districts ofEastwood,Renfrew andInverclyde |
| Ross and Cromarty | Ross and Cromarty | Highland | Districts of Ross and Cromarty andSkye and Lochalsh |
| Roxburgh (held jointly withSelkirk) | Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale | Borders | District ofRoxburgh |
| Selkirk (held jointly withRoxburgh) | Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale | Borders | District ofEttrick 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 |
| Inverness (parts of it are held jointly with parts ofRoss and Cromarty) | Western Isles | Western Isles Islands Area | Entire area |
| Wigtown | Wigtown | Dumfries and Galloway | District ofWigtown |
| Zetland | Shetland | Shetland Islands Area | Entire area |
Media related toMaps of traditional counties of Scotland at Wikimedia Commons