Dunbartonshire

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

Dunbartonshire (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) 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 county covered a similar area to the earldom and later duchy of Lennox. The historic county gives its name to two of Scotland's modern council areas, being East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire.

The town name "Dumbarton" comes from the Scottish Gaelic Dùn Breatainn meaning "fort of the Britons". 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. 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.

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.

In 1890 elected county councils were established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, which referred to the area as the "County of Dumbarton". However, one of the county council's first acts was to adopt an official seal, for which it chose to use the spelling "Dunbarton", with an "n", as being closer to the name's etymology, despite protests from some residents who maintained that the spelling with an "m" was better established in general usage. The town of Dumbarton continued to use the spelling with an "m". Statutory recognition of the spelling with an "n" being used for the county came with the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 43).

Dunbartonshire's origins as a shire (the area administered by a sheriff) are obscure, but it had become a shire by the end of the twelfth century. The shire of Dumbarton was initially similar in area to the earldom of Lennox, covering an area north of the River Clyde and around Loch Lomond. In the thirteenth century an area north-east of Loch Lomond was transferred to Stirlingshire, whilst the two parishes of Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld were transferred from Stirlingshire to Dunbartonshire, despite not adjoining the rest of the county. The changes were reversed in 1504, when Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld were restored to Stirlingshire and the area north-east of Loch Lomond came back to Dunbartonshire, but the change was short-lived, being reverted again in 1509.

Commissioners of Supply were established in 1667 to act as the main administrative body for the shire outside the burghs. Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). The burgh of Dumbarton was deemed capable of managing its own affairs and so was excluded from the administrative area of the county council, although the county council still chose to base itself in that town. The county council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the County Buildings (which also served as the sheriff court) on Church Street in Dumbarton. The 1889 act also led to a review of boundaries; in the case of Dunbartonshire the parish of New Kilpatrick had previously straddled Dunbartonshire and Stirlingshire, with the town of Milngavie being in the part of the parish in Stirlingshire. The parish was brought entirely within Dunbartonshire on 15 May 1891.