Former Scottish county, consisting of the islands in the
Firth of Clyde, chief of which are
Arran,
Bute,
Great Cumbrae, and
Little Cumbrae. The administrative centre was
Rothesay, although the county was so small, in terms of population, that some services were shared with the mainland. An example of this was the local police force, the
Renfrew and Bute Constabulary.
In 1974 the county was abolished and became part of Strathclyde Region, which was itself broken up in 1996, whereupon Bute itself became part of Argyll & Bute, while Arran, and the Cumbraes, became part of North Ayrshire.