BUTE or BUTESHIRE, an insular county in south-west Scotland, consisting of the islands of Bute, from which the county takes its name, Arran, Great Cumbrae, Little Cumbrae, Holy Island, Pladda and Inchmarnock, all lying in the Firth of Clyde, between Ayrshire on the east and Argyllshire on the west and north. Area 218 square miles. Pop. (1921) 33,711 because the census was taken in the tourist season ; (1931) 18,822. In 1931 the number of persons who spoke Gaelic and English was 927. The county unites with northern Ayrshire in returning one mem ber to parliament. Buteshire and Renfrewshire form one sheriff dom, with a sheriff-substitute resident in Rothesay. The circuit courts are held at Inveraray. Staple crops are oats, potatoes and turnips; cattle, sheep and horses are reared. Herring and white fisheries are of some importance. Rothesay fishery district in cludes all creeks in Buteshire and a few in Argyll and Dumbarton shires, the Cumbraes being grouped with the Greenock district. During the season many fishermen are employed on the Clyde yachts, Rothesay being a prominent yachting centre. There is regular steamer communication throughout the year between the county ports of Rothesay, Millport, Brodick and Lamlash and the mainland ports of Glasgow, Greenock, Gourock, Ardrossan and Wemyss bay.