ROTHESAY, a royal burgh of is situa ted on a bay of the same name, on the north-east side of the Island of Bute, and is the chief town of the county of Bute. It is governed by a provost, two bailies, a clean of guild, a treasurer, and twelve ordi nary councillors, and unites with Ayr, Irvine, Inve rary and Campbelltown, in sending a member to the British parliament. Besides the burgh courts, the sheriff and justice-of-peace courts, and county meet ings are held here.
Rothesay castle, now a noble ruin, was probably one of those erected Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway, in 1098. to secure his conquest of the wes tern islands of Scotland. A village gradually arose around the walls, and under the protection of the castle. Bute being one of the ancient possessions of the House of Stuart, the castle of Rothesay continued to be an occasional place of their residence after they came to the throne, and on the 12th January 1401, King Robert III. erected the village into a royal burgh, and endowed it with a considerable landed territo ry. Its privileges were confirmed and extended by King James VI. by charter dated 19th February 1585.
Rothesay was one of the principal seats of the Ca tholic bishops of the Isles, and after the Reformation it became the chief seat of the Protestant bishops of that diocese.
The town of Rothesay necessarily shared the fate of its castle, in the various wars in which Scotland was engaged, and has been repeatedly taken and plun dered by the Norwegians, by the lords of the Isles, by the English, and by the different parties during the civil wars. Notwithstanding of which, the town seems to have attained some degree of prosperity, as it en joyed the advantage of being a mart, at which the Highlanders and western islanders met with the Low landers to exchange their various commodities; and hence arose the opinion, still prevalent, that Bute is a kind of neutral ground, neither belonging properly to the Highlands nor Lowlands. About the time that Campbelltown was erected into a royal burgh (1700,) the family of Argyle offered great inducements for people to settle at that place, and many of the traders of Rothesay availed themselves of those tempting of fers. Having thus lost not only a great part of her traders, but her trade also, the town fell greatly into decay, insomuch, that by the year 1760, nearly one half of the houses had been allowed to fall into ruin, and the population was greatly reduced. It continu
ed in this languishing state till 1765, when a cus tom-house was established here, for the accommoda 4 min of the Irish colonial trade, (all colonial produce requiring at that time to be landed in Britain before it could be imported into I•eland.) The inhabitants of Rothesay then engaged in the herring fishery, in which they were very successful; the town arose from its ruins, and the harbour was enlarged. An English company having, about the year 1778, esta blished a cotton manufactory here, the first in Scot land, (which was soon afterwards transferred into Scotch hands,) contributed much to the prosperity of the place, by affording employment for the poor, and bringing many people to settle in the town. These mills have been recently enlarged, and greatly improv ed by Mr. Thom, particularly by his various inven tions, whereby he has superseded the steam-engines formerly employed there, by water-power; and that by means at once so simple, economical, and effect ual, as to bid fair to render their application univer sal.* Besides those branches of industry, and the trades necessarily connected with them, there are two tan-works and a distillery; and a steam loom factory has been lately established. The harbours being found insufficient for the accommodation of the increased number and size of the vessels belonging to the place, they were lately rebuilt and improved at an expense of above £5000 sterling.
For many years past, Rothesay has been resorted to by such sea-bathers as were fond of retirement; but the general adoption of steam navigation, in 1814 and 1815, having rendered the access to this place so easy, it soon became a fashionable watering place; the demand for houses has increased so much, that new streets have been laid off on each side of the bay, and additional houses are continually erecting.
According to the statistical account, by the mini ster, the population of the town was in 1766, 1158; in 1771, 1411; in 1781, 1701; and in 1790, 2607. When the government census was taken in 1801, the popu lation of the town was 4000; but in 1811 it had, from various causes, declined to 3544; in 1821, it was 4107, and it has since considerably increased, and is now estimated at above 5000.t