The following list includes all effective

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

s in Scotland from the coming into force of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act 1892, in 1893. "Ineffective" burghs, which had not used legislation to adopt a "police system", take on local government duties and reform their town councils, were abolished on this date. ''Burgh'' () is the Scots term for a town or a municipality. It corresponds to the Scandinavian '' Borg'' and the English '' Borough''. Burghs are listed below under the name of the county to which they belonged. The county boundaries used are those effective for local government purposes from circa 1890 until 1975. During this period four burghs were also counties, or ''counties of cities''

Counties of cities

These four burghs were redesignated as Counties of Cities in 1930 Note a: Royal Burgh of Aberdeen absorbed Aberdeenshire burghs of Old Aberdeen burgh (burgh of barony 1489, police burgh 1860),

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia *Woodside, South Australia, a town *Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada *Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...

(police burgh 1860) in 1891. Note b: Royal Burgh of Glasgow absorbed the following Renfrewshire burghs in the years shown: *1846: Gorbals (private act 1808) *1891:

Crosshill Cross Hill or Crosshill may refer to: Places * Cross Hill, Cornwall, England *Cross Hill, Derbyshire, England * Cross Hill, Gloucestershire, England * Cross Hill, South Carolina, USA * Crosshill, East Ayrshire, Scotland *Crosshill, Fife, Scotland * ...

(police burgh 1871), Govanhill (police burgh 1876), Hillhead (police burgh 1869), Pollokshields (police burgh 1876),

Pollokshields East Pollokshields East was a police burgh in Scotland that had a brief independent existence in the 19th century. The burgh was created within the Govan parish in the county of Renfrewshire in 1880. Bartholomew's ''Gazetteer of the British Isles'' ( ...

(police burgh 1880) *1905: Kinning Park (police burgh 1871)Glasgow Corporation Order Confirmation Act, 1905 (5 Edw. 7) c. cxxvii, Schedule, section 4. *1912: Govan (burgh of barony 1607, police burgh 1864), Pollokshaws (burgh of barony 1813, police burgh 1858)

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Note: The royal burgh of Aberdeen was part of this county until 1900.

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...
(also known as ''Forfarshire'')

Note: The royal burgh of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

was part of this county until 1894. ‡ Absorbed by

royal burgh 1913

Argyll

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

Berwickshire

Buteshire The County of Bute ( gd, Siorrachd Bhòid), also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The county comprises a number of islands in the Firth of Clyde, between the counties of Argyll and Ayrshire, the p ...

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

Clackmannanshire

Dumfriesshire

Dunbartonshire

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...
(also known as ''Haddingtonshire'')

Edinburghshire

See ''Midlothian''

Elginshire

See ''Morayshire''

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

† Burghs merged 1929 ‡ Dysart absorbed by Kircaldy royal burgh 1930

Forfarshire

See ''Angus''

Haddingtonshire

See ''East Lothian''

Inverness-shire

Kincardineshire

Kinross-shire The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1930. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross, the county borders Per ...

Kirkcudbrightshire

† Maxwelltown burgh was absorbed by Dumfries royal burgh 1931.

Lanarkshire

Note: The royal burgh of Glasgow was part of the county until 1893. † Burghs merged 1920 ‡ Burghs absorbed by Glasgow royal burgh on dates shown

Linlithgowshire

See ''West Lothian''

Midlothian Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...
(also known as ''Edinburghshire'')

Note: The royal burgh of Edinburgh and its liberties formed a separate county of itself from the thirteenth century. † Burghs merged 1920 ‡ Burghs absorbed by Edinburgh royal burgh in years shown (Portobello continued, however, as a separate parliamentary burgh until 1918)

Morayshire (also known as ''Elginshire'')

Nairnshire

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lan ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

† Burghs merged 1930

Renfrewshire

† Burghs absorbed by Glasgow royal burgh on dates shown

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...
( Ross-shire and Cromartyshire)

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

Selkirkshire

Stirlingshire

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...
(also known as ''Linlithgowshire'')