or ARGYLESHERE, a county on the western coast of Scotland, comprehending not only an extensive district on the mainland, but also a number of the Hebrides or Western Isles.

The mainland lies between Lat. 55. 15. and 56. 55. N., and between Long. 4. 32. and 6. 6. W.; and its greatest length from the Mull of Cantire to Lochiel is 115 miles, with a breadth of about 66 miles. It is bounded on the north by Inverness-shire, east by the counties of Perth and Dumbarton and the Firth of Clyde, south by the Irish Sea, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. From the windings of the numerous bays and creeks with which the land is everywhere indented, it is supposed to have more than 600 miles of sea-coast. This part of the county contains 2260 square miles, or 1,446,400 acres.

The islands of Argyleshire belong to the Hebrides; and a more particular account of them will be found in that article. See also ISLAY, MULL, JURA, &c. The islands have a superficial area of 950 square miles, or 608,000 acres.

The entire country thus contains 3210 square miles, or 2,054,400 acres, of which only about 165,000 acres are cultivated. It is divided into six districts, viz., Argyle, Cowal, Kintyre, and Knappdale, Lorn, Mull, and Islay; and contains 51 parishes, and parts of two others.

The general features of the county are varied, and striking in a high degree, consisting of lofty mountains, deep glens, and inlets of the sea entering far into the land. Towards the northern parts it assumes the wild and savage grandeur so peculiarly characteristic of the Highlands of Scotland. Mountains piled on mountains in magnificent disorder present a sublime, but, in an agricultural point of view, a very unpromising aspect. Some of the mountains are among the loftiest in Scotland; as Ben Cruachan, near Loch Awe (3669 feet), Benmore, in Mull (3168), Cruach-Lussa (3000). The inlets of the sea are very numerous; the principal of which are Loch Fyne, Loch Linnhe, Loch Etive, Loch Sutnart, Loch Leven, &c. The district of Kintyre enters into the North Channel, and is almost divided from the mainland at the narrow isthmus of Tarbet. The district of Cowal is also nearly peninsulated by Loch Long on the one side, and Loch Fyne on the other. The interior of the county is in- Argyleshire.—(See Awe.) The total area of fresh-water lakes in Argyleshire is about 52,000 acres. The rivers, as might be expected from the nature of the country, are all short and rapid.

The mainland is chiefly composed of primary strata, consisting of gneiss, mica-slate, often containing chlorite and talc-slate, quartz rock, and in some places clay-slate, and red sandstone. The districts of Kintyre, Knapdale, Cowal, Glenorchy, and the eastern part of Lorn, present the five first-mentioned, almost everywhere, until they meet the granite on the northern side of Loch Etive, and the trap formations of Western Lorn. These primary strata reappear in Appin, and then they give place to clay-slate, which is extensively quarried at Balachulish. Those primary rocks also form a part of Sunart and Morven. Gneiss and mica-slate are the general rocks on both sides of Loch Fyne; and at the ferry of St Catherine, opposite to Inverary, is the quarry of chlorite-slate of which the ducal castle is built.

Gneiss, mica-slate, and quartz-rock, are the principal strata of the isles of Coll and Tirey, Colonsay, Oransay, and of Iona; they are found also alternating with the clay-slate which constitutes the greatest part of Islay, Scarba, and Jura. The remarkable summits known as the paps of Jura, consist of very regularly stratified quartz-rock, which, indeed, is the fundamental rock of that island.

Granite, except in veins, is rather rare in Argyle. A considerable extent of this rock exists to the north and northeast of Loch Etive; and at the south-west of Mull, the extreme end of the promontory of Ross, is a granitic mass that seems to extend to the adjacent island of Iona. This granite is hard and compact, well suited for building, and has been quarried for the magnificent lighthouse erected on the Skerry Vohr. Gneiss, mica-slate, and quartz-rock, rest on the eastern side of the granite, and are interposed between it and the trap formations of the island.

Clay-slate forms a large portion of some of the islands of this county. A very durable and fissile species of this rock has long been quarried in some of what have been locally denominated the Slate Islands. The western side of Lunga consists of quartz-rock; but on its eastern side is found a fine roofing slate, similar in quality to that long wrought in the small isle called Easdale, with which a great many houses in Scotland are covered. These slates always contain bright, hard crystals of iron pyrites. Luing, Seil, and Torosha, also afford roofing slate, and a coarser sort that forms a good paving flag, which seems associated with greywacke.

Trap rocks form no inconsiderable part of this county. They occupy a wide district on the west side of Lorn, from Milford Loch, stretching northward beyond the entrance of Loch Etive, as far as Loch Creran. There they generally appear as greenstone and trap-tuffa. They constitute about nine-tenths of Mull. The western part of Ardnamurchan and Morven, on the north side of Mull Sound, are also of trap formations; as are the islands of Kerrera, Ulva, Gometra, the Treshnish group, and the beautiful columnar cliffs and caves of Staffa. To the same formation we must refer the more distant isles of Canna, Muck, and Eig; but on the two former there seem to exist small vestiges of a lias limestone, to which those green isles are probably indebted for their fertility. Eig, if it be allowed to notice it here, consists of a huge bed of trap, through which the singular porphyritic mass of the Scar abruptly projects to the height of 470 feet. In the trap-tuffa of Canna, fragments of lignite or brown coal are found. The rocks of the more considerable island of Rum are strata of quartz rock and red sandstone, traversed by numerous veins of basalt, in which most beautiful masses of heliotrope occasionally occur. The trap in many places also affords beautiful specimens of stilbite, mezotype, and other zeolites. They all affect more or less the magnetic needle, especially that of the Compasshill in Canna. In the trap-tuffa at Ardtunhead in Mull, the Duke of Argyle, in 1850, discovered, alternating with basalt beds, three beds containing petrified leaves of plants. This tuffa resembles much the laze ashes of Auvergne.

Limestone is not an abundant product of Argyle. Considerable strata of a bluish limestone, however, alternate with clay-slate in the central parts of Islay; and this valuable stone forms the upper stratum of the long island of Lismore. A white hard dolomite occurs as a bed in the primitive strata on the south side of Iona. It takes a good polish, and is variegated with specks of noble serpentine and indurated steatite. In Tirey, a flesh-coloured marble, spotted with dark green hornblende, occurs in small quantity in gneiss. Argyle is poor in metals. The only lead-mines now wrought are at Strontian in Sunart. In these mines were discovered in the last century the rare minerals strontianite and cross-stone. In 1849 the Duke of Argyle discovered near Inverary, a vein of arsenical nickel in mica-slate, which is now worked with favourable prospects.

A barrenness of soil and scanty vegetation prevail chiefly on the higher parts of the mountains, which exhibit great masses of stratified rocks or groups in a columnar form. Some of the glens are covered with large fragments of these, which have been precipitated from the impending cliffs, and consequently they afford scanty pasturage; the greater part of them, however, yield good grass. Others of them exhibit fertility, verdure, and cultivation, for miles, particularly Glendaruel, the most prolific valley of the county. Formerly Argyleshire was interspersed with numerous woods, which, uniting with the lofty mountains, formed the most romantic scenery. But these have been almost all cut down or destroyed to make way for the introduction of sheep; and planting has not, except in a few instances, been carried to any considerable extent. Archibald Duke of Argyle and his son planted very extensively in the neighbourhood of Inverary, and several other proprietors have followed their example; nevertheless, one of the most striking features in the aspect of the county is its want of wood. Remains of ancient forests are still very extensive in various places; and these consist chiefly of oaks, ashes, pines, and birches.

The fallow-deer, which formerly abounded in the woods and on the mountains, are now to be seen only in the preserves of a few gentlemen; but red deer are still found in considerable numbers in Glen Etive and in Mull. Roes are pretty numerous in the northern parts of the county, and both species of moor-game are also found in abundance. The black cattle, which in former times ran wild on the mountains, are now entirely confined to the low grounds, where their young are fed in winter by the proprietors. Fish are not at all so abundant as is generally supposed; for although white fish are taken in considerable numbers, particularly in the neighbourhood of Campbeltown, still the quantity is small compared with what is taken on other parts of the Scottish coast; and Loch Fyne is the only inlet of the sea distinguished for its herring-fishery. In 1851 the herring fishery at Inverary produced 35,325 barrels of cured fish, and 4500 barrels of fish sold uncured; while the white fishery (cod, ling, &c.), 255,882 fish; of which, 8658 cwt. were dried, and 5000 cwt. were sold fresh. The number of boats employed that year was 1445, manned by 4689 men, and the fishings gave employment to 6432 persons. (Report of Fishery Board, 1851.)

From its situation on the coast, the temperature of Argyleshire is mild, but very moist and variable. The only crops cultivated to any extent are bere or big, oats, and potatoes. The last form the staple food of the people, and they have consequently suffered severely from the recent failures of that crop. Bere is cultivated to supply the numerous distilleries, which afford employment to a considerable portion of the inhabitants. The chief branch of industry is the rearing of cattle and sheep. The cattle, though of small size, are equal, if not superior, to any other breed in the kingdom, and are in great demand in the markets of the south, to which they are sent in immense numbers. Dairy husbandry is practised to some extent in the southern parts of Kintyre, where there is a large proportion of arable land. In the more elevated tracts, sheep have very advantageously been substituted for cattle. Until the middle of last century, the only sheep in Argyleshire were of the small native race, and their number was inconsiderable; but these have entirely disappeared, and are now to be found only in the most distant islands of the Hebrides. The blackfaced is the species that is now almost universally reared. About the period above referred to, coarse-woollen heath sheep were introduced into the higher and more barren districts; and as it was soon discovered that the scanty herbage of these gloomy mountains could be converted into a much greater quantity of mutton than of beef, besides yielding a valuable article of manufacture, these hardy animals soon spread over extensive regions, upon which cattle could barely subsist in the summer months; and the income of the landed proprietors was augmented in proportion.

The commerce of Argyleshire is very limited, its exports consisting chiefly of raw produce: sheep, cattle, and fish, form at least two-thirds of the whole; and slates, oak bark, and kelp, constitute nearly the remainder. The imports are almost confined to the supply of necessaries, principally oatmeal and flour, and such articles of luxury as habit has rendered scarcely less indispensable.

Notwithstanding its natural advantages, this county is far from being characterized either by wealth or industry: its manufactures are trifling. It was expected that the Crinan Canal, which was cut across the peninsula of Kintyre at an expense of L140,000, shortening the voyage from the West Highland and Hebridean ports to the River Clyde nearly 200 miles, would cause an influx of wealth to the county; but neither this nor the Caledonian Canal, which gives access from the county to the German Ocean, has answered the expectations of the projectors, or contributed in any great degree to the prosperity of Argyleshire. The introduction of steam navigation has, however, recently given a great impulse to agriculture and industry. There is not now a loch, bay, or inlet of the county, but is in daily, or at least weekly, communication with Glasgow; and cheerful villas and watering-places are rapidly rising on the shores within a convenient distance of the western capital.

This county still contains many ancient monuments, which display the warlike spirit of its former inhabitants. In the course of the eighth and ninth centuries it was conquered, along with the neighbouring isles, by the Danes and Norwegians. For five or six centuries it continued under the dominion of Norway, and during that period was under the direct administration of feudal chieftains, generally of Norwegian extraction, who each maintained an almost independent government. Along with the Hebridean Isles, all the western parts of Argyle became the conquest of the Scottish monarchs in the fourteenth century. Some time after, Macdonald, the representative of this region, obtained leave from the Scottish crown to hold his possessions as a feudatory to that kingdom; but his turbulent spirit involved him and his family in repeated rebellions, which were at last punished by the forfeiture of their estates, which, along with their titles, were bestowed on the Campbells; and these have ever since retained them in peace and loyalty. The county of Argyle gives the title of Duke and Earl to the chief of this family, who likewise holds several important offices under the crown. The chief of Argyle in former times could on occasion bring 3000 or 4000 fighting-men into the field. This clan is numerous in Argyleshire, and there are a great number of castles and seats belonging to gentlemen who hold of the duke, and not a few of whom claim alliance with his family.

The county returns one member to parliament, and forms a synod with six presbyteries. Inverary, Campbellton, and Oban, are contributory burghs to Ayr. It is governed by a heritable lord-lieutenant (Duke of Argyll), a lord-lieutenant and high-sheriff, about 55 deputy-lieutenants, a sheriff, and four substitutes. Sheriff-courts are held at Inverary, Tobermory, Campbellton, and Fort-William; and circuit-courts, four times a year, at Oban, Lochgilphead, Dunoon, and Bowmore in Islay.

The population of Argyle has been decreasing since 1831, from the extensive emigration that has been going on, principally to Canada. The following is the state of its population since the commencement of the present century, viz., in 1801, 81,277; 1811, 86,541; 1821, 97,316; 1831, 100,973; 1841, 97,371; 1851, 88,567.