Hi everyone, Daphne asked for more information about incomers to Bute. The introduction of the cotton industry in the late 18th century was one factor which caused the population boom, I believe, and the coming of steam made the island more accessible. Ian S Munro in "The Island of Bute" tells how in 1764 the Earl of Bute began a campaign to improve and develop natural resources on the island. "In 1765 Rothesay became a Customs House Station, and later a licensed herring fishery. In the following quarter of a century the fishing industry was extended, the new cotton industry started, and many agricultural improvements introduced. Road repairs were undertaken and a regular ferry service established from Kilmichael. An indication of the general expansion was provided by the increase of population from 2,600 to 4,800 during this period." By the mid 19th century Rothesay was a thriving town. "The citizens, who had been disturbed in 1813 by the sight of Henry Bell's Comet steaming in Rothesay Bay, soon adaped themselves to the new means of communication, and the harbour became a scene of continuous activity. The older industries were now supplemented by an emerging tourist trade." Of course, many of the incomers may have been Gaelic speakers, displaced from the Highlands (my own HILL ancestors spoke Gaelic and came to Bute from Kintyre in the 1840s) but it is apparent from the censuses how many people were Lowlanders, English, Irish etc. Officialdom's attitude to Gaelic is apparent from the Statistical Accounts. In the First Statistical Account for the parish of Kingarth, written in the 1790s, the Rev James Thornton, says:"Most of the natives speak English very well; although in conversing with one another, they seem to be fond of the Gaelic, their mother tongue, which chiefly prevails among the old people and may have been a hindrance to the more easy and more ready introduction of new methods of improvements in the parish." In the next Statistical Account for the same parish, written in 1840, the Rev John Buchanan says: "The English language is that spoken in general by the inhabitants. Persons who have come to maturity understand commonly the Gaelic language; but its use has much decreased within the last 40 years and is now chiefly confined to the aged, among the natives of the parish." In the First Statistical Account for Rothesay (1790s) the Rev Arcibald McLea writes: "The language principally spoken in the parish is the Gaelic; the names of the places seem, in general, to be derived from it ...." In 1840 the Rev Robert Craig wrote of Rothesay:" The English language is generally spoken by the natives and the Gaelic has rapidly fallen into disuse in the last 40 years. Scarcely any of the children now learn or understand it." Madeleine In a message dated 2/17/01 9:34:39 PM GMT Standard Time, [email protected] writes: << I did not realize that there was a large group of incoming Lowlanders & British in Bute. Could you provide more information about that to a descendant in the U.S. >>