Bute, an island in the Firth of Clyde, separated from Argyllshire by the winding Kyles of Bute, mostly under a mile wide, and about 6 miles distant from Ayrshire, 8 NE. of Arran. It is 15 1/2 miles long, 11/4 to 6 1/4 broad, and 49 sq. m. in area. The surface to the north is high, rugged, and barren, attaining 875 feet in Karnes Hill; in the centre and south it is low and undulating, and comparatively fertile. Of six small lakes, the largest is Loch Fad (2 1/2 by 1/4 mile), in a cottage on whose west shore lived Kean and Sheridan Knowles. The climate is milder than in any other part of Scotland, and though moist, less so than on the west coast generally; hence, Bute is much resorted to by invalids. The principal town is Rothesay (q.v.). Most of the island belongs to the Marquis of Bute, whose beautiful seat, Mount-Stuart, 5 miles SSE. of Rothesay, has been rebuilt since the tire of 1877 at a cost of nearly £20,000. Among the antiquities of Bute are Rothesay Castle, Kames Castle (John Sterling's birthplace), Kilmorie Castle, St Blane's Chapel, and Dungyle, a remarkable vitrified fort on a high crag on the south-west coast. From an early period till 1266 Bute was more or less subject to the Norwegians. Pop. (1801) 6106; (1841) 9499; (1891) 11,735; (1901) 12,180.