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Talk:Counties of the United Kingdom/Archive 1

IONA
This term, the "Islands of the North Atlantic", is only ever used with reference to the Northern Ireland peace agreements. It has no place in an article about ancient counties. TharkunColl 00:09, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

 * In Nordic contexts, "North Atlantic islands" is a phrase used to refer to the Faroes, Greenland and Iceland. //Big Adamsky 00:20, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Which I think renders it even more ambiguous and inappropriate in this article. TharkunColl 00:23, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Yes, perhaps. See this discussion. //Big Adamsky 00:27, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

Usage
Would it be possible to link to an example of each of these usages? Or is this WP:V overkill for a simple dab page? I'm just trying to think of a solution for the "POV" war... Aquilina 21:18, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't know, but this article is dramatically better than it was a few weeks back. Just zis Guy you know? 15:25, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

 * This is no longer a dab page, therefore illustrations and examples of usage would be very welcome. As it is, it is 1000% better than it was before Aquilina totally re-wrote it.--Mais oui! 17:03, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Definite article
If the edit war over the use of the word "the" at the beginning of the article carries on much longer, the article will become a surefire candidate for Lamest edit wars ever. (In case anyone cares, I think that the "the" shouldn't be there, as it suggests there are a unique set of traditional counties, and as anyone who has read the various versions of this article will know, this is far from clear.) --RFBailey 21:59, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Scotland
So far as I know there are no "traditional counties" in Scotland. I believe the term "traditional county" dates from the late 19th century, and a decision of the UK Parliament (then also, effectively, parliament of the British Isles) to preserve then existing county boundaries in England and Wales as "traditional", in the face of legislation designed to create county councils and, at the same time, to change boundaries for general administrative purposes. No similar decision was made with respect to Scotland (where separate legislation applied re creation of county councils). "Traditional counties of England and Wales" may make sense as an article title. I suggest "Traditional counties of the British Isles" does not. Laurel Bush 15:11, 29 August 2006 (UTC).

 * The scope of this article includes Ireland (the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland) though. Also, the Association of British Counties appear to hold the opinion that Scotland has traditional counties.  I have no idea of the merit of that opinion, however.  Yorkshire Phoenix [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|22px]] [[Image:Flag of Yorkshire (Flag Institute).svg|God's own county|22px]] 15:18, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Cheers. Thanks for the ref to the Association of British Counties. Also, I was aware of the article's intended scope as inclusive of the island of Ireland. Still seems to me that the article represents, essentially, a late 19th notion about subdivisions of the British Isles (perhaps current in editions of Encyclopaedia Britannia until circa 1920 or later), with a lot of projection, onto Scotland and Ireland, of 'fact' which is not really applicable outside England and Wales. Laurel Bush 16:51, 29 August 2006 (UTC).

 * The traditional counties are more commonly used in Ireland than they ever are in England and Wales. One notable difference with the approach in Northern Ireland is that settlements are able to be part of a borough in another county, without changing counties themselves (for example Portstewart and Portrush, both in County Antrim, are part of the Borough of Coleraine, which itself is in County Londonderry).  Out of interest: which version of the Scottish counties do the ABC call traditional counties?  Yorkshire Phoenix [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|22px]] [[Image:Flag of Yorkshire (Flag Institute).svg|God's own county|22px]] 08:09, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
 * The reason they are more used is because they are more publicised! The Royal Mail didn't mess abuot with postal counties when local government changed, and neither did the Lords Lieutenants change either. If we could get them to change back in Great Britain too then we'd see more usage! Owain (talk) 08:30, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Seems I must repeat myself and elaborate. I believe that for England and Wales there was, late 19th century, an official, government/parliament decision to define and recognise "traditional counties" (perhaps now "preserved counties") with boundaries other than those of then new administrative counties. So far as I know this did not happen for Scotland and Ireland. I get the impression re Ireland, however, that there has been much less in the way of change to boundaries for administrative counties - administrative counties have, generally, very old boundaries, in contrast with boudaries of administrative counties in Britain. (And there are now no administrative counties in Scotland - just "council areas"). Laurel Bush 09:22, 30 August 2006 (UTC).

Looks to me like the article presents as commonly accepted fact what amounts to no more than beliefs of a very minor pressure group, and it should be a redirect to "Association of British Counties". Laurel Bush 09:37, 30 August 2006 (UTC).

 * Such a move would necessitate a re-write of that article to include the lost content from this one. That would result in a significant change in Association of British Counties from being an article about ABC to become one about the world according to ABC, which I don't think would be a good one.  Yorkshire Phoenix [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|22px]] [[Image:Flag of Yorkshire (Flag Institute).svg|God's own county|22px]] 09:44, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

I think the point here is not a legal one, but a geographical one; as the article itself says "The traditional counties of the British Isles are unofficial, informal and non-administrative divisions of the British Isles.". People in Scotland and Ireland can identify with counties that are no longer used in an adminstrative way, e.g. County Dublin, Lanarkshire, &c. These cultural identities exist independently of the ABC. Owain (talk) 09:47, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

The term "traditional county" does seems to have some legal meaning in England and Wales, but not elsewhere in Britain, or in Ireland. I note County Watch defines itself as a UK organisation, be seems concerned only with respect for tradional county boundaries in England and Wales. In Scotland and Ireland "traditional county" can mean whatever you want it to mean, depending on your beliefs about what is and is not "traditional", and a Wikipedia article representing one belief model as if definitive just does not make sense. Laurel Bush 10:31, 30 August 2006 (UTC).
 * The articles do not purport to do that. In cases where there are differences they are already explained - as in Ross-shire, Cromartyshire and Ross and Cromarty. Owain (talk) 10:45, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

 * I thought the only disagreement in Ireland was over the name of County Londonderry and essentially everyone recognises the same 32 counties (although, strictly speaking, there was never a County "Derry" or "Doire" but a County Coleraine before the creation of County Londonderry around the new walled city). Yorkshire Phoenix [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|22px]] [[Image:Flag of Yorkshire (Flag Institute).svg|God's own county|22px]] 10:46, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

OK. I'll accept that. For now. Laurel Bush 10:58, 30 August 2006 (UTC).

As regards boundaries and histories of boundaries of Scottish counties, it seems easy enough to cite website sources re particular counties, eg here. And here Shennan, H., Boundaries of Counties and Parishes in Scotland (Edinburgh: Wm. Green & Sons, 1892) is cited. I havent seen the document myself, and therefore do not cite it myself. Laurel Bush 10:45, 23 September 2006 (UTC).

The "traditional counties of Scotland" that seem to be advocated by the ABC, County Watch-type organisations seem to be purely legal and not at all geographical. I thought these "traditional counties of Scotland" were based on Sherrifdoms. The above referenced "County of Lanark" (or "Lanarkshire" as it is called above) was based around the burgh of Lanark and it's sheriff court. Lanark was previously part of Clydesdale, which was roughly a geographical area (the Clyde valley). If one were to search for "Clydesdale" here, one would find that this geographical area and former district is in the council area of "South Lanarkshire" (based in Hamilton) not a traditional county created in the 1800s that no longer exists, called "Lanarkshire". The same is true of the the geographical districts of Cunninghame, Kyle and Carrick - roughly geographical districts based around the rivers Irvine, Kyle and Doon respectively - that where under the sheriffdom of the burgh of Ayr creating the "Shire of Ayr". Scotland had Sheriffdoms, or shires as they are also known, which had existed from the late 1700s but these were legal, not geographical or cultural divisions and the main unit of administration remained the burghs and the parishes. Benson85 00:28, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

Traditional?
The Traditional counties of England was renamed Historic counties of England, following this disscussion. Shouldn't this article follow-suit, based upon the same conjectures and consensus? Jhamez84 17:58, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

 * That would give legitimacy to the idea that there were "historic" counties of Scotland on a similar basis to England. This is a disputed concept. I feel this page and Association of British Counties should merge instead. The only reference to "Traditional counties of the British Isles" is on Wikipedia and the ABC website. MRSC 19:02, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Despite my reservations for this page moving, I would note that Traditional counties of Wales is a candidate for being renamed following the English example. MRSC 22:24, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Agree that it shouldn't be moved because the case in Scotland is certainly different. However, it also should not be merged with the ABC article - as has been explained many times on these pages, the group is not the same as the 'objective', and there are groups outside the ABC relevant to the discussion.  Traditional county, as a phhrase, does have some limited currency elsewhere, as an occasional informal turn of phrase - check Hansard, the Times archive, etc. Perhaps movement to a historical subdivisions of the UK which explains the subtleties is the way forward. Aquilina 19:17, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Hmm. I'd expect historical subdivisions of the British Isles to explain hundreds and cantrefs and villes and poor law unions, as well as counties.  Does "ancient county" work for Scotland and Ireland?  Morwen - Talk 15:10, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

I am thinking that if you go too far back re counties in Scotland, and you are likely to trigger disputes about whether the term "county" should be used at all. Laurel Bush 13:07, 3 October 2006 (UTC).

 * This page is entirely repetition of information found in other articles. It should redirect to Counties of the United Kingdom, that page then links to the various nations county articles. MRSC 19:34, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Don't forget southern Ireland. Morwen - Talk 20:58, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Good point. The link from Counties of the United Kingdom is to Counties of Ireland so it catches it too. MRSC 05:57, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Given that this links to Counties of Ireland, should it be renamed to Counties of the British Isles/Counties of Great Britain and Ireland? Yorkshire Phoenix [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|22px]] [[Image:Flag of Yorkshire (Flag Institute).svg|God's own county|22px]] 00:37, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

 * No other concerns voiced, I've merged the information in. MRSC 20:27, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Map of Scottish counties
I believe there were various changes to boundaries during the 1890 to 1975 period. Changes did not stop with the work of the Boundary Commissioners appointed under the legislation of 1889. The same legislation gave greater powers re boundaries to the Secretary for Scotland. Perhaps the map is actually of counties as abolished in 1975? Laurel Bush 10:37, 19 October 2006 (UTC).

 * I've adapted the caption. User:Morwen created the map and will probably be able to confirm which boundaries are being used. MRSC 11:17, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Cheers. Laurel Bush 11:43, 19 October 2006 (UTC).


text:
North American Bus Industries

North American Bus Industries, Inc. (NABI) was a manufacturer of heavy-duty transit buses with its headquarters, bus manufacturing and assembly operations, located in Anniston, Alabama. Its products ranged from 31-feet to 60-feet in length, and were sold to operators throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. NABI's U.S. operations also include an aftermarket parts division in Delaware, Ohio (at the former Flxible factory), and an after-sales service center at Mira Loma, California.

The company was acquired by New Flyer Industries in 2013, which in 2015 discontinued production of NABI's product lines at the Anniston plant.

History
Ikarus Body and Coach Building Works of Budapest, Hungary (Ikarus Hungary) was a very large bus manufacturer having multiple plants in Hungary, with a production output during the 1980s of over 13,000 buses per year. In the 1980s, Ikarus Hungary entered strategic partnerships with domestic assemblers to sell its Ikarus 280 articulated bus to the United States and Canadian transit markets as the Crown-Ikarus 286 (with Crown Coach in Los Angeles) and Orion-Ikarus 286 / Orion III (with Ontario Bus Industries in Mississauga, Ontario), respectively. Under these partnerships, partially finished rolling chassis were shipped from Hungary for local fitment of seats and drivetrains compatible with domestic transit fleets. Both partnerships were dissolved by the late 1980s.

Ikarus Hungary formed another partnership in 1989 with Union City Body Company, Inc. (UCBC) of Union City, Indiana to produce domestic variants of the Ikarus 415 and Ikarus 435 transit bus for the United States market as the 416 and 436, respectively. The partnership was incorporated as Ikarus USA, Inc. (Ikarus USA), which was responsible for assembling and marketing the buses to the United States market, with operations based in Anniston, Alabama. UCBC declared bankruptcy in 1992.

American Ikarus, 1992–1996
The company that is now known as NABI was incorporated in the US, in the state of Alabama, in November 1992, under the name American Ikarus, Inc. (American Ikarus). It was incorporated by the First Hungary Fund Limited, (FHF) a Jersey equity investment fund. Its incorporation was accompanied by FHF's concurrent formation of a Hungarian holding company, North American Bus Industries, Kft. (NABI Hungary) owning the shares of American Ikarus. This arrangement—with American Ikarus as a subsidiary of NABI Hungary--(collectively The Group) resulted in FHF's investment being Hungarian-based—in alignment with FHF's objective of investing in business opportunities resulting from the political and economic changes then taking place in Hungary. American Ikarus simultaneously acquired the assets of Ikarus USA. Such assets included facilities in Alabama, miscellaneous equipment and inventory. Simultaneously with the formation of American Ikarus, the previously established strategic alliance between Ikarus USA and Ikarus Hungary was assigned to the newly incorporated American Ikarus.

At the time of incorporation, it was planned that American Ikarus would purchase unfinished buses from Ikarus Hungary under its strategic alliance, ship them to the U.S. and perform final assembly at its Alabama plant. This arrangement provided certain engineering and manufacturing benefits and allowed compliance with "Buy America" requirements of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 which established American content requirements for federally assisted rolling stock procurements, including transit buses. Such vehicles had already been designed by Ikarus Hungary specifically for the U.S. market, with unfinished buses having been produced previously by Ikarus Hungary under the same strategic alliance with Ikarus USA. These vehicles were the Model 416 forty-foot standard-floor transit bus and its larger sibling, the Model 436 sixty-foot articulated transit bus.

The plant in Anniston, AL opened in 1993 under this business arrangement, performing final assembly operations, delivery and after-sales service using unfinished knock-down buses produced in Hungary. Delivery of unfinished buses was accomplished by rail shipment from Budapest to Bremerhaven, then shipment by roll-on/roll-off ocean vessels to Charleston, SC, and then by delivery on flatbed trailers to Anniston, AL.

At the time of incorporation, Ikarus' business was in decline due to unusual political and economic changes following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Such decline continued after The Group's formation, resulting in the shutdown of one of Ikarus' plants in Budapest. This plant was purchased from Ikarus Hungary by NABI, Kft. which simultaneously entered a license agreement with Ikarus Hungary allowing NABI, Kft. to produce its own unfinished buses in Budapest and deliver them to its subsidiary in Alabama for final assembly and delivery to U.S. customers. In 1994 The Group began use of this manufacturing arrangement with no further involvement of Ikarus Hungary other than its role as licensor of the Model 416 and Model 436 standard-floor transit bus designs; the license was dropped in 1996.

North American Bus Industries, 1996–2006
In 1996, the company began aggressive expansion of its aftermarket parts department which had previously supplied service parts only for its own products. This expansion was accomplished by hiring individuals previously employed within the aftermarket parts organization of the defunct Flxible Corporation, which had recently discontinued transit bus manufacturing and aftermarket parts operations in Ohio. Once hired, this group leased facilities in Ohio, and began to expand the sale of aftermarket parts to operators of competing makes of buses.

Also in 1996, American Ikarus, Inc. was renamed North American Bus Industries, Inc. due to the dissolution of its affiliation with Ikarus Hungary some years earlier, and because the company was easily and incorrectly confused with the no longer related Ikarus Hungary, which had fallen into further distress due to continued decline of its European markets.

In 1997, NABI Kft. was re-registered in Hungary from a limited liability company to NABI, Rt., a joint stock company, allowing it to raise capital via public offering. Thereafter, in August of that year, the company raised $US 27.1 million in a public offering, with its shares listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange. FHF retained approximately 56% of NABI, Rt. shares, with the remainder of the shares publicly traded.

Also in 1997, NABI Hungary was certified as conforming to the ISO 9001 quality and organizational standard, with NABI, Inc. becoming ISO 9001 certified the following year. In 1998, The Group also implemented the use of BaaN, an integrated enterprise resource planning system. Additionally, 1998 marked the first delivery of NABI's new, 40-foot low-floor Model 40-LFW transit bus. (35-foot and 31-foot variants of this product were later derived). NABI announced it had won the first contract for the 40-LFW in January 1997, awarded by the cities of Phoenix and Tempe, both in Arizona.

NABI debuted the CompoBus at the City Transport Exhibit 99 in Toronto, Ontario, on May 25, 1999. The CompoBus used a one-piece composite body made from fiberglass and plastic resin, built for NABI by TPI Composites, Inc. in Warren, Rhode Island. NABI previously had announced its partnership with TPI in 1998, adding that three composite-bodied products would be developed: 30-foot and 40-foot low-floor transit buses, and a 45-foot motor coach. The first CompoBus orders were placed by transit agencies serving Santa Monica, California (40C-LFW) and Phoenix (45C-LFW) in November 1999, and 100 CompoBus models had been delivered five years later, by November 2004.

In 2000, The Group announced its move into the European bus market with NABI, Inc.'s debt-financed acquisition of all of the shares of the Optare Group, (Optare) of Leeds, U.K. for $US 28.5 million, making Optare a NABI, Inc. subsidiary. Anticipated benefits included immediate participation in the European market as well as eventual European market participation with a new, composite-structured bus then under development. Plans also included the derivation of certain left-hand-drive Optare products for U.S. and Hungarian markets.

Although NABI had previously expanded its Anniston facility in 1999 (new research and development center) and 2000 (new bus assembly plant), 2001 marked additional and substantial factory expansion, taking the Anniston plant from 110000 to 250000 ft2 (under roof). 2001 also marked derivation of the 30-foot NABI Model 30-LFN which was a left-hand-drive derivative of the recently developed Optare "Solo" being sold in the UK. Sale of these small low-floor buses commenced to private and public operators within the U.S. An additional outgrowth of the Optare acquisition was the sale of a small number of full-size (11 meter) NABI Model 700SE's the following year in Hungary. These were derived from the Optare Excel, and were produced on Scania chassis.

In 2002, NABI Hungary completed construction of a new plant in Kaposvár, Hungary. This new plant was purpose-built for the manufacture of the CompoBus, a new, composite-structured low-floor bus. Production of CompoBuses began in earnest in 2003, with a significantly greater portion of this particular NABI product produced in Hungary than with other NABI products.

This new CompoBus manufacturing arrangement—unique for NABI—resulted in these buses being short of the FTA's normal Buy America requirements. However, NABI had sought Buy America waivers associated with the development of this new bus model, and had been granted two such waivers by the FTA. The first waiver allowed NABI to assemble its CompoBus outside the United States, and the second allowed it to count the composite chassis/frame as domestic for purposes of calculating the domestic component content of the vehicle. Both waivers applied to FTA funded procurements for which solicitations were issued within two years of the date of the waiver letter. That same year NABI introduced the 60-LFW, a new 60-foot low-floor articulated derivative of its 40-LFW model developed some years earlier. In October 2004, NABI unveiled the new Model 60-BRT, which had been in development since early 2003. in response to LA Metro's request for a 60-foot low-floor articulated bus with rail-like styling for use on its new bus rapid transit route. Delivery of production versions began the following year, and a shorter, 42-foot derivative was eventually produced, making its debut at the American Public Transportation Association Bus & Paratransit Conference in May 2006.

After continuing disappointing financial results through 2004, NABI, Inc. sold its Optare subsidiary in 2005, and it also idled its composite bus production facility in Kaposvar, laying off 23% of its workforce in Hungary. The shutdown was due to uncertain future demand for the CompoBus and the weakened U.S. dollar. Also, in December 2005, the FTA refused to extend the previously granted waivers exempting the CompoBus from Buy America requirements.

Under Cerberus, 2006–2013
In early 2006, NABI entered a preliminary agreement with affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus) for the acquisition of all of the shares of NABI, Inc. and the business assets of NABI Rt. This transaction was completed in February 2006. (Concurrently, the Hungarian company that was not being acquired changed its name to ExBus, relegating itself to asset management unrelated to NABI.)

In August 2006, NABI announced its acquisition of Optima Bus Corporation in Wichita, Kansas (Optima) for an undisclosed amount. A short time later, it was announced that Cerberus had also acquired Blue Bird Corporation of Ft. Valley, Georgia (Blue Bird) thus rendering it a "sister" to NABI, Inc.

In June 2007, Optima's operations in Wichita were shut down, and work-in-process, inventory and tooling for Optima's products were moved to NABI's Anniston plant. At generally the same time, the work-in-process, tooling and inventory for Blue Bird's commercial buses were acquired by NABI and was also transferred to NABI, Inc.'s plant. NABI, Inc. elected to retain the names these products, and began producing these smaller buses at its Anniston, AL plant, thus adding Optima and Blue Bird brands to its product portfolio.

Generally at this same time, NABI also shifted the manufacture of its standard-floor model 416 unfinished buses from Hungary to newly leased facilities adjoining its existing Anniston plant. Under this arrangement, standard-floor body structures and other vehicle elements are fabricated at the adjoining facility and are then towed a short distance into NABI's final assembly operation.

In late 2007, NABI began re-commissioning its CompoBus production plant in Kaposvar, simultaneously shifting certain assembly operations to Anniston and thus rendering the CompoBus compliant with Buy America requirements. CompoBus deliveries resumed in 2008 without the need for further waivers from the FTA. Los Angeles County Metro placed the first order for revived CompoBus production in July 2008.

2008 also saw additional expansion at NABI's Anniston plant with the installation of a new, robotic paint system. This expansion took the Anniston plant to approximately 1/3 million square feet under roof, not including adjacent leased facilities used for manufacture of standard-floor unfinished buses.

Attempts to integrate the production of the smaller Optima and Blue Bird buses into NABI's operations eventually proved disruptive, and in 2010, NABI discontinued the production of its Optima and Blue Bird brand commercial bus products.

The following year, NABI commissioned a new fabrication shop at its plant, equipped with robotic laser cutting equipment as well as tube bending and other new fabrication equipment. At approximately the same time, new body assembly tooling for low-floor buses was installed at its adjoining body fabrication facility. With these changes in place, NABI shifted the manufacturing of its metal-structured low-floor unfinished buses from Hungary to the same facility that had already begun manufacturing NABI's standard-floor products in Alabama a few years earlier.

Also in 2010, NABI unveiled its new 12-meter Sirius bus at its plant in Kaposvar, Hungary. This new product, produced on an MAN chassis, was developed for Hungarian public transportation operators.

In 2011, NABI unveiled new styling for its metal-structured low-floor product (nn-LFW) and its CompoBus. Restyling of both products was accomplished primarily by using a redesigned front mask, leaving the body structure unchanged from earlier versions of the same models. Also, a 40-foot CompoBus prototype incorporating the new styling was also produced.

NABI utilized various manufacturing arrangements throughout its history. Initially, rolling shells were assembled in Hungary and shipped to Anniston for finishing  until 2011, when it began transitioning to produce its metal-structured products in Anniston; the transition was complete in late 2012. These metal-structured buses consisted of the standard-floor model 416 (40-foot length), the low-floor Model LFW (produced in 31-foot, 35-foot and 40-foot lengths) and the low-floor BRT (produced in 42-foot and 60-foot lengths). CompoBus shells were assembled at Kapsovár and finished in Anniston until the end of production in 2013.

Under New Flyer, 2013–2015
On April 30, 2013, after completing a large order of CompoBuses for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, NABI produced its final CompoBus in Hungary. At the same time, NABI elected to discontinue promotion of its Hungarian Sirius bus, thus ending all production in Hungary and relegating all manufacturing and final assembly activities to its facilities in the USA.

On June 21, 2013, New Flyer Industries announced the acquisition of North American Bus Industries, Inc from Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (Cerberus) for $79 million. The deal was completed later that day. However, New Flyer continued the NABI name for its existing bus products, which continued in production for the time being. This made NABI a subsidiary of New Flyer, using the legal name of NABI Bus, LLC. The Blue Bird school bus production assets were not included in the sale to New Flyer; they remain owned by Cerberus.

A second restyling was implemented in March 2014. In June 2014, New Flyer announced that the NABI product line would be discontinued after existing orders are filled. The last bus, a 40-LFW which was built for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system, was completed in late October 2015. Since then, New Flyer has exclusively produced its Xcelsior heavy-duty transit bus product line at the former NABI Anniston plant, under the new name of New Flyer of America, Inc. New Flyer invested $20 million to retool the plant for Xcelsior production in 2015; a second expansion of the plant to 400000 ft2, costing an additional $25 million, was announced in September 2017 and opened in November 2018.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: North American Bus Industries


text:
Talk:Maid Marian and Her Merry Men

Untitled
The memorable music and songs for Maid Marian and Her Merry Men series were composed by Nick Russell-Pavier and David Chilton. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.26.104.89 (talk) 14:06, 5 November 2003 (UTC)
 * Great! I'll put this in the article. By the way, you are allowed to put it in yourself. Anyone can add information to Wikipedia. Talk to me if you want to know more. - user:zanimum —Preceding undated comment added 14:40, 5 November 2003 (UTC).

Like many British children's programmes, there is a lot of social commentary snuck in, which would be unlikely to have been allowed on an adult show, due to the Beeb's neutrality on political issues. I'm sorry but thats just plain wrong, political neutrality applies to news and current affairs not comedy or drama. Saul Taylor 19:22, 29 Jan 2004 (UTC)

 * Actually no, there IS a lot of social commentary on the show. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.244.224.104 (talk) 07:11, 19 December 2004 (UTC)

 * I don't think Saul was saying that there wasn't; what he was saying was that the Beeb's political neutrality has nothing to do with it. --Paul A 04:09, 21 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I just watched Tony Robnson's stand up act Cunning Night Out and from what he says is it wasn't a Children's program, even though alot of kids watched it. From what he says in it the entire show wasn't targeted at kids. -- Hagis —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.234.52.15 (talk) 03:33, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Doesn't that link go to the wrong David Lloyd? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.153.171.99 (talk) 23:04, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

no, it's the right David Lloyd. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.7.183.131 (talk) 13:34, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

'References'
I started a separate section to list the video and DVD releases, with dates and references to press releases, since these are the main Maid Marian-related happenings at the moment, and I;m sure it's better to back up the dates with sources.

I wanted to provide sources for the dates in a "references" section, in a similar style to the Top Gear page, but there was already a references section with a list of books in: this has been on the page for ages, but surely these aren't references in an encyclopedic sense? I don't own any of the books but I doubt the books are all a source for this page. I've renamed that section "Comic books", for now, and I reckon it should probably have a bit more information about the books, than just a list of ISBNs. Jimbow25 16:12, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Revert
I reverted the edits by 212.2.174.229 the piece about the upcoming DVDs, because I can't see how these made anything any clearer. Use of "program" instead of "programme", and "Volume 1" instead of "Series 1" is not consistent with the rest of the article. What was written (and then hastily removed) on the edits in between by this person may well be worth mentioning somewhere in the article. Jimbow25 18:48, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Young Telegraph
Anyone want to create a page for the Daily Telegraph's children's/young adult section...? I'll probably get around to it sooner or later if not. ntnon (talk) 03:50, 16 January 2008 (UTC)

Ratings irrelevant?
Not sure I see point of having a section on Ratings (CBBC Channel) with data relating to a minor channel repeat showing rather than episodes' respective debuts, a decade or more after the 'main event'.

Further, the data presented are both incomplete and without context (no indication is given of which episodes are being referenced, and why only those listed - 4 episodes is less than one series - not to mention lack of calendrical linearity, with 9 April placed after 11 April). 2 B Promoted (talk) 10:43, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Maid Marian and Her Merry Men


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Monomial

In mathematics, a monomial is, roughly speaking, a polynomial which has only one term. Two definitions of a monomial may be encountered:
 * 1) A monomial, also called power product, is a product of powers of variables with nonnegative integer exponents, or, in other words, a product of variables, possibly with repetitions. For example, $$x^2yz^3=xxyzzz$$ is a monomial. The constant $$1$$ is a monomial, being equal to the empty product and to $$x^0$$ for any variable $$x$$. If only a single variable $$x$$ is considered, this means that a monomial is either $$1$$ or a power $$x^n$$ of $$x$$, with $$n$$ a positive integer. If several variables are considered, say, $$x, y, z,$$ then each can be given an exponent, so that any monomial is of the form $$x^a y^b z^c$$ with $$a,b,c$$ non-negative integers (taking note that any exponent $$0$$ makes the corresponding factor equal to $$1$$).
 * 2) A monomial is a monomial in the first sense multiplied by a nonzero constant, called the coefficient of the monomial. A monomial in the first sense is a special case of a monomial in the second sense, where the coefficient is $$1$$. For example, in this interpretation $$-7x^5$$ and $$(3-4i)x^4yz^{13}$$ are monomials (in the second example, the variables are $$x, y, z,$$ and the coefficient is a complex number).

In the context of Laurent polynomials and Laurent series, the exponents of a monomial may be negative, and in the context of Puiseux series, the exponents may be rational numbers.

Since the word "monomial", as well as the word "polynomial", comes from the late Latin word "binomium" (binomial), by changing the prefix "bi-" (two in Latin), a monomial should theoretically be called a "mononomial". "Monomial" is a syncope by haplology of "mononomial".

Comparison of the two definitions
With either definition, the set of monomials is a subset of all polynomials that is closed under multiplication.

Both uses of this notion can be found, and in many cases the distinction is simply ignored, see for instance examples for the first and second meaning. In informal discussions the distinction is seldom important, and tendency is towards the broader second meaning. When studying the structure of polynomials however, one often definitely needs a notion with the first meaning. This is for instance the case when considering a monomial basis of a polynomial ring, or a monomial ordering of that basis. An argument in favor of the first meaning is also that no obvious other notion is available to designate these values (the term power product is in use, in particular when monomial is used with the first meaning, but it does not make the absence of constants clear either), while the notion term of a polynomial unambiguously coincides with the second meaning of monomial.

The remainder of this article assumes the first meaning of "monomial".

Monomial basis
The most obvious fact about monomials (first meaning) is that any polynomial is a linear combination of them, so they form a basis of the vector space of all polynomials, called the monomial basis - a fact of constant implicit use in mathematics.

Number
The number of monomials of degree $$d$$ in $$n$$ variables is the number of multicombinations of $$d$$ elements chosen among the $$n$$ variables (a variable can be chosen more than once, but order does not matter), which is given by the multiset coefficient $\left(\!\!\binom{n}{d}\!\!\right)$. This expression can also be given in the form of a binomial coefficient, as a polynomial expression in $$d$$, or using a rising factorial power of $$d+1$$:
 * $$\left(\!\!\binom{n}{d}\!\!\right)

= \binom{n+d-1}{d} = \binom{d+(n-1)}{n-1} = \frac{(d+1)\times(d+2)\times\cdots\times(d+n-1)}{1\times2\times\cdots\times(n-1)} = \frac{1}{(n-1)!}(d+1)^{\overline{n-1}}.$$ The latter forms are particularly useful when one fixes the number of variables and lets the degree vary. From these expressions one sees that for fixed n, the number of monomials of degree d is a polynomial expression in $$d$$ of degree $$n-1$$ with leading coefficient $\frac{1}{(n-1)!}$.

For example, the number of monomials in three variables ($$n=3$$) of degree d is $\frac{1}{2}(d+1)^{\overline2} = \frac{1}{2}(d+1)(d+2)$ ; these numbers form the sequence 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, ... of triangular numbers.

The Hilbert series is a compact way to express the number of monomials of a given degree: the number of monomials of degree $$d$$ in $$n$$ variables is the coefficient of degree $$d$$ of the formal power series expansion of
 * $$ \frac{1}{(1-t)^n}.$$

The number of monomials of degree at most $d$ in $n$ variables is $\binom{n+d}{n} = \binom{n+d}{d}$. This follows from the one-to-one correspondence between the monomials of degree $$d$$ in $$n+1$$ variables and the monomials of degree at most $$d$$ in $$n$$ variables, which consists in substituting by 1 the extra variable.

Multi-index notation
The multi-index notation is often useful for having a compact notation, specially when there are more than two or three variables. If the variables being used form an indexed family like $$x_1, x_2, x_3, \ldots,$$ one can set
 * $$x=(x_1, x_2, x_3, \ldots),$$

and
 * $$\alpha = (a, b, c,\ldots).$$

Then the monomial
 * $$x_1^a x_2^b x_3^c \cdots$$

can be compactly written as
 * $$x^{\alpha}.$$

With this notation, the product of two monomials is simply expressed by using the addition of exponent vectors:
 * $$x^\alpha x^\beta=x^{\alpha+\beta}.$$

Degree
The degree of a monomial is defined as the sum of all the exponents of the variables, including the implicit exponents of 1 for the variables which appear without exponent; e.g., in the example of the previous section, the degree is $$a+b+c$$. The degree of $$x y z^2$$ is 1+1+2=4. The degree of a nonzero constant is 0. For example, the degree of −7 is 0.

The degree of a monomial is sometimes called order, mainly in the context of series. It is also called total degree when it is needed to distinguish it from the degree in one of the variables.

Monomial degree is fundamental to the theory of univariate and multivariate polynomials. Explicitly, it is used to define the degree of a polynomial and the notion of homogeneous polynomial, as well as for graded monomial orderings used in formulating and computing Gröbner bases. Implicitly, it is used in grouping the terms of a Taylor series in several variables.

Geometry
In algebraic geometry the varieties defined by monomial equations $$x^{\alpha} = 0$$ for some set of α have special properties of homogeneity. This can be phrased in the language of algebraic groups, in terms of the existence of a group action of an algebraic torus (equivalently by a multiplicative group of diagonal matrices). This area is studied under the name of torus embeddings.

title: Monomial


text:
Shopping in Delhi

Delhi has been, since historical times, a favoured destination for shoppers.

Below is a list of well known shopping markets and malls Delhi NCR.

Retail markets

 * Connaught Place (CP), including Janpath and Palika Bazaar: Connaught Place stands as one of the most prestigious commercial markets in the world. With rents surpassing Rs 9,000 per square foot, it is ranked among the top ten most expensive marketplaces globally. CP hosts esteemed media firms, government offices, and banks. As the city's primary Central Business District (CBD), it pulsates with business and cultural vitality.
 * Chandni Chowk: A market planned by Jahanara Begum, daughter of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, dates back to the mid-17th century. Historically, it had shops known for silverwork. In the contemporary context, the main street retains its chaotic charm, while the labyrinthine bazaars branching off offer a diverse shopping experience for items ranging from tiffin tins to saris, spices to gold jewelry. The area also boasts a vibrant street food scene, providing an opportunity to savor local treats.
 * Karol Bagh
 * Paharganj
 * Sarojini Nagar
 * Khan Market - Most expensive retail location in India, in terms of per square feet rental.
 * Lajpat Nagar
 * Dilli Haat, INA and Pitampura - Government-run emporiums showcasing a rotating cast of regional artists and their crafts, such as bamboo & cane jewellery, hand-carved wooden articles and papier-mache animals.
 * Hauz Khas Village Market.
 * South Extension
 * Nehru Place
 * Daryaganj
 * Gandhi Nagar
 * Rajouri Garden
 * Tilak Nagar Central Market
 * Rani Bagh
 * Kamla Nagar

Wholesale markets

 * Sadar Bazar: Often considered to be the largest wholesale market in Asia, the market deals primarily in general utilities, household items, jewelry, toys, fashion accessories, textiles & garments, electronics, stationery, artifacts, handicrafts, spices, dry fruits, food items, books, and novels. Though the market operates mainly on a wholesale basis, it also caters to the needs of a few retail shoppers. The market is closed on Sunday. In 2023, Indiatimes ranked Sadar Bazar among the world's most iconic markets.
 * Gandhi Nagar, Delhi
 * Okhla Mandi
 * Mehrauli
 * Chandni Chowk
 * Khari Baoli
 * Ghanta Ghar
 * Bhajanpura

Delhi

 * Select Citywalk, Saket
 * Metro Walk, Rohini
 * Ansal Plaza, Andrews Ganj
 * Pacific Mall, Tagore Garden
 * Pacific Mall, Pitampura
 * Pacific D21 Mall, Dwarka
 * Pacific Mall, Jasola
 * Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj
 * Reliance Mall, Dwarka
 * Reliance Mall, Vikaspuri
 * Unity One Mall, Shahdara
 * V3S Mall, Laxmi Nagar

Gurgaon

 * Ambience Mall, NH8
 * M3M Urbana Premium, Sector 67
 * AIRIA Mall, Sector 68
 * Adree City Mall, Sector 52
 * Ansal Plaza, Palam Vihar

Noida

 * DLF Mall of India, Sector 18
 * The Great India Place, Sector 38A
 * Spectrum@metro, C-701, Sector 75
 * Spectrum@metro, Plot A & B, Sector 75
 * Logix City Centre, Sector 32

Faridabad

 * The Mall of Faridabad, NIT
 * Crown Interiorz Mall, Sector 35

Ghaziabad

 * Pacific Mall, Sahibabad
 * Shipra Mall, Indirapuram
 * Mahagun Metro Mall, Vaishali

Greater Noida

 * Gaur City Mall, Noida Extension
 * Omaxe Connaught Place Mall, Beta 2

title: Shopping in Delhi


text:
Greens–European Free Alliance

The Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) is a political group of the European Parliament composed primarily of green and regionalist political parties.

The group consists of four distinct European political parties, namely the European Green Party (EGP), Volt Europa (Volt), part of the European Free Alliance (EFA) and the European Pirate Party (PPEU).

History
Formed following the 1999 European elections for the 5th European Parliament, The group has generally limited its membership to progressive parties. These European parties are joined by MEPs from non-aligned national parties, which have included the Dutch Europe Transparent (2004–2009) and the Swedish (2009–2014), German (2014–) and Czech (2019–) Pirate Parties.

9th European Parliament
On 9 June 2019, following a pan-European vote of party members, Volt Europa chose to join the Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament.

10th European Parliament
On 19 June 2024, the group elected Bas Eickhout, and re-elected Terry Reintke, as Co-Presidents of the group. On 25 June, the group elected the members of its bureau.

5th European Parliament

Presidents
The Greens/EFA group is usually co-chaired by 2 presidents, at least one of them must be a woman.

Bureau
Group bureau during the 10th European Parliament.

title: Greens–European Free Alliance


text:
Bozo the Clown

Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to television in 1949, later appearing in franchised television programs of which he was the host, where he was portrayed by numerous local performers.

Creation and history
The character was created by Alan W. Livingston, and portrayed by Pinto Colvig for a children's storytelling record album and illustrated read-along book set in 1946. He became popular and served as the mascot for Capitol Records.

The character first appeared on US television in 1949 portrayed by Colvig. After the creative rights to Bozo were purchased by Larry Harmon in 1957, the character became a common franchise across the United States, with local television stations producing their own Bozo shows featuring the character. Harmon bought out his business partners in 1965 and produced Bozo's Big Top for syndication to local television markets not producing their own Bozo shows in 1966, while Chicago's Bozo's Circus, which premiered in 1960, went national via cable and satellite in 1978.

Performers who have portrayed Bozo, aside from Colvig and Harmon, include Syd Saylor (1950s on KTTV), Bob McNea (1959-1966), Earl Frank Cady (WJRT-TV, 1967-), Willard Scott (1959–1962), Frank Avruch (1959–1970), Bob Bell (1960–1984), and Joey D'Auria (1984–2001). Bozo TV shows were also produced in other countries including Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Australia, and Thailand.

David Arquette purchased the rights to the Bozo the Clown character from Larry Harmon Pictures in 2021.

Animation feature
Bozo appeared in a 1958–1962 animated series, Bozo: The World's Most Famous Clown thru which Larry Harmon, had supplied the voice of Bozo, and thru which Paul Frees had narrated this series.

Franchises and licensing
Bozo was created as a character by Livingston, who produced a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set, the first of its kind, titled Bozo at the Circus for Capitol Records and released in October 1946. Colvig portrayed the character on this and subsequent Bozo read-along records. The albums were very popular and the character became a mascot for the record company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown." Many non-Bozo Capitol children's records had a "Bozo Approved" label on the jacket. In 1948, Capitol and Livingston began setting up royalty arrangements with manufacturers and television stations for use of the Bozo character. KTTV in Los Angeles began broadcasting the first show, Bozo's Circus, in 1949 featuring Colvig as Bozo with his blue-and-red costume, over-sized red hair and whiteface clown makeup on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

In 1957, Larry Harmon, one of several actors hired by Livingston and Capitol Records to portray Bozo at promotional appearances, formed a business partnership and bought the licensing rights (excluding the record-readers) to the character one year after Livingston left Capitol. Harmon renamed the character "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown" and modified the voice, laugh and costume. He then worked with a wig stylist to get the wing-tipped bright orange style and look of the hair that had previously appeared in Capitol's Bozo comic books. He started his own animation studio and distributed (through Jayark Films Corporation) a series of cartoons (with Harmon as the voice of Bozo) to television stations, along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host, beginning with KTLA-TV in Los Angeles on January 5, 1959, and starring Vance Colvig Jr., son of the original "Bozo the Clown," Pinto Colvig.

Unlike many other shows on television, "Bozo the Clown" was mostly a franchise as opposed to being syndicated, meaning that local TV stations could put on their own local productions of the show complete with their own Bozo. Another show that had previously used this model successfully was fellow children's program Romper Room. Because each market used a different actor for the character, the voice and look of each market's Bozo also differed slightly. One example is the voice and laugh of Chicago's WGN-TV Bob Bell, who also wore a red costume throughout the first decade of his portrayal.

The wigs for Bozo were originally manufactured through the Hollywood firm Emil Corsillo Inc. The company designed and manufactured toupees and wigs for the entertainment industry. Bozo's headpiece was made from yak hair, which was adhered to a canvas base with a starched burlap interior foundation. The hair was styled and formed, then sprayed with a heavy coat of lacquer to maintain its form. Occasionally the headpiece needed freshening, and was sent to the Hollywood factory for a quick refurbishing. The canvas top would slide over the actor's forehead. With the exception of the Bozo wigs for WGN-TV Chicago, the eyebrows were permanently painted on the headpiece.

In 1965, Harmon bought out his business partners and became the sole owner of the licensing rights. Thinking that one national show that he fully owned would be more profitable for his company, Harmon produced 130 of his own half-hour shows from 1965 to 1967 titled Bozo's Big Top which aired on Boston's WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV) with Boston's Bozo, Frank Avruch, for syndication in 1966. Avruch's portrayal and look of Bozo resembled Harmon's more so than most of the other portrayers' at the time. Avruch was enlisted by UNICEF as an international ambassador and was featured in a documentary, Bozo's Adventures in Asia.

The show's distribution network included New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Boston at one point, though most television stations still preferred to continue producing their own versions. The most popular local version was Bob Bell and WGN-TV Chicago's Bozo's Circus, which went national via cable and satellite in 1978. It had a waiting list for studio tickets that eventually reached ten years.

Bell retired in 1984 and was replaced by Joey D'Auria. The WGN version successfully survived competition from syndicated and network children's programs until 1994, when WGN management decided to exit the weekday children's television business and buried The Bozo Show in an early Sunday timeslot as The Bozo Super Sunday Show. It suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of educational children's programs per week.

In 2001, station management controversially ended production, citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels. In 2005, WGN's Bozo returned to television in a two-hour retrospective titled Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics. The prime-time premiere was No. 1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed live worldwide during the holiday season each year. In 2003, Harmon released six of his Bozo's Big Top programs with Avruch on DVD and 2 box sets of 30 episodes each in 2007 retitled "Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown Vols.1 & 2." The WGN Bozo shows have not been released commercially in any video format.

On July 3, 2008, Larry Harmon died of congestive heart failure at the age of 83. On March 13, 2009, Alan W. Livingston died of age-related causes at the age of 91. On October 2, 2010, The New York Times reported that the father of U.S. Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell "worked a series of small television roles before scoring his signature gig, playing Bozo the Clown." But upon further investigation, a New York Times follow-up two days later reported that the father, Daniel O'Donnell, was an assistant and understudy for the full-time local television Bozo in Philadelphia and would fill in for the full-time Bozo when the latter was unavailable.

Boston TV
The Bozo franchise appeared on two separate Boston-area stations from 1959 to 1974.

WHDH-TV Boston
The local WHDH-TV Boston production of Bozo's Circus, with Frank Avruch playing Bozo, aired daily from 1959 until 1970. In 1965, Larry Harmon became the sole owner of the Bozo licensing rights after buying out his business partners, and produced 130 episodes of the Boston-based Bozo show between 1965 and 1967 and syndicated them to local U.S. television markets that did not produce their own Bozo shows. The half-hour syndicated shows were retitled Bozo The Clown (on episodes with a 1965 date) and Bozo's Big Top (on episodes with a 1966 date). Caroll Spinney (billed in the credits as Ed Spinney) appeared as various characters which included Mr. Lion and Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo. He later went on to portray Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. Carl Carlsson also appeared as Bozo's sidekick Professor Tweedy Foofer. Ruth Carlsson also appeared in several 1966 episodes. Del Grosso played Clank the Robot in a few episodes. Harmon personally supervised the taping of these episodes, with Harmon-approved characters added, some based on characters in Harmon's classic 1958–1962 animated Bozo cartoon shorts which also aired in each episode. These were the only Bozo shows Harmon fully owned. Bozo's frequent exclamations on the show included, "Whoa, Nellie!" and "Wowie Kazowie!" and always ended the show with, "Always keep laughing!"

The Boston show also occasionally featured Nozo the Clown, the brother of Bozo, played by Bill Harrington. Nozo was used to fill in for Bozo on occasion when Frank Avruch was unable to appear on the show. Nozo did not wear the red ball on his nose that other Bozos wore. Instead, his nose was Harrington's nose in makeup.

In 2003, Harmon released six of these shows on DVD and, in 2007, 30 of them in a DVD box set titled Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown, Collection 1. A second box set was released later that year, also containing 30 of the half-hours; the second box set (Collection 2) includes the six episodes previously released on the two earlier single DVD releases, and also repeats one show from Collection 1, for a grand total of 59 episodes released on DVD altogether. Although the shows included on the two single-disc DVDs had contemporary computer-animated characters superimposed over some scenes, the 59 episodes included in Collections 1 & 2 are presented in their original form.

On March 20, 2018, Frank Avruch died of heart failure in Boston at the age of 89.

WSMW-TV Worcester
From 1970 to 1974, WSMW-TV, an independent station in Worcester, Massachusetts, west of Boston, produced Bozo's Big Top, their local version of the Bozo the Clown franchise. Tom Matzell played Bozo, alongside Gene Sanocki as Bozo's sidekick Professor Tweetyfoofer. Local children were featured on the program daily, with many waiting a year or more for their chance to be on the show.

Detroit/Windsor
Bozo first came to Detroit in 1958 on WWJ-TV channel 4. Bob McNea, who worked as a clown in various circuses, including the Shrine Circus, was hired to play Bozo. McNea's Bozo became very popular, expanding to two shows a day, and becoming the first children's program in Detroit to switch to color. However, there was friction with Larry Harmon. McNea played the character in a more genteel and subdued way than Harmon's playbook required, and McNea did the show without a live audience. After years of increasing the franchise fee, WWJ-TV ended the contract with Harmon in 1967. WWJ-TV kept McNea, who created his own clown character Oopsy, which continued on WWJ-TV until 1979. McNea then took Oopsy to CKCO-TV in Kitchener, Ontario where he continued for another 15 years.

Meanwhile, across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario CKLW-TV channel 9 picked up the Bozo franchise in 1967. Popular local talent Jerry Booth was tapped to play Bozo, but he only did the role for a few months. He was replaced by local disc jockey and radio program director Art Cervi, who was the definitive Bozo to Detroit families. Now titled Bozo's Big Top, Cervi was joined by Larry Thompson as red-suited, turban wearing Mr. Whoodini, who had hosted his own children's show Magic Shoppe, as his sidekick. Also on the show was piano player Mr. Calliope, played by Wally Townsend.

Unlike WWJ-TV, CKLW-TV included a live audience, but they also did things that were not sanctioned by Harmon. CKLW-TV quickly phased out the cartoons, increasing the entertainment on Bozo's Big Top. After a taped opening in which Bozo runs through the streets of Detroit calling kids to his Big Top, and on set singing and dancing to the "Bozo is Back" theme song, with the illuminated, flashing Bozo sign superimposed over in a slightly psychedelic way, Cervi would preside over an hour long variety show that included local dance troupes, singers, musicians, live animals, and national celebrities. In between, kids would play games to win prizes (one of the most plentiful being a six-pack of Orange Crush), Mr. Whoodini would pick kids to assist him in magic tricks, and of course Bozo would provide comedy. Cervi was also a very good singer, and one of the highlights were two or three times per show, Bozo would sit next to Mr. Calliope at his piano and sing a song, most of the time in Cervi's own voice rather than his Bozo voice, with all the kids in the audience clapping in time to the music. The shows would usually end with Bozo and Mr. Whoodini going into the audience and letting kids tell jokes and riddles. At one point Bozo's Big Top became so popular, that it aired twice a day.

In 1977, after the station's conversion to CBC Television-owned CBET, the Canadian border protection and labor rules forced the station to cancel Bozo's Big Top because most of the cast and staff were American. Bozo's Big Top moved to WJBK-TV channel 2, where it lasted for two more years, and was syndicated to other markets such as New York, Las Vegas, Wichita, and Los Angeles. Due to WJBK-TV's lack of interest in producing such an ambitious show, it was cancelled in 1979, ending Bozo's twenty-year reign in Detroit and Windsor.

On November 5, 2005, Bob McNea, the first Detroit Bozo, died at the age of 76.

In 2014, a memoir of Art Cervi's Bozo years, I Did What?, co-written by Herb Mentzer, was published.

On February 5, 2019, Larry Thompson, who played Mr. Whoodini, died at the age of 76.

On February 15, 2021, Art Cervi died at his Novi, MI home at age 86.

Washington, D.C.
Willard Scott played Bozo on WRC-TV from 1959 to 1962. Dick Dyszel played the character on Washington, D.C. broadcast TV, WDCA channel 20, in the 1970s to millions of viewers. Dyszel also played TV horror host "Count Gore de Vol" and hosted "Captain 20" afternoon kids' TV shows in D.C.

Chicago TV
The Chicago Bozo franchise was the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television. It also became the most widely known Bozo show as WGN-TV became a national cable television Superstation. WGN-TV Chicago's "Bozo" show debuted on June 20, 1960, starring Bob Bell on a live half-hour program weekdays at noon, performing comedy sketches and introducing cartoons. The series was placed on hiatus in January 1961 to facilitate WGN's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to 2501 West Bradley Place on the city's northwest side. WGN-TV's "Bozo's Circus" debuted on September 11, 1961.

The live hour-long show aired weekdays at noon and featured comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. The program began airing nationally via cable and satellite in 1978, and studio audience reservations surpassed a 10-year wait. In 1980, the series moved to weekday mornings as "The Bozo Show" and aired on tape delay. In 1994, it moved to Sunday mornings as "The Bozo Super Sunday Show" and became "education and information" in 1997 following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours per week of "educational and informational" children's programs. The final Bozo show, a primetime special titled "Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!" was taped on June 12, 2001, and aired on July 14, 2001. Reruns of "The Bozo Super Sunday Show" aired until August 26, 2001.

Cast members throughout the program's 40-year run included Bob Bell as Bozo (1960–1984) (Bell's voice was later the pattern for that of Krusty the Clown on The Simpsons), Ned Locke as Ringmaster Ned (1961–1976), Don Sandburg as Sandy the Tramp (1961–1969), Ray Rayner as Oliver O. Oliver (1961–1971), Roy Brown as Cooky the Cook (1968–1994), Marshall Brodien as Wizzo the Wizard (1968–1994), Frazier Thomas as the circus manager (1976–1985), Joey D'Auria as Bozo (1984–2001), Andy Mitran as Professor Andy (1987–2001) and Robin Eurich as Rusty the Handyman (1994–2001). Bozo returned to television on December 24, 2005, in a two-hour retrospective titled "Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics." The primetime premiere was No. 1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed annually during the holiday season. Bozo also continues to appear on the WGN-TV float in Chicago's biggest parades.

Allen Hall, the long-time producer, died September 6, 2011, after an 18-month battle with lung cancer at the age of 82. Hall worked at WGN for 40 years. He joined the station in 1961, a year after "Bozo" debuted on WGN, as the show's director until 1966 and returned to the program as producer in 1973 until 2001.

Few episodes from the show's first two decades survive; although some shows were recorded to videotape for delayed broadcasts, the tapes were reused and eventually discarded. In 2012, a vintage tape was located on the Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection Web site archive list by Rick Klein of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television, containing material from two 1971 episodes. WGN reacquired the tape and put together a new special entitled "Bozo's Circus: The Lost Tape," which aired in December 2012.

On October 6, 2018, Don Sandburg, "Bozo's Circus" producer and writer from 1961 to 1969 and the last surviving original cast member, died at the age of 87. Four months later, WGN-TV paid tribute to Sandburg and the rest of the original cast with a two-hour special titled "Bozo's Circus: The 1960s."

Grand Rapids, Michigan
From 1966 to 1999, WZZM-TV produced a Bozo show, starring Dick Richards for the majority of the run. Significant is that when it was cancelled in 1999, it was the last Bozo show other than the Chicago WGN show to be on the air.

Brazilian TV
In 1979, Brazil's most famous TV show host Silvio Santos (founder and owner of the SBT television network) decided to produce a national version of Bozo show for the former TVS-Record TV alliance station. Comedian Wandeko Pipoca was chosen by Larry Harmon to be the first Brazilian Bozo. Brazilian characters were created for the Brazilian Bozo show, like Salci Fufu — played by famous comedian Pedro de Lara — and Vovó Mafalda, played by Valentino Guzzo. With the clown's large success in Brazil, two more actors, Luís Ricardo and Arlindo Barreto, were hired to play Bozo for additional shows which ran from mornings to afternoons and more comedians were chosen to play Bozo in other parts of the country. Brazil's Bozo shows ended in 1991, following the death of Décio Roberto, the last actor to portray the clown in that country. Brazil's Bozo won five Troféu Imprensa, a Brazilian award given to personalities and productions in the media (in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989), as well as three Gold Albums. In the last years of the program, UNESCO bestowed the Brazilian Bozo with its Ambassador of Goodwill recognition, for its outstanding success among children and the youth.

In 2012, when the audience of children's shows started to fall, SBT decided to rehire the clown to a new building on the success of the program clowns Patati Patatá who also had a program on the same channel. But, unlike the 1980s versions, the character ended up being very poorly received by the public. A criticism was having its premiere in early children's program Bom Dia e Companhia, where he was abruptly inserted into the program, replacing one of the presenters. Bozo continued to show up to receive their own program in 2013 on Saturday mornings, but the program ended up being a failure and canceled after a month. After that the channel decided to return it to Bom Dia e Companhia, but after a while was removed and the contract to continue to use the character was broken.

Mexican TV
In 1961, Mario Quintanilla, chairman of XEFB-TV Channel 3 obtained the local rights of the Bozo Cartoons, including the authorization of the Bozo characterization. José Marroquín (who later became famous with his Pipo character) was chosen as the first Mexican Bozo. He portrayed the character on local XHX-TV Channel 10 Monterrey television shows until 1963, when the licensing rights ended. After that, José Manuel Vargas Martínez, under sponsorship by Antonio Espino (famous comedy actor of the late 1940s and 1950s, known by his nickname, Clavillazo), portrayed the character. He was the most famous Bozo in Latin America and created his own version of Bozo's Circus, which traveled all along Latin America for decades. He started as a television artist participating in a dance marathon he won dressed as Bozo. After his success as Bozo, he traveled to several countries representing the Bozo character. He made special presentations in Italy, Greece, Spain, Hawaii and Canada with his circus. In 2000, he received the ANDA's Arozamena Award for 50 years of uninterrupted career. He died one year later, October 19, 2001, due to a lung disease.

In Mexico, television star, comedian and political commentator Víctor Trujillo created the character "Brozo, El Payaso Tenebroso" (Brozo, the Creepy Clown) in 1988 as a parody of Bozo for a TV Azteca program with Ausencio Cruz called La Caravana (The Caravan). He pleased the audience with double-entendres and adult humor, telling sarcastic and sometimes obscene versions of classic children's tales. Bozo once appeared as a guest in La Caravana. He became so popular that TV Azteca asked him to join the reporters and anchors during coverage of the FIFA World Cup in 1990, 1994 and 1998, also doing the same with Televisa for the 2002 World Cup. He also gave his commentary on the Olympics, starting with the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain until the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. From 2000 to 2004, Trujillo as Brozo was the anchor of a popular and successful television news show, El Mañanero. It was first broadcast on Canal 40 XHTVM-TV and later Televisa's 4TV from 2001 onwards. Trujillo discontinued the Brozo character following the death of his wife, producer Carolina Padilla, but brought back Brozo in a new television program that began in early 2006 on Televisa's Canal de las Estrellas, "El Notifiero." He is considered an influential political commentator in Mexico.

Ronald McDonald
Immediately following Willard Scott's three-year-run as WRC-TV Washington, D.C.'s Bozo, the show's sponsors, McDonald's drive-in restaurant franchisees John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein (Gee Gee Distributing Corporation), hired Scott to portray "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" for their local commercials on the character's first three television "spots". McDonald's replaced Scott with other actors for their national commercials and the character's costume was changed. One of them was Ray Rayner (Oliver O. Oliver on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus), who appeared in McDonald's national ads in 1968. In the mid-1960s, Andy Amyx, performing as Bozo on Jacksonville, Florida, television station WFGA, was hired to do local appearances of Ronald McDonald periodically. Andy recalls having to return the wardrobe to the agency after each performance.

Actors
The following is a partial list of Bozo television portrayers since the original (Pinto Colvig): (Produced at WHDH-TV Boston 1965–1967 and syndicated to U.S. TV markets that were not producing their own local versions at the time, including New York City, Los Angeles & Washington, D.C. These were the only Bozo shows that were wholly owned and syndicated by Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation, 60 of which are currently available on worldwide DVD distribution entitled "Bozo The World's Most Famous Clown" Volumes 1 & 2.) On March 20, 2018, Avruch died at age 89 after a long fight against heart disease. (WGN's signal-reach throughout North America included the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean among others. A 2005 retrospective titled Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics and 2019 special titled "Bozo's Circus: The 1960s" continue to air annually. WGN's Bozo show is recognized as the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television, boasting a 10-year-wait for studio audience reservations and over 40 years in production.)
 * Frank Avruch (1959–1970)
 * Bob Bell (1960–1984) at Superstation WGN Chicago
 * DeWayne Spees at WPSD-TV Paducah, KY
 * Joey D'Auria (1984–2001) at Superstation WGN Chicago

Local TV Bozos

 * Austin, Texas
 * James Franklin Davis III at KHFI-TV (now KXAN-TV)
 * Baltimore, Maryland
 * Stu Kerr (1960s) at WMAR-TV
 * Bangor, Maine
 * Mike Dolley (1962–1967) at WABI-TV
 * Birmingham, Alabama
 * Bart Darby (1961–1962) at WBRC-TV
 * Ward McIntyre (1962–1968) at WBRC-TV
 * Boston, Massachusetts
 * Frank Avruch (1959–1970) at WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV)
 * Buffalo, New York
 * Francis X Stack at WUTV-TV
 * Belo Horizonte, Brazil
 * Jonas Santos (1980s) at TV Alterosa
 * Evandro Antunes (1980s) at TV Alterosa
 * Brazil (national broadcasting based in São Paulo)
 * Wandeko Pipoca (1980–1981) at TV Record São Paulo and TVS Rio de Janeiro; at SBT (1981–1982)
 * Luis Ricardo (1982–1990) at SBT
 * Arlindo Barreto (1983–1986) at SBT
 * Marcos Pajé (now Marcos Fiel) (1983–1986) at SBT
 * Luiz Leandro (1985–1986) at SBT
 * Edilson Oliveira (1986–1987) at SBT
 * Décio Roberto (1984–1991) at SBT
 * Paulo Seyssel (1980s) at SBT
 * André Luiz Sucesso (2007–2011, guest appearances) at SBT
 * Jean Santos (2012–2014) at SBT
 * Charlotte, North Carolina
 * Jim Patterson (1962–1966) at WBTV-TV
 * Chicago, Illinois
 * Bob Bell (1960–1984) at WGN-TV
 * Joey D'Auria (1984–2001) at WGN-TV
 * Cincinnati, Ohio
 * Bob Shreve (1965–1968) at WKRC-TV
 * Dallas, Texas
 * (July–October 1968) KMEC-TV
 * Dayton/Springfield, Ohio
 * David Eaton (late 1960s – early 1970s) at WSWO-TV (now WBDT)
 * Denver, Colorado
 * Ned Austin (1959–1961) at KBTV (now KUSA-TV)
 * Detroit, Michigan (see also Windsor, Ontario)
 * Bob McNea (1959–1967) at WWJ-TV (now WDIV-TV)
 * Jerry Booth (1967) at CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT)
 * Art Cervi (1967–1979) at CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT) (1967–1977) and WJBK-TV (1977–1979)
 * El Paso, Texas
 * Howell Eurich (1968–1972) at KROD-TV (now KDBC-TV)
 * Flint, Michigan
 * Earl Frank Cady (1967–1979) at WJRT-TV
 * Fort Wayne, Indiana
 * Dan Berry (1987–1989)
 * Grand Rapids, Michigan
 * Bill Merchant (August 1966 – 1968) at WZZM-TV
 * Dick Richards (1968–1999) at WZZM-TV
 * Green Bay, Wisconsin
 * Jerry Drake (1960s) at WLUK-TV
 * Jacksonville, Florida
 * Andrew H. Amyx (1961–1966) at WFGA-TV (now WTLV-TV)
 * Bill Boydston (1967–1975) at WFGA-TV (now WTLV-TV)
 * Johnson City, Tennessee
 * Roger Bowers (1960–1961) at WJHL-TV (Bowers used a ventriloquist dummy that looked like Bozo's "little pal Butchie" in the cartoons.)
 * Knoxville, Tennessee
 * Johnny Mountain (1960s) at WTVK (now WVLT-TV)
 * Little Rock, Arkansas
 * Gary Weir (1966–early 1970s) at KATV-TV; also (late 1980s) at KARK-TV; also at KAIT-TV in Jonesboro, Arkansas (1970s–1980s); also at KLRT-TV in Little Rock in the late 1980s.
 * Los Angeles, California
 * Syd Saylor (1950s at KTTV, the second Bozo the Clown after Pinto Colvig.
 * Vance Colvig Jr. (1959–1964) at KTLA-TV (son of the original Bozo the Clown)
 * Memphis, Tennessee
 * Jim Chapin (1955-1956) at WHBQ-TV
 * Mexico City
 * Jose Manuel Vargas (1960s–1990s) at Canal de las Estrellas
 * Miami, Florida
 * Alan Rock (1968–1970) at WAJA-TV (now WLTV)
 * Moline, Illinois
 * Keith Andrews (1967) at WQAD-TV
 * Monterrey
 * Jose Marroquin (1961–1963) at XHX-TV
 * Nashville, Tennessee
 * Tom Tichenor (1959) at WSM-TV (now WSMV-TV)
 * Dick Brackett (late 1959–1966) at WSM-TV (now WSMV-TV) (Tom Tichenor accepted a Broadway show opportunity and Dick Brackett took his place.)
 * Joe Holcombe (mid 1960s – late 1970s) at WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV). His wife played Cousin Littlefoot, an Indian Maid Clown.
 * Jim Kent (late 1960 to early 1970s) at WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV)
 * New Bedford, Massachusetts
 * Bennett B. Schneider IV (1969–1971) at WTEV-TV (now WLNE-TV)
 * New Orleans, Louisiana
 * Samuel "Sonny" Tustin Adams Jr. (1957–?) at WWL-TV
 * Rob Labby 1970's
 * New York City, New York
 * Bill Britten (1959–1964) at WPIX-TV
 * Gordon Ramsey (1969–1970) at WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV)
 * Orlando, Florida
 * Alan Rock (1971–1974) at WFTV-TV
 * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * Doug Wing (1969) at WTAF-TV (now WTXF-TV)
 * Craig Michael Mann (1970) at WTAF-TV (now WTXF-TV)
 * Deon Aumier (1989–1990) at WGBS-TV (now WPSG)
 * Bob McCone (1990–1994) at WGBS-TV (now WPSG)
 * Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 * Deeny Kaplan at WPGH-TV
 * Providence, Rhode Island
 * Jeremy Baker at WNAC-TV
 * Raleigh, North Carolina
 * Paul Montgomery (1960–1961) at WRAL-TV
 * Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 * Charles Myara (1980s) at TVS Rio de Janeiro
 * Nani Souza (1980s) at TVS Rio de Janeiro
 * Richmond, Virginia
 * Jerry Harrell (until 1974) at WTVR-TV
 * Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
 * Cau Alves (1980s) at TV Itapoan
 * San Francisco, California
 * Tom Carroll (1968–1970) at KEMO-TV (now KOFY-TV)
 * Shreveport, Louisiana
 * Joe Miot (1967–1968) at KTBS-TV
 * Terry MacDonald (now Mac McDonald) (1968) at KTBS-TV
 * Drew Hunter (1969–1970) at KTBS-TV
 * Sioux Falls, South Dakota
 * Pat Tobin (1960–1962) at KSOO-TV (now KSFY-TV)
 * Syracuse, New York
 * Mike Lattif (1971–1972) at WNYS-TV (now WSYR-TV)
 * Toledo, Ohio
 * Jim Chaplin (1960s) at WSPD-TV
 * Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minnesota
 * Roger Erickson (c. 1959–63) at WCCO-TV
 * Utica, New York
 * Ed Whittaker (early to late 1960s) at WKTV-TV
 * Washington, D.C.
 * Willard Scott (1959–1962) at WRC-TV
 * Tony Alexi (1971–1972) at WDCA-TV
 * Dick Dyszel (1972–1977) at WDCA-TV
 * Windsor, Ontario (see also Detroit, Michigan)
 * Jerry Booth (1967) CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT)
 * Art Cervi (1967–1977) at CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT)
 * Worcester, Massachusetts
 * Tom Matzell (1970–1974) at WSMW-TV

title: Bozo the Clown


text:
Neoplan

Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It became a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE in 2001.

Early days
The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter (1903–1993) in Stuttgart in 1935, and manufactured bodywork for bus and truck chassis. By 1953, the company had moved away from manufacturing buses on truck chassis, to a partial monocoque design with a steel tube skeleton, providing the structural support, enhanced by welded side panels. The engine was moved to the rear. In 1957, air suspension was made available.

1960s
In 1961, a new bus design, the Typ Hamburg, was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show. Developed by the founder's eldest son, Albrecht Auwärter, and another student, Swiss national Bob Lee, as part of their dissertation at Hamburg University. The design was the first bus to allow passengers to regulate their fresh air supply through a nozzle from two air ducts, commonly seen in contemporary designs, as well as offering air suspension.

Both Albrecht and Lee joined Neoplan after graduating from the university. Albrecht took over management of the company in 1965, and Bob Lee later became head of Engineering and Design.

In 1964, the founder's second son, Konrad Auwärter, developed a double-deck bus design for a service bus as part of his dissertation. The "Do-Bus" design had low weight, and could carry over 100 passengers. It also featured a low-frame front axle with forward-mounted steering gear that permitted a low, flat floor. The double-deck principle was applied to the coach design, creating a high-capacity comfortable touring vehicle. This vehicle was known as the Skyliner.

1970s–1980s
In 1971, the Cityliner was introduced to the public. This design had a passenger platform above the driver's cab, and included an onboard toilet. The vehicle also made use of glass-fibre reinforced plastic for certain areas of the body; this was the first instance when this technique was used.

A second manufacturing facility opened in Pilsting in 1973, and a third opened in Kumasi, Ghana in December 1974 to support increasing orders.

Several more plants were added in the 1980s, including two in the United States. The United States plants were later spun off into a separate, and now defunct, independent company (Neoplan USA) that used the Neoplan name under licence.

1990s-2000s
Further manufacturing facilities were opened during the 1990s and 2000s.

The Starliner was introduced in 1996, and would go on to win the Bus of the Year award for two consecutive years – in 1998 and 1999.

In 1999 the company unveiled a prototype fuel cell bus. In 2001, Neoplan, or correctly, "Gottlob Auwärter GmbH & Co KG" was acquired by MAN AG subsidiary MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG to form Neoman Bus GmbH. The Starliner won the Bus of the Year award for two more consecutive years in 2001 and 2002.

In 2008, the Gottlob Auwärter Museum was opened in Stuttgart, opposite the headquarters of Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG.

On 1 February 2008, Neoman Bus GmbH was fully integrated into the bus division of the larger MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Group, and ceased to exist in its own right. Neoplan and MAN Truck & Bus began operating as two separate but integrated marques of MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Group.

Buses

 * Cityliner
 * Electroliner (electric trolleybus)
 * Neoplan Airliner (airport apron bus, 1960–present)
 * Skyliner
 * Tourliner

Discontinued models

 * Centroliner (low-floor bus; 1997–2009)
 * Typ Hamburg (1961)
 * Megaliner
 * Jumbocruiser
 * Cityliner (1971)
 * Jetliner (1973)
 * Spaceliner
 * Skyliner 67 (1965)
 * Metroliner
 * Starliner C/L
 * Transliner
 * Trendliner
 * Tropicliner
 * Euroliner
 * Megashuttle

title: Neoplan


text:
Shires of Scotland

The shires of Scotland (Siorrachdan na h-Alba; Scots coonties), or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes (being the territory over which a sheriff had jurisdiction), from the 17th century they started to be used for local administration purposes as well. The areas used for judicial functions (sheriffdoms) came to diverge from the shires, which ceased to be used for local government purposes after 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Today, local government in Scotland is based upon council areas, which sometimes incorporate county names, but frequently have vastly different boundaries. Counties continue to be used for land registration, and form the basis of the lieutenancy areas (although the latter are not entirely identical).

Sheriffdoms or shires
Malcolm III (reigned 1058 to 1093) appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing previous forms of government with French feudal structures. This policy was continued by Edgar (reigned 1097 to 1107), Alexander I (reigned 1107 to 1124), and in particular David I (reigned 1124 to 1153). David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existing thanedoms. The earliest sheriffdom south of the Forth which we know of for certain is Haddingtonshire, which is named in a charter of 1139 as Hadintunschira and in another of 1141 as Hadintunshire. Stirlingshire appears in a charter of 1150 under the name Striuelinschire.

The shires of the Highlands were completed only in the reign of King Charles I (reigned 1625 to 1649).

Shires extant by 1305
In 1305 Edward I of England, who had deposed John Balliol, issued an ordinance for the government of Scotland. The document listed the twenty-three shires then existing and either appointed new sheriffs or continued heritable sheriffs in office. • Aberdeen

• Ayr (Divided into the Bailieries of Carrick, Cunninghame and Kyle)

• Banff

• Berwick (Dependent on the governor of Berwick Castle)

• Clackmannan

• Cromarty (Had been formed by 1266, covering only the area immediately surrounding Cromarty)

• Dunbarton

• Dumfries

• Edinburgh

• Elgin and Forres

• Fife

• Forfar

• Haddington

• Inverness

• Kincardine or the Mearns

• Kinross

• Lanark (Included what later became Renfrewshire)

• Linlithgow

• Peebles

• Perth

• Roxburgh or Teviotdale (Appears to have been created in the period 1114–1133, not mentioned in the ordinance)

• Selkirk

• Stirling

• Wigtown

 * Gospatric was mentioned as sheriff in a number of charters of Earl David. The shire was not listed in the ordinance, and in 1305 appears to have been partly under the jurisdiction of the sheriff of Selkirk, with the remainder comprised in the constabularies of Jedburgh and Roxburgh under the jurisdiction of the constable of Berwick. The shire was one of those surrendered to Edward III of England in 1334.

Shires formed after 1305
The remaining shires were formed either by the territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland, or by the subdivision of existing sheriffdoms. Many of the new shires had highly irregular boundaries or detached parts as they united the various possessions of the heritable sheriffs.
 * c. 1326: Argyll (or Argyle): lordship subdued by Alexander II in 1222. Norwegian claims over the area finally ended in 1266. First record of appointment of sheriff dates from 1326.
 * 1369: Kirkcudbright: formed when area between Rivers Nith and Cree granted to Archibald the Grim. Archibald appointed a steward to administer the area, hence it became a "stewartry".
 * c. 1388: Bute: the islands formed part of Kintyre district of Argyll. A heritable sheriff was appointed to the shire in 1388.
 * 1402: Renfrew: separated from the Shire of Lanark by Robert III.
 * Tarbertshire: existed from before 1481, when it gained territory from Perthshire, until 1633, when it was annexed to Argyll.
 * 1503: Ross: formed from part of Inverness by act of parliament during the reign of James IV, the sheriff to sit at Tain or Dingwall. Sheriffs were seldom appointed, and further acts of 1649 and 1661 restated its separation from Inverness. The 1661 act also clarified the area encompassed, based on the pre-Reformation Diocese of Ross. Sir George Mackenzie's Ross-shire estates were transferred to Cromartyshire by a 1685 act of parliament (repealed 1686, re-enacted 1690).
 * 1503: Caithness: formed from part of Inverness by the same 1503 act as Ross-shire, the sheriff to sit at Dornoch or Wick. The area of the sheriffdom was to be identical to that of the Diocese of Caithness.
 * 1581: Orkney: erected into a lordship with the right of sheriffship. It was annexed to the Crown in 1612, although the term "lordship" continued to be applied to the area.
 * 1633: Sutherland: separated from Inverness.

 * In 1583 the Earl of Huntly, hereditary sheriff of Inverness, granted the Earl of Sutherland jurisdiction over the sheriffdom of Sutherland and Strathnaver. This was only the south-eastern area of the later county, with Halladale River forming the boundary. The shire was formed in 1631 by crown writ of Charles I, severing Sutherland from Inverness. The new county comprised the Earldom of Sutherland along with Assynt and the baronies between Ross and Caithness. Dornoch was appointed the head burgh of the shire. The writ was confirmed by the Parliament of Scotland in 1633.

1707 Act of Union and the ending of heritable jurisdictions
From the 17th century the shires (counties) started to be used for local administration apart from judicial functions. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each sheriffdom to collect the land tax. The commissioners eventually assumed other duties in the county. Following the union of Scotland with England, the government began bringing Scotland's local governance into line with the rest of Great Britain. The full machinery of county government was not immediately established, largely due to the fact that the office of sheriff or steward had become hereditary in certain families in the majority of sheriffdoms. At the accession of George II twenty-two sheriffs were hereditary, three were appointed for life and only eight held office at the pleasure of the monarch. The heritable sheriffdoms were Argyll, Bute, Banff, Caithness, Clackmannan, Cromarty, Dumbarton, Dumfries, Elgin, Fife, Kinross, Kirkcudbright, Linlithgow, Nairn, Orkney & Zetland, Peebles, Renfrew, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Sutherland, Stirling and Wigtown; those appointed for life were Perth, Forfar and Ayr; those held at pleasure were Aberdeen, Berwick, Edinburgh, Haddington, Inverness, Kincardine, Lanark and Ross. Following the unsuccessful Jacobite Rising of 1745 the government took the opportunity of overhauling county government. The Heritable Jurisdictions Act 1747 revested the government of the shires in the Crown, compensating those office holders who were displaced. The Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 reduced the office of sheriff principal to a largely ceremonial one, with a sheriff depute or sheriff substitute appointed to each "county, shire or stewartry". Twelve of the smallest counties were paired to form sheriffdoms, a process of amalgamation that was to continue until the twentieth century, and thus led to the sheriffdoms and the shires having different boundaries. In 1794 Lord-Lieutenants were appointed to each county, and in 1797 county militia regiments were raised, bringing Scotland into line with England, Wales and Ireland.

Later developments
In 1858 police forces were established in each shire under the Police (Scotland) Act 1857. Burghs were largely outside the jurisdiction of shire authorities.

Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, thirty-four county councils were formed. The areas governed by these councils, referred to as "administrative counties", resembled the traditional shires of Scotland, but not entirely. Exclaves were abolished, with the exception of one exclave of Dunbartonshire. Ross-shire and Cromartyshire were merged into Ross and Cromarty, and four cities - Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow - were made counties in their own right. These "counties of cities" were periodically expanded as their urban areas spread further and further into the surrounding countryside. In general, they were still considered part of the wider geographical county; for instance, Glasgow was still reckoned part of Lanarkshire, though it was no longer within the jurisdiction of Lanark County Council.

Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, two pairs of councils were combined with each other to form the "joint county councils" of Perth & Kinross and Moray & Nairn. Though governed by the same council, each county remained nominally independent from the other.

In 1963 the Government published a white paper which proposed a reduction in the number of counties from thirty-four to between ten and fifteen. A process of consultation between county councils and officials from the Scottish Office was begun to effect the amalgamations. Following a change of government, it was announced in 1965 that a "more comprehensive and authoritative" review of local government areas would be undertaken.

In 1966 a Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland, chaired by Lord Wheatley, was appointed. The commission's report in 1969 recommended the replacement of the counties with larger regions.

In 1970 another change in government control was followed by the publication of a white paper in 1971 implementing the commission's reforms in a modified form. The abolition of counties "for local government purposes" was enacted by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, with counties playing no part in local government after 16 May 1975, being replaced by regions and districts.

Local government was reorganised again under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the regions and districts being replaced by the currently existing council areas. These councils are unitary, meaning they undertake all local governance within their area, though "community councils" do operate in several towns.

The historic counties of Scotland are included in the Index of Place Names (IPN) published by the Office for National Statistics. Each "place" included in the IPN is related to the historic county it lies within, as well as to a set of administrative areas.

Names
In official documents shires were referred to as the Shire of X, rather than X Shire. The latter was more common in general usage. Thus in parliamentary proceedings one may find, for example, a heading referring to "Act for the shirrefdome of Dumbartane" but the text "the sevine kirkis to Dumbartane schyr."

The first accurate county maps of Scotland appear in the late seventeenth century and contain a first-hand record of shire names. John Adair (maps c. 1682) gives the names of Midlothian, East Lothian, Twaddall and Wast Lothian (the latter also as "Linlithgowshire" ). The eighteenth century county maps of Herman Moll (dated c. 1745) preferred to keep the "Shire" suffix a separate word, as for example "Berwick Shire", "Roxburgh Shire", "the Shire of Selkirk otherwise known as Etterick Forest", and in the north to "Murray" (Moray), "Inverness Shire", "Aberdeen Shire", "Banff Shire", "Ross Shire". The map of Boswell's and Johnson's A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1773) gives "Shire" to every one shown, including "Angus Shire" and "Fife Shire".

Several shires have alternative names of long standing. These include:

 * Angus – Forfarshire
 * East Lothian – Haddingtonshire
 * Kincardineshire – The Mearns
 * Midlothian – Edinburghshire
 * Moray – Elginshire
 * Peeblesshire – Tweeddale
 * Roxburghshire – Teviotdale
 * Selkirkshire – Ettrick Forest
 * West Lothian – Linlithgowshire

In Scotland, as in England and Wales, the terms "shire" and "county" have been used interchangeably, with the latter becoming more common in later usage. Today, "county" is more commonly used, with "shire" being seen as a more poetic or archaic variant.

Counties until 1890
The map depicts a large number of exclaves physically detached from the county that they were politically deemed to be part of. Cromartyshire's borders, a particularly fragmentary example, were achieved as late as 1685, although at that time the word "county" was not applied to the sheriffdom.

title: Shires of Scotland