Events from the year 1978 in Scotland.
Incumbents
Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Bruce Millan
Law officers Lord Advocate – Ronald King Murray Solicitor General for Scotland – Lord McCluskey
Judiciary Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Emslie Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Wheatley Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Birsay, then Lord Elliott
Events 9 February – Gordon McQueen, 25-year-old Scotland central defender, becomes Britain's first £500,000 footballer in a transfer from Leeds United to Manchester United. 13 April – Glasgow Garscadden by-election: Donald Dewar retains the seat for Labour with only a 3.6% swing to the Scottish National Party. 31 May – Hamilton by-election: George Robertson retains the seat for Labour, thwarting a strong challenge from the SNP. 16 July – the Strathspey Railway opens for regular tourist traffic, the oldest continuously operating steam-worked heritage railway in Scotland, from Boat of Garten to Aviemore. 31 July – the Scotland Act 1978, to establish a Scottish Assembly, receives royal assent. August – first production from the Dunlin oilfield in the North Sea. 17 October – a cull of grey seals in the Orkney and Western Islands is reduced after a public outcry. 26 October – Berwick and East Lothian by-election: Labour retains the seat with a swing of 0.8% from the Conservatives. 25 November – first North Sea oil comes ashore at the Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland via the Brent System pipeline. 4–9 December – The 1978 European Curling Championships take place in Aviemore. The nationalist group Siol nan Gaidheal is formed.
Births 16 March – Anneliese Dodds, Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Chair of the Labour Party (UK) 30 March – Chris Paterson, rugby player 3 May – Lawrence Tynes, American football player 14 May – Emma Rochlin, field hockey defender 20 June – Julie Fowlis, Gaelic folk singer 21 July – Gary Teale, footballer 25 October – Russell Anderson, footballer 10 November – Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and Member of the Scottish Parliament Neil Forsyth, writer J. O. Morgan, poet
Deaths 16 May – Diana Hay, 23rd Countess of Erroll, noblewoman (born 1926 in Kenya) 23 July – Tommy McLaren, footballer (born 1949) 30 July – John Mackintosh, Labour politician and advocate of devolution (born 1929) 9 September – Hugh MacDiarmid, poet (born 1892)
The arts 17 January – Rock band Simple Minds make their first live performance at Glasgow's Satellite City. July – First Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.
See also 1978 in Northern Ireland
References