1771 in Scotland

Events from the year 1771 in Scotland.

Law officers

 * Lord Advocate – James Montgomery
 * Solicitor General for Scotland – Henry Dundas

Judiciary

 * Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Arniston, the younger
 * Lord Justice General – Duke of Queensberry
 * Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Barskimming

Events

 * 17 August – Edinburgh botanist James Robertson makes the first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis.
 * 16 November – During the night, Solway Moss, on the Cumberland border, bursts, flooding local farms and settlements.
 * 26 November – First section of Monkland Canal opened.
 * Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition completes publication in Edinburgh.
 * Thomas Pennant's A Tour in Scotland, MDCCLXIX is published.
 * Edinburgh Society of Bowlers codifies the modern rules for bowls.

Births

 * 15 August – Walter Scott, poet and novelist (died 1832)
 * 11 September – Mungo Park, explorer (drowned under attack 1806 on the Niger)
 * 4 November – James Montgomery, poet, hymnist, editor and humanitarian (died 1854 in Sheffield)

Deaths

 * 26 January – Sydney Parkinson, botanical illustrator (born c. 1745; died at sea)
 * 14 May – Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin (born 1732)
 * 17 September – Tobias Smollett, novelist (born 1721; died in Italy)
 * William Lauder, literary forger (born c. 1680; died in Barbados)

The arts

 * Henry Mackenzie's novel The Man of Feeling and verse The Pursuits of Happiness published.