1790 in Scotland

Events from the year 1790 in Scotland.

Law officers

 * Lord Advocate – Robert Dundas of Arniston
 * Solicitor General for Scotland – Robert Blair

Judiciary

 * Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Succoth
 * Lord Justice General – The Viscount Stormont
 * Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Braxfield

Events

 * 16 June–28 July – British general election gives Pitt an increased majority.
 * 28 June – Forth and Clyde Canal opened.
 * October – Pladda Lighthouse first illuminated.
 * Balblair distillery at Edderton founded.
 * Caerlee Mill at Innerleithen completed, the oldest woollen mill in the Scottish Borders.
 * New Ardkinglas Castle built.
 * Construction of Gosford House to the design of Robert Adam for Francis Wemyss-Charteris is begun.
 * The mineral element strontium is discovered near Strontian by chemists Adair Crawford and William Cruickshank.
 * Approximate date – Whaligoe steps cut.

Births

 * 3 March – Robert Story, Church of Scotland minister and writer (died 1859)
 * 25 October – Robert Stirling, Church of Scotland minister and inventor of the Stirling engine (died 1878)
 * 29 October – David Napier, marine engineer (died 1869 in London)
 * James Clow, Presbyterian minister and settler in Melbourne (died 1861 in Australia)
 * Approximate date – Mary Diana Dods, writer as "David Lyndsay", later known as "Walter Sholto Douglas" (died 1830 in France)

Deaths

 * 5 February – William Cullen, physician and chemist (born 1710)
 * 4 March – Flora MacDonald, Jacobite (born 1722)
 * 17 July – Adam Smith, economist and philosopher (born 1723)
 * 24 November – Robert Henry, historian and Church of Scotland minister (born 1718)

The arts

 * Catholic priest Alexander Geddes writes the poem Linton: a Tweedside Pastoral, Carmen Seculare pro Gallica Gente in praise of the French Revolution.
 * Kirkmichael musician Robert Petrie publishes several Highland music pieces with "Mrs. Small of Dirnanean" in their title. The compositions are published in "Petrie's Collection of Strathspey Reels & County Dances".