1978 in Scotland

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 the 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 ultranationalist 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.