1899 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1899 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Lord Balfour of Burleigh

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Andrew Murray
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Charles Dickson

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Robertson to 21 November; then Lord Blair Balfour
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Kingsburgh

Events

• March – supposed last duel in Scotland, fought with swords in the University of Glasgow over the appointment of a Rector, perhaps a student hoax.^[1]
• 13 March – Japanese battleship Asahi launched by John Brown & Company, Clydebank.
• 16 June – Penicuik House gutted by fire.
• July – Norman Heathcote climbs the St Kilda sea stack Stac Lee with his sister Evelyn.^[2]
• November – English occultist Aleister Crowley purchases Boleskine House near Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness from the Fraser family, occupying it until 1913.
• 7 December – Flannan Isles Lighthouse first lit.
• 15 December – Glasgow School of Art opens its new building, the most notable work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.^[3]
• 30 December – the Albion Motor Car Company is set up in Glasgow; and the first Argyll car is also produced this year.
• George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll, presents Iona Abbey and other sacred sites of the island of Iona to the Iona Cathedral Trust (linked to the Church of Scotland).^[4]
• First Skerries Bridge, linking Bruray to Housay in the Out Skerries, is built.

Births

• 24 June – Bruce Marshall, writer (died 1987 in France)
• 21 July – David Broadfoot, seaman awarded the George Cross for his role during the sinking of (died 1959)
• 8 October – Dorothy Donaldson Buchanan, civil engineer (died 1985 in England)

Deaths

• 6 June – Robert Wallace, classics teacher, minister, university professor, newspaper editor, barrister and Member of Parliament (born 1831)
• 14 September – William Watson, Baron Watson, former Lord Advocate (born 1827)

See also

• Timeline of Scottish history
• 1899 in Ireland

Notes and References

1. News: Hit and myth: Was Scotland's last duel a joke?. The Scotsman. 2004-02-21. 2014-08-26.
2. Described in his book St Kilda (1900).
3. Web site: Congratulations to the Glasgow School of Art as they celebrate 100th anniversary of the Mackintosh Building. Museums Galleries Scotland. 15 December 2009. 2013-05-26. 4 February 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100204111502/http://www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk/news/news-article/301/congratulations-to-the-glasgow-school-of-art-as-they-celebrate-100th-anniversary-of-the-mackintosh-building. dead.
4. Book: Haswell-Smith, Hamish. 2004. The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate. 978-1-84195-454-7. 80–84.