1960 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1960 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – John Maclay

Law officers

• • Lord Advocate – William Rankine Milligan; then William Grant Solicitor General for Scotland – William Grant until May; then David Colville Anderson

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Thomson
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Gibson

Events

• 16 January – the last regular ship on the Cork–Glasgow crossing runs, ending a 103-year-old service.
• 2 March – Elvis Presley stops off at Glasgow Prestwick Airport for a few hours on his journey home to the United States after doing military service in West Germany. This is notable for being the only time he ever visits the UK.^[1] His ancestor, blacksmith Andrew Presley, migrated from Lonmay to North Carolina in 1745.^[2]
• 14 March – Jock Stein is appointed manager of Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
• 28 March – Cheapside Street Whisky Bond Fire in Glasgow: 19 firemen killed in Britain's worst peacetime fire services disaster.^[3]
• 18 May – 1960 European Cup Final at Hampden Park, Glasgow: Real Madrid C.F. defeat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3,^[4] Rangers F.C. having been knocked out by Frankfurt in the semi-finals.
• 21 June – the Royal Highland Show opens for the first time at its permanent site, the Royal Highland Showground at Ingliston in the Lowlands.
• August – murder of the Little Ross lighthouse keeper.^[5]
• 7 September – North Ford Causeway opened, connecting North Uist and Benbecula via Grimsay (5 miles (8 km)), completing an all-weather road link between North and South Uist.^[6]
• October – Queen's Bridge in Perth opened.
• 30 October – Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplantation in the UK, at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
• 5 November – Glasgow area suburban train services electrified.
• 24 December – The rebuilt Barrowland Ballroom reopens in Glasgow.
• Seafield Colliery at Kirkcaldy opens.^[7]
• Little Houses Improvement Scheme launched by the National Trust for Scotland to promote conservation of vernacular architecture.^[8]

Births

• 7 February – Steve Bronski, born Steve Forrest, synth-pop keyboardist (died 2021)
• 11 February – Momus, born Nicholas Currie, songwriter
• February – Lesley Riddoch, political journalist and broadcaster
• 10 March – Anne MacKenzie, broadcast journalist
• 23 March – Nicol Stephen, Liberal Democrat MSP, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats (2005-2008) and Deputy First Minister of Scotland (2005-2007)
• 3 April – Shona McIsaac, Labour politician^[9]
• 28 April – Ian Rankin, crime novelist
• 5 May – David Nish, businessman
• 19 June – Paul Coia, television presenter
• 24 June – Elish Angiolini, née McPhilomy, Solicitor General for Scotland (2001-2006) and Lord Advocate (2006-2011)
• 30 June – Jack McConnell, First Minister of Scotland (2001-2007)
• 20 August – Annabelle Ewing, Nationalist politician and lawyer
• 10 September – Margaret Ferrier, Scottish National Party politician^[10]
• 26 September – Stephen Kerr, Conservative politician
• 6 October – Richard Jobson, rock singer-songwriter (Skids), filmmaker and television presenter
• 12 December – Benny Higgins, banker
• 22 December – Elvis McGonagall, born Richard Smith, slam poet
• Katrina Porteous, poet

Deaths

• 11 January – Isabel Emslie Hutton, nurse in Serbia during World War I and psychiatrist (born 1887)
• 15 August – Rachel Annand Taylor, poet (born 1876)
• 17 August – Calum Maclean, folklorist (born 1915)
• 24 August – Charlotte Ainslie, educationalist and headmistress (born 1863)^[11]
• 21 October – Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, "Red Duchess", Scottish politician and humanitarian (born 1874)
• 13 December – Dora Marsden, radical feminist and modernist literary editor (born 1882)

The arts

• 20–28 May – The Beatles, as the Silver Beetles (uncredited), play their first ever tour, as a backing group for Johnny Gentle on a tour of Scotland opening at Alloa Town Hall and ending at Peterhead.^[12] The lineup comprises John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Edinburgh-born Stuart Sutcliffe and Tommy Moore.
• 10 August – The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art opens at Inverleith House in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.^[13]
• August – Sydney Goodsir Smith's verse play The Wallace ("a Triumph in Five Acts") has its stage première at the Edinburgh Festival in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland.
• Autumn – release of Andy Stewart's recordings of "A Scottish Soldier" and "Donald Where's Your Troosers?"^[14]
• Donald Sutherland acts at the Perth Repertory Theatre,^[15] working alongside Michael Sheard.

See also

• 1960 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1960 - Elvis Presley stops off at Prestwick. National Library of Scotland. 2014-02-25.
2. Web site: Elvis roots 'lead to Scotland'. BBC News. 2014-03-23. 2014-04-22.
3. Web site: Chronology of Scottish History. A Timeline of Scottish History. Rampant Scotland. 2014-02-25.
4. News: The greatest matches of all time. The Daily Telegraph. 2007-07-04. 2013-02-25. London.
5. Web site: The Ross Island Lighthouse Murder. David R.. Collin. Kirkcudbright Community Website. 2010. 2014-02-25.
6. Web site: North Ford Causeway. Stornoway. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. 2013-08-29. 2014-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20140227173251/http://www.cne-siar.gov.uk/techservices/bridgescausewaysferries/northford.asp. 27 February 2014. dead.
7. Web site: 100 Weeks of Scotland: Coal industry . www.scotsman.com . 29 March 2020 . en.
8. Web site: A History of the Little Houses Improvement Scheme. National Trust for Scotland. 2014-02-25.
9. Book: Dale . Iain . Smith . Jacqui . The Honourable Ladies: Volume II: Profiles of Women MPs 1997–2019 . 14 November 2019 . Biteback Publishing . 978-1-78590-447-9 . 16 . en.
10. https://web.archive.org/web/20160524030924/http://myparliament.info/Member/4386 MyParliament – Biography for Margaret Ferrier
11. Book: Ewan . Elizabeth . Pipes . Rose . Rendall . Jane . Reynolds . Siân . The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women . 2018 . Edinburgh University Press . 9781474436281 . 8.
12. Web site: Tours & Performances. The Official Johnny Gentle Website. 2003. 2014-04-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20150528232705/http://www.johnnygentle.co.uk/tours.htm. 28 May 2015. dead.
13. News: Scotland's New Gallery: Modern Painting and Sculpture. The Times. London. 1960-08-05. 11. 54842.
14. Web site: A Scottish Soldier. Andy Stewart: An Illustrated Record. 2014-05-09.
15. Web site: Strachan. Graeme. 2024-06-20. How Donald Sutherland became a Hollywood movie icon after Perth Rep snub. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20220813220927/https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/past-times/3100586/donald-sutherland-perth-rep-hunger-games/. 2022-08-13. 2024-06-21. The Courier. Dundee.