1974 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1974 in Scotland.

Incumbents

• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Gordon Campbell until 4 March; then Willie Ross

Law officers

• Lord Advocate – Norman Wylie; then Ronald King Murray
• Solicitor General for Scotland – William Stewart until March; then John 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

Events

• 27 January – capsizes in the Firth of Clyde.
• 28 February – The February general election results in the first hung parliament in the UK since 1929, though Labour does win a majority of seats in Scotland. The Scottish National Party make a breakthrough winning 7 MPs.
• March
  • Brora Coalfield is abandoned.^[1]
  • Last permanent inhabitants of Swona leave.
• 6 May – Inauguration of full electric service on British Rail's West Coast Main Line through to Glasgow Central railway station.^[2]
• 10 October – The second general election of the year results in a narrow victory for Prime Minister Harold Wilson, giving Labour a slim majority of three seats. Labour also wins a majority of seats in Scotland for a second time in the year; whilst the Scottish National Party secures its highest-ever Westminster representation up to this date with 11 seats. It would be 41 years before the SNP would not only beat their own record result; but also replace Labour as the largest political party in Scotland.
• 31 December – Idi Amin, President of Uganda, issues a proclamation in support of Scottish independence.^[3]
• Calum MacLeod (of Raasay) completes a 10-year self-imposed task of personally constructing "Calum's Road", a nearly 2 mile (3 km) track at the north end of the island.^[4]
• Last permanent inhabitants of Taransay leave.^[5]

Births

• 15 January – Edith Bowman, DJ
• 17 January – Danny Bhoy, born Danni Chaudhry, comedian
• 9 August – Lesley McKenna, snowboarder^[6]
• 23 August – Ray Park, actor
• 20 October – Limmy, born Brian Limond, comedian and social media personality
• 30 October – Kerry McGregor, singer-songwriter and actress
• 9 December – Fiona MacDonald, curler^[7]
• 31 December – Kathryn Joseph, born Kathryn Sawers, singer-songwriter

Deaths

• 24 January – Andrew Dewar Gibb, lawyer and Scottish National Party politician (born 1888)
• 29 May – James MacTaggart, television producer (born 1928)

The arts

• 6 June – a television version of The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black Black Oil is broadcast by the BBC as part of the Play for Today series.^[8]

See also

• 1974 in Northern Ireland

Notes and References

1. Web site: Brora Coalfield. Northern Mine Research Society. 2016-08-20.
2. Book: Gillham, J. C.. The Age of the Electric Train: Electric Trains in Britain since 1883. 1988. Ian Allan. London. 0-7110-1392-6.
3. Web site: Uganda: When Amin Was Declared 'King of Scotland' in 1974. Guweddeko. Fred. The Monitor. Kampala. 2007-02-25. 2014-05-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20140523225715/http://martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews07/070226_idi.html. 23 May 2014. dead. dmy-all. Accessed from Frost's Scottish Anatomy website.
4. Book: Hutchinson, Roger. Roger Hutchinson (writer). 2006. Calum's Road. Edinburgh. Birlinn. 978-1-84158-447-8.
5. Book: Haswell-Smith, Hamish. 2004. The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate. 978-1-84195-454-7. 278–80.
6. Web site: Lesley McKenna . www.teamgb.com . 28 August 2020 . en-gb.
7. Web site: Fiona MacDonald Bio, Stats, and Results . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418041239/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/fiona-macdonald-1.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com . 17 April 2020 . en.
8. Web site: Ewan. Davidson. Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil, The (1974). BFI. Screenonline. 2016-03-04.