1978 in Scotland explained

Events from the year 1978 in Scotland.

Incumbents

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.^[1]
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.^[2]
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.^[3]
The ultranationalist group Siol nan Gaidheal is formed.

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

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)

17 January – Rock band Simple Minds make their first live performance at Glasgow's Satellite City.^[4]
July – First Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.

News: £500,000 McQueen. Glasgow Herald. 10 February 1978. 8 March 2012.
News: 1978: Grey seal cull dramatically reduced. 27 January 2008. 17 October 1978. BBC News. https://web.archive.org/web/20080129165440/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/17/newsid_2491000/2491329.stm. 29 January 2008. live.
Web site: Olympedia – Olympians Who Won a Medal at the European Curling Championships . www.olympedia.org . 4 February 2024.
Web site: simpleminds.com 14 Jan, 2022 Out Now – Act Of Love. 2022-01-14. simpleminds.com. 2022-01-20.