Events from the year 1991 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal –

Ian Lang Ian Bruce Lang, Baron Lang of Monkton, PC DL (born 27 June 1940) is a British Conservative Party politician and Life Peer who served as the Member of Parliament for Galloway, and then Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, from 1979 to 1997. On 29 Sep ...

Law officers

Lord Advocate , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Dorothy Bain QC.png , incumbent = Dorothy Bain KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , appointer = Monarch on the advice ...

–

Lord Fraser of Carmyllie Peter Lovat Fraser, Baron Fraser of Carmyllie, PC, QC (29 May 1945 – 22 June 2013) was a Scottish politician and advocate. Early life and family Fraser's mother died when he was 12 while living in Zambia, where his father was serving as ...

Solicitor General for Scotland , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png , incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , department = Crown Office and ...

– Alan Rodger

Judiciary

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. The L ...

and

Lord Justice General Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

– Lord Hope *

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. Originally ''clericus justiciarie'' or Clerk to the Court of Justiciary, the counterpart in the criminal courts of the Lord ...

–

Lord Ross The title of Lord Ross was a Lordship of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1499 for Sir John Ross, of Halkhead. The second Lord died at the Battle of Flodden. The 12th Lord was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Renfrew in 17 ...

Chairman of the Scottish Land Court The Scottish Land Court is a Scottish court of law based in Edinburgh with subject-matter jurisdiction covering disputes between landlords and tenants relating to agricultural tenancies, and matters related to crofts and crofters. The Scott ...

– Lord Elliott

Events

4 April Events Pre-1600 *503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. * 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. * 611 – ...

–

South Ronaldsay child abuse scandal The Orkney child abuse scandal began on 27 February 1991 when social workers and police removed children - five boys and four girls, aged eight to 15 and all from the families of English "incomers" - from their homes on the island of South Ronald ...

: Social services in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

are criticised for their handling of more than 100 children who have returned to their families after being taken away over allegations of child abuse. *

18 May Events Pre-1600 * 332 – Emperor Constantine the Great announces free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople. * 872 – Louis II of Italy is crowned for the second time as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, at the age of ...

–

Motherwell F.C. Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have lifte ...

triumph 4–3 over Dundee United to win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,8 July – Inauguration of full electric service on

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...

from

London King's Cross railway station King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the List of busiest railway stations in ...

through to Edinburgh Waverley. *

9 July Events Pre-1600 *118 – Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome. * 381 – The end of the First Council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Theodosi ...

–

Western Isles Council Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (, for, , Scottish Gaelic, Council of the Western Isles) is the local government council for ''Na h-Eileanan Siar'' (the Outer Hebrides) council area of Scotland.

loses £23,000,000 in the closure of the

Bank of Credit and Commerce International The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) was an international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. A decade after opening, BCC ...

. *

25 July Events Pre-1600 * 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. * 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. ...

–

Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 The Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 (c.50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applicable only in Scotland. It replaced the pre-existing rule of pupillage and minority with a simpler rule that a person has full legal cap ...

, which gives full legal capacity to those aged over sixteen, receives the Royal Assent. *

13 August Events Pre-1600 * 29 BC – Octavian holds the first of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes. * 523 – John I becomes the new Pope after the death of Pope Hormisdas. * 554 – Em ...

– The Duke of Rothesay (now

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

), resigns as patron of

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

over a competition to design a new building. *

27 August Events Pre-1600 * 410 – The sacking of Rome by the Visigoths ends after three days. * 1172 – Henry the Young King and Margaret of France are crowned junior king and queen of England. *1232 – Shikken Hojo Yasutoki of the Ka ...

– Dornoch Firth Bridge opened. *

29 August Events Pre-1600 * 708 – Wadōkaichin, Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese calendar, Japanese date: August 10, 708). * 870 – The city of Melite (ancient city), Melite surrenders to an Aghlabids, ...

– Alick Buchanan-Smith, Conservative MP for

Kincardine and Deeside Kincardine and Deeside was formerly (1975–96) a local government district in the Grampian Region of Scotland. In 1996 it was included in the Aberdeenshire unitary area. History This region is rich in prehistory with numerous megalithic site ...

, dies in office aged 59. *

30 August Events Pre-1600 * 70 – Titus ends the siege of Jerusalem after destroying Herod's Temple. *1282 – Peter III of Aragon lands at Trapani to intervene in the War of the Sicilian Vespers. *1363 – The five-week Battle of Lake Po ...

–

Liz McColgan Elizabeth Nuttall (née Lynch, formerly McColgan; born 24 May 1964) is a Scottish former middle-distance and long-distance track and road-running athlete. She won the gold medal for the 10,000 metres at the 1991 World Championships, and a ...

wins a gold medal at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. * October – Privatisation of the

Scottish Bus Group The Scottish Bus Group (SBG) was a state-owned group of bus operators covering the whole of mainland Scotland. The origin of the grouping was the operators owned by and including the Scottish Motor Traction company, which were transferred to ...

concludes with sale of

Western Scottish Western Scottish Omnibuses Ltd, in Scotland, was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd and operated until 1997, when it became Western Buses Ltd. This successor company is no ...

in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

. *

7 November Events Pre-1600 * 335 – Athanasius is banished to Trier, on the charge that he prevented a grain fleet from sailing to Constantinople. * 680 – The Sixth Ecumenical Council commences in Constantinople. * 921 – Treaty of ...

– Kincardine and Deeside by-election results in the Liberal Democrats gaining the seat from the Conservative Party on a swing of 11.4%. *

1 December Events Pre-1600 * 800 – A council is convened in the Vatican, at which Charlemagne is to judge the accusations against Pope Leo III. *1420 – Henry V of England enters Paris alongside his father-in-law King Charles VI of France. * ...

- American grunge rock band

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

perform at The Southern Bar in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. They were invited as guests of the Joyriders, who were initially unsure if the band would turn up or not. * Highlands and Islands Enterprise supersedes the Highlands and Islands Development Board. * Publication of

Vera Carstairs Vera Dorris Lilian Carstairs (née Hunt, 1925 – 14 December 2020) was a British social scientist noted, in particular, for a groundbreaking 1991 research study (with Russell Morris), ''Deprivation and Health in Scotland'', which related mortalit ...

' and Russell Morris' ''Deprivation and Health in Scotland'' by Aberdeen University Press, introducing the

Carstairs index The Carstairs index is an index of deprivation used in spatial epidemiology to identify Socio-economic confounding. The index was developed by Vera Carstairs and Russell Morris, and published in 1991 as ''Deprivation and Health in Scotland''. T ...

deprivation Deprivation or deprive may refer to: * Poverty, pronounced deprivation in well-being ** Objective deprivation or poverty threshold, the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country ** Relative deprivation, the lack of resources ...

. * Closure of

Blindwells Blindwells is a place in East Lothian, Scotland. Etymolog"hidden""springs"
A former open-cast coal mine no ...

opencast Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

site ends 269 years of coal mining in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

Births

10 February Events Pre-1600 *1258 – Mongol invasions and conquests, Mongol invasions: Siege of Baghdad (1258), Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end. *1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in ...

–

Rebecca Dempster Rebecca Eileen Dempster (born 10 February 1991) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Fimauto Valpolicella. She has made three appearances for the Scotland national team. Early life Dempster grew up in Ellon, Aberde ...

, footballer *

13 February Events Pre-1600 * 962 – Emperor Otto I and Pope John XII co-sign the ''Diploma Ottonianum'', recognizing John as ruler of Rome. *1322 – The central tower of Ely Cathedral falls on the night of 12th–13th. *1462 – The ...

–

Declan Gallagher Declan Patrick Gallagher (born 13 February 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Scottish Championship club Dundee United and the Scotland national team. Gallagher started his career at Celtic but never ma ...

, footballer *

22 February Events Pre-1600 *1076 – Having received a letter during the Lenten synod of 14–20 February demanding that he abdicate, Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. *1316 – The Battle of Picotin, between Ferdinand ...

–

Kyle Wilkie Kyle Wilkie (born 20 February 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Gala Fairydean Rovers. He has previously played youth football in England with Stockport County, before playing senior professional football ...

, footballer *

13 May Events Pre-1600 * 1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions of Jesus while suffering from a life-threatening illness, visions which are later described and interpreted in her book ''Revelations of Divine Love''. * 1501 – Amerigo Vesp ...

–

Jen Beattie Jennifer Patricia Beattie (born 13 May 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Arsenal of the FA WSL and the Scotland national team. Beattie is a tall, strong, right-footed player. Although typically a defender or midfielder ...

, footballer *

3 July Events Pre-1600 * 324 – Battle of Adrianople (324), Battle of Adrianople: Constantine the Great, Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium. * 987 – Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynas ...

–

Alison Howie Alison Howie (born 3 July 1991) is a Scottish female field hockey player who plays as a midfielder for the Scotland women's national field hockey team. She has represented Scotland in few international competitions including the 2013 Women's Eu ...

, field hockey player *

–

Lesley Doig Lesley Jayne Doig (born 13 August 1991) is a Scottish international lawn and indoor bowler. Doig won a bronze medal in the 2015 World Junior Championship before achieving a notable success by winning the silver medal in the singles at the 2016 ...

, lawn bowler *

12 September Events Pre-1600 *490 BC – Battle of Marathon: The conventionally accepted date for the Battle of Marathon. The Classical Athens, Athenians and their Plataean allies defeat the First Persian invasion of Greece, first Persian invasion for ...

– Mike Towell, boxer (died

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) *

23 September Events Pre-1600 *AD 38, 38 – Julia Drusilla, Drusilla, Caligula's sister who died in June, with whom the emperor is said to have an incestuous relationship, is deified. *1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, Hol ...

– Lee Alexander, footballer *

1 October Events Pre-1600 *331 BC – Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. * 366 – Pope Damasus I is consecrated. * 959 – Edgar the Peaceful becomes king of all England, in succession to Eadwig. * ...

–

Jennifer Dodds Jennifer Carmichael "Jenn" Dodds (born 1 October 1991) is a Scottish curler. She currently plays mixed doubles with Bruce Mouat, representing Scotland and Great Britain. She is the 2022 Olympic champion in women's curling and the 2022 World ch ...

, curler *

2 October Events Pre-1600 * 829 – Theophilos succeeds his father Michael II as Byzantine Emperor. * 939 – Battle of Andernach: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, crushes a rebellion against his rule, by a coalition of Eberhard of Franconia and oth ...

– Gordon Reid, wheelchair tennis player *

14 October Events Pre-1600 *1066 – The Norman Conquest, Norman conquest of England begins with the Battle of Hastings. *1322 – Robert the Bruce, Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at the Battle of Old Byland, forc ...

–

Andrew Butchart Andrew Butchart (born 14 October 1991) is a British runner who competed in the 5000 metres event at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the current Scottish record holder in the 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metre events. In June 2023, he broke th ...

, distance runner *

–

Rachel Sermanni Rachel Sermanni (born 7 November 1991) is a Scottish folk music, folk musician from Carrbridge in Strathspey, Scotland, Strathspey. She has toured with a number of well-known folk and independent music, indie artists in the United Kingdom. Her f ...

, folk musician *

17 December Events Pre-1600 *497 BC – The first Saturnalia festival was celebrated in ancient Rome. * 546 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoths under king Totila plunder the city, by bribing the Byzantine garrison. * 920 – Romanos I Lekapen ...

– Tom Walker, indie folk-rock singer-songwriter *

20 December Events Pre-1600 *AD 69 – Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian. *1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England af ...

–

Rachael Boyle Rachael Boyle (née Small; born 20 December 1991) is a Scottish international footballer who currently plays as midfielder for Hibernian in the Scottish Women's Premier League. Career Boyle grew up in Aberdeen and represented Scotland at schoo ...

, footballer

Deaths

2 February Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...

– Sir

Monty Finniston Sir Harold Montague "Monty" Finniston FRS FRSE (15 August 1912 – 2 February 1991) was a Scottish industrialist. Life He was born at 26 Aikenhead Road in Govanhill, Glasgow the son of Robert Finniston. His family were of Russian Jewish origi ...

, industrialist (born

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ...

) *

27 June Events Pre-1600 *1358 – The Republic of Ragusa is founded. *1497 – Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England. *1499 – Americo Vespucci, on Spanish financed trip, sights coast s ...

–

George MacLeod George Fielden MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary, (17 June 1895 – 27 June 1991) was a Scottish soldier and clergyman; he was one of the best known, most influential and unconventional Church of Scotland ministers of the 20th century. He ...

, soldier and minister of religion (born

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

) *

– Alick Buchanan-Smith, Conservative politician (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

)

The arts

* October –

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist, playwright and short story writer. His 1993 novel '' Trainspotting'' was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short fil ...

's short story "The First Day of the Edinburgh Festival", later incorporated into ''

Trainspotting Trainspotting may refer to: * Trainspotting (hobby), an amateur interest in railways/railroads * ''Trainspotting'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Irvine Welsh ** ''Trainspotting'' (film), a 1996 film based on the novel *** ''Trainspotting'' (soundtr ...

'', is published in '' New Writing Scotland''.''NWS'' 9:42. *

Robert Alan Jamieson Robert Alan Jamieson (born 1958) is a poet and novelist from Shetland, Scotland. He grew up in the crofting community of Sandness. He works as a creative writing tutor at Edinburgh University, having been co-editor of the '' Edinburgh Review'' ...

's novel ''A Day at the Office'' is published. *

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

's first, semi-autobiographical, poetry collection ''The Adoption Papers'' is published.

References

{{Years in Scotland , state=collapsed

Years of the 20th century in Scotland 1990s in Scotland

Incumbents

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

Births

Deaths

The arts

See also

References