1763 in Scotland

Events from the year 1763 in Scotland.

Incumbents

Law officers

* Lord Advocate – Thomas Miller of Glenlee
* Solicitor General for Scotland – James Montgomery jointly with Francis Garden

Judiciary

* Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Arniston, the younger
* Lord Justice General – ''vacant'' until April; then Duke of Queensberry
* Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Tinwald, then Lord Minto

Events

* 16 May – James Boswell is introduced to Samuel Johnson at Thomas Davies's bookshop in London. Boswell records the event:

oswell:"Mr. Johnson, I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it."

ohnson:"That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help."

* 21–29 May – John Wesley travels in Scotland.
* 26 June – Stagecoach service between Glasgow and Greenock initiated.
* July – construction of Coldstream Bridge across the border with England begins.
* August 5–6 – Battle of Bushy Run ( Pontiac's War) in Pennsylvania: 77th Regiment of Foot (Montgomerie's Highlanders) fight on the winning British side prior to disbandment. 78th Fraser Highlanders are also disbanded.
* August 6 – the post of Historiographer Royal for Scotland is revived for Rev. William Robertson, Principal of the University of Edinburgh.
* Before October? – a pamphlet promoting creation of a British colony of Charlotina in North America is published in Edinburgh.''The Expediency of Securing our American Colonies by Settling the Country Adjoining the River Mississippi, and the Country upon the Ohio, Considered''.
* 1 October – construction of first North Bridge, Edinburgh, begins, including drainage of eastern end of Nor Loch. The Edinburgh Physick Garden moves from a site by the loch to Leith Walk.

Births

* March – Mary Campbell (Highland Mary), dairymaid, beloved and a muse of Robert Burns (died 1786)
* 12 May – John Bell, surgeon (died 1820 in Rome)
* 29 June – Charles Hope, Lord Granton, politician and judge (died 1851)
* 9 August – James Leith, army officer and colonial governor (died 1816 in Barbados)
* 10 September – James Thomson, weaver poet (died 1832)
* 27 October – William Maclure, geologist of North America (died 1840 in Mexico)
* 6 December – Mary Anne Burges, religious allegorist (died 1813 in England)
* Approximate date – William McCoy, naval mutineer (suicide 1798 on Pitcairn Island)

Deaths

* 5 March – William Smellie, obstetrician (born 1697)
* 30 September – William Duff, 1st Earl Fife (born 1696)

The arts

* March – James Macpherson, supposedly translating "Ossian", publishes '' Temora: An ancient epic poem''; also this year Hugh Blair writes ''A Critical Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian''.
* Before April? – English satirical poet Charles Churchill writes ''The Prophecy of Famine: A Scots Pastoral''.
* St Cecilia's Hall is opened by Edinburgh Musical Society as the first purpose-built concert hall in Scotland (architect: Robert Mylne).

See also

* Timeline of Scottish history

References

{{Years in Scotland , state=collapsed

Years of the 18th century in Scotland
Scotland
1760s in Scotland