Events from the year 1799 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Incumbents

Law officers

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate ( gd, Morair Tagraidh, sco, Laird Advocat), is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved p ...

–

Robert Dundas of Arniston Robert Dundas of Arniston (6 June 1758 – 17 June 1819) was a Scottish judge. Dundas served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 1784 and 1789 and as Lord Advocate from 1789 to 1801. He sat as Member of Parliament for was M.P. for Edinb ...

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 ...

– Robert Blair

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 ...

– Lord Succoth *

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 ...

– The Duke of Montrose *

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 Braxfield, then Lord Eskgrove

Events

9 January Events Pre-1600 * 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain. *1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the J ...

–

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

introduces an

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. * June – the last

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

regiments in the

Highland Fencible Corps The plan of raising a fencible corps in the Highlands was first proposed and carried into effect by William Pitt the Elder, (afterwards Earl of Chatham) in the year 1759. During the three preceding years both the fleets and armies of Great Britain ...

are raised at about this time, but most are disbanded this year. * 3 June – publication of The First (Old) Statistical Account of Scotland concludes. * 13 June – Colliers Act ("An Act to explain and amend the Laws relative to Colliers in that Part of Great Britain called Scotland") frees

coal miner 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 ...

s from bondage to their employers, the last vestige of

serfdom Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which deve ...

in Scotland. * 12 July – the

Combination Act The Combination Act 1799 (39 Geo. III, c. 81) titled An Act to prevent Unlawful Combinations of Workmen, prohibited trade unions and collective bargaining by British workers. The Act received royal assent on 12 July 1799. An additional Act, the Com ...

is passed by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

to outlaw

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s. * Glasgow Town Council and private benefactors contribute to purchasing grain to relieve the poor at a time of high

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...

. * The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

for the

Vicariate Apostolic of the Lowland District The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews & Edinburgh ( la, Archidioecesis Sancti Andreae et Edimburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. It is the metropolitan see of the province of Saint Andrews and Edinburg ...

is transferred from

Scalan The Scalan was once a seminary and was one of the few places in Scotland where the Roman Catholic faith was kept alive during the troubled times of the 18th century. History For much of the 18th century, the college at Scalan in the Braes of Gl ...

to Aquhorthies College by George Hay, the Vicar Apostolic. *

Inverbervie Inverbervie (from gd, Inbhir Biorbhaidh or ''Biorbhaigh'', "mouth of the River Bervie") is a small town on the north-east coast of Scotland, south of Stonehaven. Etymology The name ''Inverbervie'' involves the Gaelic ''Inbhir Biorbhaigh'', ...

Old Bridge (over the

Bervie Water Bervie Water ( gd, Uisge Bhiorbhaigh) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland which rises in the Drumtochty Forest and flows across The Mearns to reach the North Sea at Inverbervie. Approximately two kilometres upstream of the North Sea, the B ...

), designed by James Burn, is completed. *

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

's ''De Jure Regni apud Scotos'' (1579) is translated by Robert Macfarlan as ''A Dialogue Concerning The Rights of the Crown in Scotland''. *

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

becomes the first to publish the concept of the

Simson line In geometry, given a triangle and a point on its circumcircle, the three closest points to on lines , , and are collinear. The line through these points is the Simson line of , named for Robert Simson. The concept was first published, howeve ...

in mathematics.

Births

6 February Events Pre-1600 *1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop. 1601–1900 *1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of h ...

–

George Arnott Walker-Arnott George Arnott Walker Arnott of Arlary (6 February 1799 – 17 April 1868) was a Scottish botanist. Early life George Arnott Walker Arnott was born in Edinburgh in 1799, the son of David Walker Arnott of Arlary. He attended Milnathort Parish ...

, botanist (died

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

) * 13 February – Robert Willis, physician (died 1878 in London) *

17 February Events Pre-1600 *1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau. *1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of ...

– John Baird, evangelical minister (died

1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first stea ...

) * 8 June – John Wilson (historian), John Wilson, promoter of British Israelism (died 1870 in England) * 25 June – David Douglas (botanist), David Douglas, botanist (died 1834 in Scotland, 1834 in Hawaii) * 6 September – Peter Allan (landlord), Peter Allan, eccentric (died 1849 in Co. Durham) * 8 September – James Bowman Lindsay, inventor (died 1862 in Scotland, 1862) * 5 November – Robert Carruthers, writer (died 1878 in Scotland, 1878) * 18 December – Charles Macfarlane, travel writer and novelist (died 1858 in London) * 21 December – David Don, botanist (died 1841 in London) * Undated ** John Cunningham (architect), John Cunningham, architect (died 1873 in Scotland, 1873) ** George Pirie (publisher), George Pirie, newspaper publisher and poet (died 1870 in Canada) * Approximate date – William Simson, painter best known as a landscapist (died 1847 in Scotland, 1847)

Deaths

* 5 January – John Swinton, Lord Swinton, judge (born 1723 in Scotland, 1723) * 19 January – Peter Williamson (memoirist), Peter Williamson ("Indian Peter"), tavern keeper, printer, postmaster, inventor, showman and sometime slave in America (born 1730 in Scotland, 1730) * 26 January ** Gabriel Christie (British Army officer), Gabriel Christie, general and settler in Montreal (born 1722 in Scotland, 1722) ** Thomas Muir of Huntershill, radical (born 1765 in Scotland, 1765; died in Paris) * 26 May – James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, judge and comparative linguist (born 1714 in Scotland, 1714) * 30 May – Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield, hanging judge (born 1722 in Scotland, 1722) * 1 June – James Tassie, engraver (born 1735 in Scotland, 1735) * 14 June – Sir Patrick Warrender, 3rd Baronet, of Lochend, army officer and politician (born 1739 in Scotland, 1739) * 15 August – Duncan Davidson (1733–1799), Duncan Davidson, merchant and politician (born 1733 in Scotland, 1733) * 6 December – Joseph Black, physician and chemist (born 1728 in Scotland, 1728) * William Cunninghame of Lainshaw, tobacco merchant * Lachlan McGillivray, fur trader and planter in the Province of Georgia (born 1718/19)

References

{{Years in Scotland 1799 in Scotland, Years of the 18th century in Scotland 1799 in Great Britain, Scotland 1790s in Scotland