Events from the year 1972 in Scotland.

Incumbents

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal – Gordon Campbell

Law officers

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

– Norman Wylie *

Solicitor General for Scotland His Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland () is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Scottish Government on Scots Law. They are also responsible for the Crown Office and P ...

– David Brand until November; then William Stewart

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. ...

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 Clyde until 25 April; then Lord Emslie *

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorr ...

– Lord Grant, then Lord Wheatley * Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Birsay

Events

* 11 February –

Rockall Rockall () is a high, uninhabitable granite islet in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is west of Soay, St Kilda, Scotland; northwest of Tory Island, Ireland; and south of Iceland. The nearest permanently inhabited place is North Uist, east in ...

is formally claimed as part of the United Kingdom, attached to

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...

, by the Island of Rockall Act 1972. * 24 May – Rangers F.C. wins the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

with a 3–2 win over Soviet side

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

in Barcelona. * 26 May –

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; ) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault (HBF), often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Central Scotland and the Highlands.Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 33-43. Published by ...

Bear Park opened near Balloch to display

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

s. * 27 June –

Highland Wildlife Park The Highland Wildlife Park is a safari park and zoo in Kingussie, Highland (council area), Highland, Scotland. The park is located within the Cairngorms National Park. The park is run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and is a member o ...

opened near

Kingussie Kingussie ( ; ) is a small town in the Badenoch and Strathspey ward of the Highland council area of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Inverness-shire, it lies beside the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, although the old route of ...

to display native species. * 25 August – Kilbirnie Street fire in Glasgow: 7 firemen killed in a

flashover A flashover is the near-simultaneous ignition of most of the directly exposed combustible material in an enclosed area. When certain organic materials are heated, they undergo thermal decomposition and release flammable gases. Flashover occurs wh ...

. * 1 September – Raising of

school-leaving age The school leaving age is the minimum age a person is legally allowed to cease attendance at an institute of compulsory secondary education. Most countries have their school leaving age set the same as their minimum full-time employment age, thus ...

from fifteen to sixteen for pupils leaving school at the end of the academic year, in common with the rest of the UK. * 5 October – last ship launched at the former

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its heig ...

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

yard, ''Clyde''-class bulk grain carrier MV ''Alisa''. * 8 December – Wendy Wood begins a hunger strike for home rule. * December – Gartnavel General Hospital opens in Glasgow. * Anderston Centre opens in Glasgow. * The '' West Highland Free Press'' newspaper is founded at

Broadford, Skye Broadford ( ), together with nearby Harrapool, is the second-largest settlement on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Lying in the shadow of the Red Cuillin mountains, Broadford is within the parish of Strath. A long meandering village historically c ...

. * Hamilton Academy closes (founded 1588)

Births

* 23 January – Ewen Bremner, actor * 20 February – Neil Primrose, musician * 25 March – Phil O'Donnell, footballer (died

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

) * 8 April – Lisa Cameron, Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, 2015- , and clinical psychologist * 9 April – Neve McIntosh, actress * 10 April – Gordon Buchanan, wildlife film-maker * 1 May – Patrick Grant, men's fashion designer *

15 May Events Pre-1600 * 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty. * 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper ...

– Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, 2005–15 * 2 August – Carol Monaghan, Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow North West, 2015- *

16 August Events Pre-1600 *1 BC – Wang Mang consolidates his power in China and is declared marshal of state. Emperor Ai of Han, who died the previous day, had no heirs. * 942 – Start of the four-day Battle of al-Mada'in, between the Hamdani ...

– Frankie Boyle, comedian * 17 August – David Ralph, field hockey forward * 14 September – Jenny Colgan, novelist * 2 October – John Anderson, footballer * 20 October – Debbie McLeod, field hockey goalkeeper *

29 November Events Pre-1600 * 528 – Antioch suffers its second major earthquake in two years, killing thousands and destroying its remaining edifice. * 561 – Following the death of King Chlothar I at Compiègne, his four sons, Charibert ...

– Willie Bain, Scottish Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament for

Glasgow North East Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Palace of Westminster, Westminster). It was first contested at the 2005 United Kingdom general ...

, 2009-

Deaths

* 15 March – Jimmy Simpson, international footballer (born 1908) * 28 March – Duncan Campbell, revivalist (born

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

) * 4 June – David Ross Lauder, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

(born 1894) * 19 November –

William Grant, Lord Grant William Grant, Lord Grant, (19 June 1909 – 19 November 1972) was a Scottish advocate, a Unionist politician, and a judge. Born to the Grant's distillery family who created Glenfiddich whisky, he was one of Scotland's Great Officers of Sta ...

, serving

and former Lord Advocate (born 1909) *

30 November Events Pre-1600 * 978 – Franco-German war of 978–980: Holy Roman Emperor Otto II lifts the siege of Paris and withdraws. 1601–1900 *1707 – Queen Anne's War: The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of t ...

–

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of t ...

, novelist and Scottish nationalist (born 1883 in

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

) * 27 December – John Kerr, cricketer (born 1885) * Jimmy MacBeath, folk singer (born 1894)

The arts

George Mackay Brown George Mackay Brown (17 October 1921 – 13 April 1996) was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist with a distinctly Orkney, Orcadian character. He is widely regarded as one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century. Biography Early life a ...

's novel ''Greenvoe'' is published. * Bill Bryden's play '' Willie Rough'' is staged by the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh. * The Average White Band is formed in Dundee. * The

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

of the

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) is a light Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest survivi ...

release their instrumental recording of "

Amazing Grace "Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn written in 1772 and published in 1779 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is possibly the most sung and most recorded hymn in the world, and especially popular in the Unit ...

" which reaches No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in April.

References

{{Years in Scotland

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Years of the 20th century in Scotland 1970s in Scotland