1878 in Scotland

Centuries:	17th ; 18th ; 19th ; 20th ; 21st ;
Decades:	1850s ; 1860s ; 1870s ; 1880s ; 1890s ;
See also:	List of years in Scotland ; Timeline of Scottish history ; 1878 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere ; Scottish football: 1877–78 • 1878–79

Last updated November 23, 2025

Incumbents

Law officers

Judiciary

Events

14 January – Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone to Queen Victoria.^[1]
15 March – restoration of the Scottish hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, carried out on the instructions of the newly appointed Pope Leo XIII.
31 May – the North British Railway's first Tay Bridge across the Firth of Tay is ceremonially opened, its engineer, Thomas Bouch, being made a burgess of Dundee. Designed in iron to replace a train ferry, it is the world's longest bridge at this date.^[2]
12 December – the iron-hulled full-rigged ship Falls of Clyde is launched at Russell & Company's yard at Port Glasgow for Wright and Breakenridge's Glasgow-based Falls Line. In 1968 she will be laid up as a museum ship in Honolulu.
Sophia Jex-Blake sets up in practice in Edinburgh as the city's first woman doctor.
The hydropathic establishment in Moffat is opened.
Construction of forts on Inchkeith begins.
West coast shipping operator David Hutcheson & Co. passes wholly to control of David MacBrayne.
The sanitary porcelainware works at Barrhead that becomes part of Armitage Shanks is established.

Births

20 January – Finlay Currie, actor (died 1968 in England)
23 March – Muirhead Bone, graphic artist (died 1953 in England)
12 April – Alex McDonald, footballer (died 1949)
24 July – Louisa Jordan, nurse (died 1915 in Serbia)
10 August – Louis Esson, poet and playwright (died 1943 in Australia)
14 December – James Greenlees, rugby union footballer, educationalist and soldier (died 1951)
Robert Freeman, Baptist minister in the United States
George Wittet, architect (died 1926 in Bombay)

Deaths

26 January – Kirkpatrick Macmillan, inventor of the bicycle (born 1812)
19 February – George Paul Chalmers, painter (born 1833; died as the result of a street attack)
6 June – Robert Stirling, Church of Scotland minister and inventor of the Stirling engine (born 1790)
13 August – George Gilfillan, writer and poet (born 1813)
5 December – George Whyte-Melville, novelist and poet (born 1821)^[3]
31 December – James Matheson, Member of Parliament and co-founder of Jardine, Matheson & Co. (born 1796)

The arts

July – William McGonagall journeys on foot from Dundee to Balmoral Castle over mountainous terrain and through a violent thunderstorm in a fruitless attempt to perform his verse before Queen Victoria.^[4]

References

↑ Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.
↑ Thomas, John (1969). The North British Railway. Vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4697-0.
↑ stanford.edu
↑ Autobiographical account published in his More Poetic Gems.

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[Pocket_On_This_Day-1] Penguin Pocket On This Day. Penguin Reference Library. 2006. ISBN 0-14-102715-0.

[2] Thomas, John (1969). The North British Railway. Vol. 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4697-0.

[3] stanford.edu

[4] Autobiographical account published in his More Poetic Gems.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Years in Scotland (843–present)
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12th century	1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200
13th century	1200s 1210s 1220s 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s 1280s 1290s
14th century	1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335 1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379 1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400
15th century	1401 1402 1403 1404 1405 1406 1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420 1421 1422 1423 1424 1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430 1431 1432 1433 1434 1435 1436 1437 1438 1439 1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446 1447 1448 1449 1450 1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456 1457 1458 1459 1460 1461 1462 1463 1464 1465 1466 1467 1468 1469 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500
16th century	1501 1502 1503 1504 1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521 1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540 1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600
17th century	1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700
18th century	1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800
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21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026