1981 in Scotland

Events from the year 1981 in Scotland.

Incumbents

1 February – Decriminalisation of homosexual acts between men over 21 years of age through the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, Section 80, which enters into force on this day.
5 March – The ZX81, a pioneering British home computer manufactured by Timex in Dundee, is launched by Sinclair Research, going on to sell over 1.5 million units worldwide.
May
Peugeot closes the Talbot car plant at Linwood, Renfrewshire, which was opened by the Rootes Group eighteen years earlier as Scotland's only car factory.
Buchan Oil Field production begins in the North Sea.
23 May – Scotland beat England 1-0 at Wembley.
11 December – Closure of Bedlay Colliery, Glenboig.
21 December – George Wood (Aberdeen) Ltd cease trawler operations.
Undated
Last manufacture of coal gas in the UK, at Millport, Isle of Cumbrae.{{cite web|title=Great Cumbrae|url=http://www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/GreatCumbrae?from=Secrets.MillportGasworks|work=Secret Scotland|access-date=6 July 2010}}
Invergordon aluminium smelter closes.
Livingston Skatepark opens, the first in Scotland.{{cite news|first=Katy|last=Scott|title=Livingston skatepark is first to be listed in Scotland|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-68434512|work=BBC News|date=2024-02-29|accessdate=2024-02-29}}

15 January – Sean Lamont, rugby player
16 February – Alison Rowatt, field hockey midfielder
19 February – Mark Boyle, snooker player
28 February – Mark Brown, footballer
25 March – Emily Smith, folk singer
5 May – Harry Weld-Forester, cricketer
11 June – Alistair McGregor, field hockey goalkeeper
14 June – Alastair Kellock, rugby union player
11 August – Sandi Thom, pop singer-songwriter
28 August – Kezia Dugdale, leader of the Scottish Labour Party
7 September – Natalie McGarry, MP convicted of embezzlement{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rsDCCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT67|title=Whitaker's Shorts 2016: Governance|first=Bloomsbury|last=Publishing|date=November 19, 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781472921987|via=Google Books}}
16 September – David Mitchell, field hockey defender
20 November – Scott Hutchison, indie rock singer-songwriter and visual artist (suicide 2018)
9 December – Gemma Fay, international football goalkeeper
Catriona Shearer, television news presenter

6 January – A. J. Cronin, novelist (born 1896)
23 February – Nan Shepherd, novelist and poet (born 1893)
June – Wendy Wood, nationalist campaigner (born 1892 in England)
22 August – Mairi Chisholm, nurse and ambulance driver in World War I, one of "The Madonnas of Pervyse" (born 1896)
8 September – Bill Shankly, football manager (born 1913)
19 October – Johnny Doyle, footballer (born 1951)
1 December – James Monteith Grant, herald and Lord Lyon King of Arms (born 1903)

30 March – release of historical drama film Chariots of Fire that tells the story of devout Christian Eric Liddell competing in the 1924 Olympics.
23 April – release of romantic comedy film Gregory's Girl.
Alasdair Gray's first novel Lanark: A Life in Four Books is published in Edinburgh.
Perrier Comedy Awards first presented to the best shows on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Bluebells formed.
First Fèis Bharraigh.