1999 in Scotland

{{further|Politics of Scotland|Order of precedence in Scotland}}

• First Minister and Keeper of the Great Seal – Donald Dewar (from 17 May 1999)
• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Donald Dewar until 17 May; then John Reid

• Lord Advocate – Lord Hardie
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Colin Boyd
• Advocate General for Scotland – Lynda Clark

• 7 February – Sunday Herald newspaper is launched.
• 12 February – scientists at the Rowett Research Institute in Aberdeen reinforce warnings that genetically modified food may be damaging to the human body.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/12/newsid_2541000/2541001.stm|work=BBC News|title=1999: Scientists highlight hazards of GM food|date=12 February 1999}}
• 31 March – Buchanan Galleries shopping mall opened to the public in Glasgow city centre.
• 6 May – 1999 Scottish Parliament election: the first elections to the new Scottish Parliament.
• 7 May – no party wins overall majority in the first general election to the Scottish Parliament. The Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats agree to form a coalition government, with Donald Dewar as the First Minister of Scotland.
• 12 May – the Scottish Parliament meets in Edinburgh for its first session in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland on the Royal Mile.
• 17 May – Donald Dewar is officially sworn in as the First Minister of Scotland.{{cite web |title=Dewar receives the royal warrant |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12274337.dewar-receives-the-royal-warrant/ |website=HeraldScotland |access-date=21 December 2020 |language=en}}
• 31 May – the Orkney island of Papa Stronsay is purchased by The Transalpine Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a traditionalist Catholic religious institute which will establish Golgotha Monastery there.{{cite web|title=A brief history of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer|work=Golgotha Monastery Island|url=http://www.papastronsay.com/fssr/history/index.html|access-date=2015-01-06|archive-date=6 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606105428/http://www.papastronsay.com/fssr/history/index.html|url-status=dead}}
• June – Scotland's first Gaelic-medium primary school, Glasgow Gaelic School (Bunsgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu), opens.
• 11 June – fire at Garnock Court (flats), Irvine with one fatality.
• 1 July – formal transfer of powers from Westminster to the new Scottish Parliament.
• 4 August – George Robertson, MP for Hamilton South, appointed as Secretary General of NATO.
• 9 August – Charles Kennedy, MP for Ross, Cromarty and Skye, elected leader of the Liberal Democrats (UK).{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/9/newsid_2493000/2493023.stm|title=1999: Kennedy wins Lib Dem leadership|work=BBC News|access-date=2008-02-13|date=1999-08-09}}
• August – composer James MacMillan in a speech "Scotland's Shame" at the Edinburgh Festival attacks religious bigotry in Scotland.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/415149.stm|work=BBC News|title=Scotland's shame|date=1999-08-09|access-date=2010-01-12}}
• 13 September – Mental Health (Public Safety and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 1999 becomes the first Act of the Scottish Parliament to be passed, adding public safety to the grounds for not discharging certain patients detained under the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984, thus closing a legal loophole.
• 23 September – Hamilton South by-election results in Labour's Bill Tynan holding the UK parliament seat by 556 votes in the face of a 22.6% swing to the SNP.
• November – Scottish Women's Football League (SWFL) established{{cite book |last1=Scraton |first1=Sheila |last2=Magee |first2=Jonathan |last3=Caudwell |first3=Jayne |last4=Liston |first4=Katie |title=Women, Football and Europe: Histories, Equity and Experience |date=2008 |publisher=Meyer & Meyer Verlag |isbn=9781841262253 |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yo2ZnpOQc7AC&pg=PA19|language=en}}
• 3 November – the Lanarkshire-born actor Ian Bannen is killed in a car accident near Loch Ness.
• 17 November – the Scotland national football team fail to qualify for UEFA Euro 2000 after a 2–1 aggregate defeat by England in the qualifying playoff round.
• 30 November – Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh officially opened.{{cite journal|first=John|last=Crompton|title=Industry in the National Museums of Scotland|journal=Industrial Archaeology News|issue=113|date=Summer 2000|pages=2-3}}
• 2 December – the 'Heart of Neolithic Orkney' is designated as a World Heritage Site.
• 4 December – Barry Wallace, an 18 year old man from Kilmarnock, attends a Christmas night out with colleagues from Tesco and fails to return home.{{cite web |title=BBC News {{!}} SCOTLAND {{!}} Wallace family tells of heartache |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/576317.stm |website=news.bbc.co.uk |access-date=8 November 2024}}
• 5 December – Barry Wallace is formally reported as missing by his family.
• 7 December – During a routine diving exercise at Loch Lomond, officers from Strathclyde Police discover human limbs in the loch.{{cite web |title=BBC News {{!}} SCOTLAND {{!}} Search for body parts continues |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/571648.stm |website=news.bbc.co.uk |access-date=8 November 2024}}
• 8 December – More body parts are discovered in Loch Lomond by Strathclyde Police. They are widely speculated to belong to Barry Wallace who had gone missing three days prior.
• 15 December – A head is washed up on Brassie Beach in Troon and discovered by a member of the public walking her dog. The head was later identified as belonging to Barry Wallace who had been missing since 5 December.{{cite web |title=Body parts belong to missing boy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/dec/18/4 |website=The Guardian |access-date=8 November 2024 |date=18 December 1999}} DNA analysis confirmed that the head and other parts found in Loch Lomond belonged to Wallace.{{cite web |title=BBC News {{!}} SCOTLAND {{!}} Wallace family tells of heartache

|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/576317.stm |website=news.bbc.co.uk |access-date=8 November 2024}}

• 17 December – Strathclyde Police raid the flat belonging to William Beggs in Kilmarnock.{{cite web |last1=Scott |first1=Kirsty |last2=Seenan |first2=Gerard |title='Serial killer in the making' jailed for life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/oct/13/highereducation.education1 |website=The Guardian |access-date=8 November 2024 |date=13 October 2001}}
• 21 December – Strathclyde Police issue a warrant for the arrest of William Frederick Ian Beggs, aged 36 and originally from Northern Ireland, in connection to the death of Barry Wallace.
• 23 December – The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service permits Strathclyde Police to issue an image of William Beggs.{{cite web |title=Beggs trial: Timeline |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1593493.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=8 November 2024 |date=12 October 2001}}
• 28 December – William Beggs is arrested in the Netherlands. A Dutch lawyer who represented Beggs claims Beggs will "fight extradition proceedings from the Netherlands to Scotland".
• The last Elder of the Glasite Church dies in Edinburgh.

• 24 May – Soft rock band Travis release their album The Man Who which goes platinum.

• 1 March – Brogan Hay, Scottish footballer{{cite web |title=Brogan Hay |url=https://rangers.co.uk/talent/brogan-hay-2/ |website=Rangers Football Club, Official Website |access-date=28 April 2020}}
• 11 June – Eartha Cumings, footballer{{cite web |title=Eartha Cumings |url=https://www.bcfc.co.uk/teams/city-women-squad/13-eartha-cumings-gk/ |website=Bristol City |access-date=28 April 2020 |language=en}}

• 11 January – Naomi Mitchison, novelist (born 1897)
• 30 January – Mick McGahey, Communist miners' leader (born 1925)
• 9 August – Cliff Hanley, writer (born 1922)
• 11 September – Janet Adam Smith, writer and mountaineer (born 1905)
• 1 October – Lena Zavaroni, entertainer (born 1963)
• 3 November – Ian Bannen, actor (born 1928){{cite web |title=Ian Bannen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/nov/05/guardianobituaries1 |website=the Guardian |access-date=17 September 2022 |language=en |date=5 November 1999}}

• 1999 in England
• 1999 in Northern Ireland
• 1999 in Wales

{{Reflist}}

{{Years in Scotland |state=collapsed}}

Category:Years of the 20th century in Scotland