1951 in Scotland

Centuries:	18th; 19th; 20th; 21st; ;
Decades:	1930s; 1940s; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s;
See also:	List of years in Scotland; Timeline of Scottish history; 1951 in: The UK • Wales • Elsewhere; Scottish football: 1950–51 • 1951–52

Events from the year 1951 in Scotland.

Incumbents

11 April – The Stone of Scone is located in Arbroath Abbey having been stolen by Scottish nationalists.
12 May – Remains of Gunnister Man found in a peat bog in Shetland.
18–26 May – Festival of Britain: Festival Ship Campania on view in Dundee (King George V Dock).
25 May–8 September – Festival of Britain: Living Traditions exhibition presented at the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, by the Council of Industrial Design.
28 May–18 August – Festival of Britain: Exhibition of Industrial Power in Glasgow (opened by The Princess Elizabeth).^[1]
18 September–6 October – Festival of Britain: Festival Ship Campania on view in Glasgow (Springfield Dock).
26 October – 1951 United Kingdom general election: The Conservative Party and allies narrowly defeat Labour in Scotland and across the UK; this is the last election in which the Conservatives do better in Scotland than in England.
30 October – James Stuart is appointed Secretary of State for Scotland; he will hold office until January 1957.
November – Ecurie Ecosse motor racing team founded by Edinburgh businessman and racing driver David Murray and mechanic Wilkie Wilkinson.^[2]
7 November – first floodlit Association football match in Scotland, a Stenhousemuir v. Hibernian F.C. friendly at the former's Ochilview Park.^[3]
24 November – Beinn Eighe becomes Britain's first national nature reserve.
Publication of The Third Statistical Account of Scotland commences with the volume for Ayrshire.

2 February – Ken Bruce, radio broadcaster
7 February – Eddie Kelly, footballer
20 February – Gordon Brown, Labour politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2007–10^[4]
4 March – Kenny Dalglish, international footballer and manager
25 April – Ian McCartney, Labour politician
6 May – Davey Johnstone, rock guitarist
9 August – James Naughtie, print and radio journalist
22 August – Alex Neil, Scottish National Party MSP and government minister
16 September – Judith Miller, antiques expert (died 2023)
23 September – Andrew Greig, author
26 September – Stuart Tosh, born Stuart MacIntosh, rock musician
28 September – Jim Diamond, singer-songwriter (died 2015)
17 November – Jack Vettriano, born Jack Hoggan, painter
19 November – Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, Labour politician and Lord Chancellor
15 December – Joe Jordan, international footballer and manager
20 December – Peter May, fiction writer
22 December – Jim McColl, entrepreneur
Michael Scott Rohan, fantasy writer

3 January – Peter McBride, footballer (born 1877)
29 January – James Bridie (O. H. Mavor), playwright (born 1888)
3 May – Sir Thomas Henderson, Liberal politician (born 1874)
16 May – James Greenlees, rugby union footballer, educationalist and soldier (born 1878)
9 September – Andrew Blain Baird, engineer and aviation pioneer (born 1862)
1 October – Peter McWilliam, international footballer and manager (born 1879)
11 October – Donald Cameron, 25th Lochiel, chief of Clan Cameron (born 1876)

19 May – Pitlochry Festival Theatre opens in a tent with the British première of Maxwell Anderson’s Mary of Scotland.^[5]
School of Scottish Studies founded.

^ "Glasgow powers up for the Festival". BBC News. 28 May 1951. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
^ "The History of Ecurie Ecosse". Ecurie Ecosse. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
^ "Notable Dates in History". The Flag in the Wind. The Scots Independent. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
^ "Gordon Brown | prime minister of United Kingdom | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
^ "Timeline". Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Retrieved 15 January 2015.