Secretary for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Sir John Gilmour, Bt
Law officers
Lord Advocate – William Watson
Solicitor General for Scotland – David Fleming until December; then Alexander Munro MacRobert
Judiciary
Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Alness
Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord St Vigeans
Events
18 April – the dam of Skelmorlie reservoir bursts, flooding the village and killing 5.
21 March – Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, home of the Scottish Rugby Union, opens with Scotland defeating England 14-11.
16 May – the war memorial on the Law, Dundee, is inaugurated.
7 July – the original Kelvin Hall in Glasgow is destroyed by fire.
7 August – National Library of Scotland established by Act of Parliament to take over the national responsibilities of the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh.
2 October – John Logie Baird successfully transmits the first television pictures with a greyscale image, in London.
29 December – Alexander Munro MacRobert appointed Solicitor General for Scotland, replacing David Fleming
The uninhabited Shiant Isles are acquired by writer and island-lover Compton Mackenzie.
Births
28 January – Michael Scott Weir, diplomat, Arabist (died 2006)
1 February – Bobby Laing, professional footballer (died 1985)
15 February – Eric Brown, professional golfer (died 1986)
18 February – Russell Hunter, actor (died 2004)
1 April – Walter Carr, actor (died 1998)
2 April – George MacDonald Fraser, author, notable for The Flashman Papers (died 2008 in the Isle of Man)
5 April – John Boyd, milliner, based in London (died 2018)
6 May – Angus Black, international rugby union player (died 2018)
29 May – Mick McGahey, Communist miners' leader (died 1999)
3 June – Thomas Winning, Archbishop of Glasgow and Cardinal (died 2001)
19 June – Robert Fyfe, actor (died 2021)
25 July – Duncan Johnstone, bagpiper and composer (died 1999)
30 July – Alexander Trocchi, novelist (died 1984)
4 September – John McKenzie, footballer (died 2017)
13 September – Ian Hamilton, lawyer and nationalist (died 2022)
28 October – Ian Hamilton Finlay, poet and sculptor (died 2006)
26 November – Phil McCall, actor (died 2002)
30 December – Ian MacNaughton, actor and television comedy director/producer (died 2002)
John Quigley, author (died 2021)
Deaths
11 January – John Sinclair, 1st Baron Pentland, Liberal Party MP, soldier, peer and administrator (born 1860)
14 January – David MacRitchie, folklorist and antiquarian (born 1851)
25 April – John Quinton Pringle, painter (born 1864)
July – James Seth, philosopher (born 1860)
25 October – Henry J. Watt, experimental psychologist (born 1879)
The arts
John Buchan's novel John Macnab is published.
Hugh MacDiarmid's synthetic Scots poetry Sangshaw is published.