• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – John Maclay until 13 July; then Michael Noble

Law officers edit

• Lord Advocate – William Grant; then Ian Shearer, Lord Avonside
• Solicitor General for Scotland – David Colville Anderson

Judiciary edit

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Thomson, then Lord Grant
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Gibson

• 1 February – Loganair, the Scottish airline, is established.
• 12 March – the Church of the Good Shepherd in Ayr (1957) is elevated to the Good Shepherd Cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galloway.^[1]
• 16 April – Livingston is officially designated as a New Town.^[2]
• 19 April – the North British Locomotive Company of Springburn goes into liquidation.
• 14 June – West Lothian by-election: Tam Dalyell retains the seat for Labour with the Scottish National Party coming second.
• 16 August – the series Dr. Finlay's Casebook is first broadcast on BBC Television across the U.K.
• 25 September – the last steam locomotive built in Scotland, by Andrew Barclay Sons & Co. of Kilmarnock, is despatched to its customer in Sumatra.^[3]
• 22 November – Glasgow Woodside by-election: Labour gain the seat from the Conservatives.^[4]
• 6 December – last permanent residents leave the Island of Stroma.
• Late – origins of Findhorn Foundation.
• The first nude mouse strain is discovered by N. R. Grist at Ruchill Hospital's Brownlee virology laboratory in Glasgow.^[5][6]

• January – William Duff, dentist, jailed for fraud and reckless endangerment
• 3 January – Gavin Hastings, rugby union player
• 4 January – Robin Guthrie, guitarist and producer (Cocteau Twins)
• 5 January – Murray Pittock, cultural historian
• 10 January – Ford Kiernan, actor and comedian
• 11 January – Steve Hislop, motorcycle racer (killed in helicopter accident 2003)
• February – John Gordon Sinclair (born Gordon John Sinclair), actor
• 26 February – Pen Hadow (born Rupert Nigel Pendrill Hadow), arctic explorer
• 5 March – The Proclaimers (Charlie and Craig Reid), twin folk rock musicians
• 9 March – Pete Wishart, SNP MP and member of Celtic rock group Runrig
• 17 March
  • Clare Grogan, singer and actress
  • Andy Kerr, Labour MSP (1999–2011) and government minister
• 10 April – Nicky Campbell, radio and television presenter and journalist
• 22 April – Ann McKechin, Labour MP
• 23 April – John Hannah, film and television actor
• 13 May – Kathleen Jamie, poet
• 17 May
  • Craig Ferguson, American television host, stand-up comedian, writer, actor, director, author, producer and voice artist
  • Alan Johnston, journalist
• 19 May – Iain Harvie, guitarist
• 24 May – Derek Browning, former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
• 27 May – David Mundell, Secretary of State for Scotland, Conservative MP and solicitor
• 13 June – Paul Motwani, Grandmaster (chess)
• 22 June – Bobby Gillespie, rock singer-songwriter (Primal Scream)
• 30 June – Colin Campbell, 7th Earl Cawdor, peer and architect
• 24 August – Ali Smith, novelist
• 23 September – Deborah Orr, journalist (died 2019)
• 24 September – Ally McCoist, international footballer, manager, television pundit and A Question of Sport team captain
• 6 November – Stuart Dougal, football referee
• 28 December – Kaye Adams, television presenter
• Jackie Bird, journalist and newsreader^[7]
• Jack Docherty, writer, actor, presenter and producer

• 19 April – Sir Harold Yarrow, 2nd Baronet, industrialist (born 1884 in England)
• 15 August – Bob McIntyre, motorcycle racer (born 1928)

• 5 June – Scottish Opera, Scotland’s national opera company, is founded by Alexander Gibson.
• August–September – Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten are present at the Edinburgh Festival for performances of their works.
• 5 October – global release of the film Dr. No with Edinburgh-born Sean Connery originating the film character of James Bond.
• Folk group The Corries is formed in Edinburgh.

• 1962 in Northern Ireland
• 1962 in Wales