21 April – James Montgomery, a slave, escapes from a ship bound for Virginia at Port Glasgow and flees to Edinburgh where he is recaptured and begins the legal case of Montgomery v Sheddan in an attempt to gain his freedom.[1]
14 December – Rev. John Home's blank verse tragedy Douglas is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh, with considerable success, in spite of the opposition of the local church presbytery, who summon Rev. Alexander Carlyle to answer for having attended its representation;[6] however, it fails in its early promise to set up a new Scottish dramatic tradition.
^"Timeline: 1740 to 1800". Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
^Chesher, Susan; Foster, Linda; Hogben, Laurence (1979). A Short History of the Villages: Charlestown, Limekilns and Pattiesmuir. Charlestown, Limekilns and Pattiesmuir Community Council. p. 16.
^"St Andrews in the Square". Glasgow Buildings Preservation Trust. Archived from the original on 8 August 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
^"Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)". National Records of Scotland. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2022.