1957 in Scotland

Incumbents

• Monarch – Elizabeth II
• Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – James Stuart until 13 January; then John Maclay

  Law officers

• Lord Advocate – William Rankine Milligan
• Solicitor General for Scotland – William Grant

  Judiciary

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

  Events

• 6 January – fishery cruiser Vaila runs aground off the Isle of Lewis with the loss of 5 crew.
• 5 February – trawler Robert Limbrick runs aground on the Isle of Mull with the loss of all 12 crew.
• 29 March – the Royal Navy base at Scapa Flow in Orkney is reduced to an oil depot.
• 9 May – a major fire in Edinburgh destroys the premises and stock of William Mutrie & Sons, theatrical costumiers, at Bell's Brae.
• 16 August – the world's first Museum of Childhood opens in its own premises on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
• 31 August – central Scotland's independent channel, Scottish Television, goes on air.
• 18 September – the sports programme Scotsport begins airing on Scottish Television; by the time it ends in 2008 it is recognised as the world's longest running television sports magazine.
• 1 October – transfer of criminally insane prisoners from the criminal lunatic department at HM Prison Perth to the State Institution for Mental Defectives at Carstairs which becomes the State Mental Hospital.
• 5 October – RAF Saxa Vord radar station on Unst is returned to fully operational status.
• 18 October – a Royal Air Force Gloster Meteor jet trainer aircraft crashes near Kirkcaldy with the loss of her 2 crew.
• 1 November – a replacement "Bawbee Brig" is opened across the River Leven, Fife, to connect Leven and Methil within Levenmouth.
• 19 November – an underground explosion at Kames Colliery near Muirkirk kills 17.
• 14 December – an underground explosion at Lindsay Colliery in Fife kills 9.
• Construction of a missile testing range on South Uist begins.
• First purpose-built Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Scotland completed at Riddrie, Glasgow.
• Folklorist F. Marian McNeill begins publication of The Silver Bough.

  Births

• 9 February – Gordon Strachan, international footballer and manager
• 27 March – Billy Mackenzie, singer
• 7 June –
• *Michael Bowes-Lyon, 18th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, soldier and politician
• *Iain Gray, Scottish Labour Party leader
• 16 June – Leeona Dorrian, Lady Dorrian, Lord Justice Clerk 2016–present
• 11 July – Johann Lamont, Scottish Labour Party leader
• 23 September – Fergus Ewing, Scottish National Party minister
• 6 October – Moray Hunter, comedian
• 6 December – Arabella Weir, comic actress, born in the United States
• 22 December – Ricky Ross, singer-songwriter and broadcaster
• Blair Jenkins, broadcaster
• Alan Riach, poet and academic

  Deaths

• January – Harry Gordon, entertainer
• 21 April – John Graham Kerr, embryologist and Unionist Member of Parliament
• 10 June – Sir Douglas MacInnes Shaw, army officer, businessman and Unionist Member of Parliament
• 20 October – Jack Buchanan, actor, singer and film director

  The arts

• Song of the Clyde is published.