1769 in Scotland

Incumbents

• Monarch – George III

  Law officers

• Lord Advocate – James Montgomery
• Solicitor General for Scotland – Henry Dundas

  Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session – Lord Arniston, the younger
• Lord Justice General – Duke of Queensberry
• Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Barskimming

  Events

• 29 April – James Watt is granted a British patent for "A method of lessening the consumption of steam in steam engines" – the separate condenser, a key improvement which stimulates the Industrial Revolution. In September he completes a full-size experimental engine at Kinneil House.
• June – Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant begins a tour of Scotland.
• 3 August – part of the first North Bridge, Edinburgh, collapses while nearing completion, killing five.
• 25 October – Murder of Alexander Montgomerie at Ardrossan.
• 9 November – first Co-operative Society in Britain founded by weavers at Fenwick, East Ayrshire.
• John Maxwell begins to practice as a lawyer in Glasgow, origin of McGrigors which continues as an independent firm until 2012.
• Ayr Bank opens.
• Fort George completed.

  Births

• 2 May – John Malcolm, soldier, statesman and historian
• 14 April – Sir William Rae, 3rd Baronet, politician and lawyer
• Charles Ewart, soldier
• Robert Hetrick, poet and blacksmith

  Deaths

• 25 October – Alexander Montgomerie, 10th Earl of Eglinton
• December – William Falconer, poet

  The arts

• 9 December – first Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, opens.
• Richard Hurd's Ancient and Modern Scots Songs published.