1697 in Scotland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Events from the year 1697 in the Kingdom of Scotland.
See also:List of years in Scotland
Timeline of Scottish history
1697 in: England ⢠Elsewhere
Timeline of Scottish history
1697 in: England ⢠Elsewhere
Incumbents
- Monarch â William II
- Secretary of State â John Murray, Earl of Tullibardine, jointly with James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater
Law officers
Judiciary
Events
- 8 January â student Thomas Aikenhead becomes the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy when he is hanged outside Edinburgh.
- 10 June â the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe when five Paisley witches are hanged and then burned.
- Famine in the Borders leads to continued Scottish Presbyterian migration from Scotland to Ulster.
- Icelandic-Norwegian historian and professor Th. Torfæus (Ãormóður Torfason), publishes his work on the Orkney Islands, Orknøerne.
Births
- 23 January â James Fisher, a founder of the Secession church (died 1775)
- 5 February â William Smellie, obstetrician (died 1763)
- 19 September â Alexander Monro, physician and founder of Edinburgh Medical School (died 1767)
- 23 September â Andrew Plummer, physician and chemist (died 1756)
- 2 November â James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry, nobleman, described as 'violently insane'; slaughters, roasts and eats a scullion when just ten years old (died 1715)
- date unknown â Charles Hamilton, Lord Binning, nobleman, politician and poet (died 1732)
Deaths
- 8 January â Thomas Aikenhead, student and last person in Great Britain executed for blasphemy (born 1676)
- 11 August â John Hay, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale, Lord Chancellor of Scotland (1692â96) (born 1625)
- date unknown â Alexander Gordon, Royalist and pioneer in British North America (born 1635)
The arts
- A Collection of several Poems and Verses composed upon various occasions by William Cleland is published posthumously.