List of Scots

Scotland, part of the United Kingdom, seems to have more than its fair share of famous and influential men and women for its size and population. The following is a list of some of the best known.

Actors

Billy Boyd, (born 1968)
Robert Carlyle, (born 1961)
Robbie Coltrane, (born 1950)
Sean Connery, (born 1930)
Billy Connolly (born 1942)
Tom Conti, (born 1941)
Brian Cox
Alan Cumming, (born 1965)
Rikki Fulton, (born 1924)
James Robertson Justice, (1905-1975)
Deborah Kerr, (born 1921)
Fulton Mackay, (1922-1987)
Ewan McGregor, (born 1971)
David Niven, (1909-1983)
Alastair Sim, (1900-1976)

Architects

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, (1868-1928), husband of Margaret MacDonald
James Stirling, (1926-1992)

Artists

Robert Colquhoun
Margaret MacDonald, (1865-1933), wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh
Robert MacBryde
Dugald MacColl
James MacGillivray, sculptor
Alexander Nasmyth, (1758-1840), landscape painter
Patrick Nasmyth, (1787-1831), landscape painter, son of Alexander
David Wilkie (1785 -1841) painter

Business

Arthur Anderson, (1792-1868), co-founder of P&O
Alexander Berry, (1781-1873), Australias first Millionair?? Had a town named after him.
David Buick, founded the Buick car company
Andrew Carnegie, (1835-1919), ruthless steel magnate and death-bed philanthropist

Composers

Engineers and Inventors

Sir William Arrol, (1839-1913), bridge builder
Alexander Graham Bell, (1847-1922), telephone, National Geographic, Hydrofoil
John Logie Baird, (1888-1946), television
James Chalmers, (1782-1853), adhesive postage stamp
Sir Dugald Clerk, (1854-1932), two-stroke Clerk Cycle engine
John Boyd Dunlop, the modern rubber tyre
Sir Robert McAlpine (Concrete Bob), (1847-1934), road builder
Charles Macintosh, (1766-1843), patented waterproofing
John McAdam modern road construction
James Nasmyth, (1802-1890), Steam Hammer
Thomas Telford, (1757-1834)
James Watt, (1736-1819)

Humourists

Ronald Balfour Corbett (Ronnie), (born 1930)
Stanley Baxter, (born 1926)
Janet Brown, (born 1924)
Graeme Garden, (born 1943)
Rory Bremner, (born 1961)

Musicians

Ian Anderson singer, flautist, songwriter, and guitarist Jethro Tull
Ali Bain fiddler
David Byrne, (born 1952)
Phil Cunningham accordionist
Donovan, (born 1946)
Fish, (born 1958)
Sheena Easton
Roddy Frame songwriter Aztec Camera
Evelyn Glennie, (born 1965), percussionist
Hamish Henderson folk song collector and writer
Annie Lennox, (born 1954)
Sir Harry Lauder, (1870-1950)
Lulu, (born 1948)
James Kerr (Jim), (born 1959)
Mark Freuder Knopfler, (born 1949)
Michael Marra songwriter
Dougie MacLean contemporary folk songwriter
Ewan MacColl, (1915-1989), folk-singer/songwriter
Kenneth McKellar
Graig Reid (born 1962) songwriter The Proclaimers
Charles Reid (Charlie) (born 1962) songwriter The Proclaimers
Jimmy Shand
Andy Stewart, (1933-1994)
James Ure (Midge), (born 1953)
Lena Zavaroni (1963-1999)

Philosophers

Henry Home, Lord Kames, (1696-1782)
David Hume, (1711-1776), inspired Immanuel Kant
James McCosh, (1811-1894)

Rulers, Politicians

Tony Blair, (born 1953), UK Prime Minister
Gordon Brown, (born 1951), Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer
Robert the Bruce, Robert I of Scotland
Bonnie Prince Charlie, The Young Pretender to the throne of Great Britain
Donald Dewar, (born 1937), Scotland First Minister
Robert Cunninghame-Graham ('Don Roberto') aristocrat socialist
Jo Grimond, (1913-1993), Liberal Party leader from 1956 to 1967
James VI of Scotland and I of England, (1603-1625)
Jimmy Maxton, leader of the Independent Labour Party
Tom Johnston (Tam), post WW2 Secretary of State for Scotland
Mary, Queen of Scots, (1542-1587)
Macbeth, King on the receiving end of a bad press
John MacCormick, Nationalist
John A. Macdonald, First Prime Minister of Canada
Margo MacDonald, Nationalist
Ramsay Macdonald, (1866-1937), UK Prime minister
Malcolm Macdonald
Alex Salmond, Nationalist (SNP leader 1990-2000)
Jim Sillars, founder of Scottish Labour Party, MP
John Smith, (1938-1994) Labour Party leader
David Steel, (born 1938), Liberal Party leader from 1976 to 1988
William Wallace, (c. 1270-1305), a.k.a. Braveheart

Scientists

James Dewar, (1842-1923), low temperature physicist, invented the vacuum flask
Alexander Fleming, (1881-1955), biologist
Professor George Forbes, (1849-1936), electrical engineering, hydro-electric power generation
Thomas Graham, (1805-1869), chemist
James Hutton, (1726-1797), put geology on a scientific basis
Joseph Lister, (1827-1912), surgeon, pioneered antisepsis techniques
James Clerk Maxwell, (1831-1879), thermodynamics and electromagnetic theorist
John Napier, (1550-1617), mathematician (see logarithms)
Mary Fairfax Sommerville, mathematician and astronomer
Robert Watson-Watt, (1892-1973), invented radar
Paraffin Young a.k.a. James Young, James (Paraffin) Young

Sportsmen and -women

Ken Buchanan, (born 1945), world champion boxer
Jimmy Clark Formula 1 driver
David Coulthard, (born 1971), Formula 1 driver
Kenny Dalglish, (born 1951), footballer and a manager of Liverpool F.C.
Alex Ferguson footballer and a manager of Manchester United F.C.
Dougal Haston mountaineer
Benny Lynch, (1913-1946), world champion boxer
Hamish MacInnes mountaineer
Colin MacRae world champion rally driver
Ally McCoist, (born 1962), football player
Elizabeth McColgan (Liz), (born 1964), althlete
Billy McNeill footballer and a manager of Glasgow Celtic F.C.
Graham Obree broke world hour record (on a home-made bike)
Jackie Stewart world champion Formula 1 driver
Jim Watt world champion boxer, won the WBC World Lightweight title

Television Personalities

Nicky Campbell, (born 1962)
Gail Hipgrave (Gail Porter), (born 1971)
John Leslie (John Leslie Stott), (born 1965), television presenter
Lorraine Kelly, (born 1959), television presenter and journalist
Carol Smillie, (born 1961)

Theologians

John Knox, (c.1513-1572)
Thomas McCrie
John Duns Scotus, (c.1266-1308)
George Wishart, (1513-1546)

Writers

See List of Scottish writers

Others

Alison Balfour, a "notorious witch"
Helen Duncan, "Hellish Nell", the last woman to be tried under the witchcraft act
Craig Ferguson, (born 1962)
Muriel Gray, (born 1959), author, broadcaster and businesswoman
Douglas Haig, (1861-1928), commander-in-chief of British forces during World War I
Elsie Inglis, medical reformer and suffragette
John Paul Jones, (1747-1792), admiral of the Russian and American Navies
Captain Kidd, (1645-1701), pirate
David Livingstone, (1813-1873), explorer, missionary
Flora Macdonald, jacobite and empire loyalist
Rob Roy MacGregor, romantic outlaw
John James Richard Macleod, (1876-1935)
John Muir, (1838-1914), 19th century environmentalist
Robert Noble
Allan Pinkerton, (1819-1884), US detective
Sir William Ramsay
John Charles Walsham Reith, (1889-1971), a.k.a Lord Reith, first Director General of BBC
James Clark Ross, (1800-1862), explorer
Alexander Selkirk, (1676-1723), inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
Christian Shaw, started the Paisley thread industry
Moira Shearer
Mary Slessor, missionary and advocate for women's rights
Adam Smith, (1723-1790), economist, free trade, laisser-faire, division of labour
Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, enthusiastic contributor to the Highland Clearances
Josephine Tey, (1896-1952), writer
Robert William Thomson
Kirsty Wark, (born 1955), journalist and broadcaster