The Black Bond was a 1773 agreement by three councillors in the Scottish

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

to illegally influence the elections of councillors and magistrates and the appointments of council officers. The agreement came to the attention of the authorities and the men were tried at the

Court of Session The Court of Session is the highest national court of Scotland in relation to Civil law (common law), civil cases. The court was established in 1532 to take on the judicial functions of the royal council. Its jurisdiction overlapped with othe ...

. They were found guilty and the election of

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in many Western Christian liturgical calendars on 29 Se ...

of 1773 was annulled and the burgh council dissolved. The burgh also lost its right to elect a Member of Parliament. The rights were restored and a new council elected in 1781.

Misconduct

Three members of the

burgh council, including the Provost of Stirling and a

bailie A bailie or baillie is a civic officer in the local government of Scotland. The position arose in the burghs, where bailies formerly held a post similar to that of an alderman or magistrate (see bailiff). Baillies appointed the high constables ...

, elected at

in 1773, entered into an unlawful agreement. This agreement, which became known as the "Black Bond", was that no person should be selected to sit on the council without the agreement of all three persons, and that each man would support the other during elections. They also agreed that any appointments to council officer positions (such as that of

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

) should be by agreement of the three men, this being carried out by their vetting of a shortlist of candidates. They agreed to maintain the bond, which effectively gave full control of the council to the three, throughout their lifetimes. Two of the men were elders of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

and one in the

Secession Church The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church. They were often referred to as Seceders. The underlying ...

(Stirling being unusual in having a milder civic oath that permitted the election of Anti-Burghers to public office).

Court case

The three men were brought to trial in the

in November 1773 on charges of corrupt influence over the matter. All other councillors elected at Michelmas were also charged with the offence. At court the three men admitted the existence of the agreement, but stated that they had never attempted to influence an election and that the agreement had ended earlier in 1773. The other defendants professed to have no knowledge of the bond. The prosecution called a writer and other witnesses from the town who testified to the existence of the illegal agreement. The court found that the election was "illegal, unwarrantable and ''contra bonos mores'' gainst good morals, and ruled that the results be voided. It was also shown that the election of

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

s had been compromised and this was also voided. The council was dissolved and the burgh was suspended from all corporate privileges including the right to elect a Member of Parliament; the burgh was administered directly by a government commission. The defendants appealed to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, but they upheld the original verdict of the Court of Sessions. The agreement was popularly known as the "Black Bond". Following a petition by the inhabitants to the Crown, the burgh's privileges were restored under a new constitution in 1781 by the King (George III) in council. This allowed for the election of 21 councillors and magistrates at Michaelmas of that year by the burgesses and merchants of the town. The new constitution reduced the influence available to senior council members, with some directly elected officers and others chosen by a wider subset of the council.

References

{{Reflist, 30em 1773 in politics 1775 in politics 1773 in Scotland 1775 in Scotland British Royal Commissions Corruption in Scotland Electoral fraud History of Stirling (council area) Local government in Scotland Political corruption Political scandals in Scotland Politics of Stirling (council area) Electoral restrictions

Misconduct

Court case

See also

References