In 1772 three Stirling burgh councillors signed a secret agreement to run the affairs of the town to their own advantage. This private pact to advance their own power and finance came to be known as the Black Bond.

The discovery of the agreement led to the burgh

Burgh

A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...

 being put under the supervision of a central government commission in 1775. The town was also disenfranchised, and barred from voting for an MP.

The governance of the town was passed back to the burgh council in 1781, with the election of the provost and officers conducted along proper lines.