John Macculloch's estate, which encompassed a considerable land-estate in the stewarty of Kirkcudbright and shire of Wigtown, was subject to a settlement containing strict prohibitive, irritant, and resolutive clauses. This case is a dispute over inheritance claims following Macculloch's death.
Sir Alexander held Prestonfield and Corstorphine under several strict entails dating to 1720, one of which prevented any heir from setting tacks for more than one lifetime. Sir Alexander's father, Sir William, set a tack in Drysdale that John Dick, as tutor to his nephew, sought to have voided. An Act of Parliament allowed certain types of tacks in contravention of entail clauses, but Dick maintained that the statute did not apply in this case.
The deceased defendant Sir John Home sold land to the pursuer, Thomas Johnston. The contract's terms included a notation that the land was free of all public burdens except those explicitly defined in the contract. Johnston sued Sir John Home's heirs, Sir Alexander Stirling and Sir John Stirling, as entails are still on the property. Johnston argued that he should have been been free of them given the contract's terms.
Pursuers Mary and Margaret Murray, who claimed to be heirs apparent to the estate of Shian, brought an action of exhibition ad deliberandum; that is, they sought the production of documents to help them decide whether to take up the succession. The Earl of Breadalbane claimed that he had obtained good title to Shian, blocking the Murrays’ succession. Therefore, he sought to avoid producing additional documents.
