On Wednesday 10th October 1866 before W. Bennet Clerk, the Sheriff Substitute in Alloa, three men stood charged with breach of the peace and malicious mischief that had been committed on 21st September at a public house in Menstrie run by Mrs Margaret Dickie.

Weaver Thomas McLaren, John Tansh Jr, a shoemaker, both from Menstrie, and Tillicoultry weaver William McLaren all pleaded not guilty.

Mrs Dickie told the court she remembered the men entering her pub at 9 o'clock that evening.

They were shown to a room and asked for a gill and a bottle of ale, which they got.

The men began to sing and when told to be quiet, they refused and asked for more drink.

This was denied and they behaved 'very bad' after the refusal. She heard Thomas McLaren tell the others to get up and break everything in the room.

He grabbed the table and tipped it over, with everything, except what Mrs Dickie caught, being thrown to the ground, smashing on impact.

After this, Thomas McLaren swore, then lifted his hand above Mrs Dickie's head and threatened to knock her to the ground. It was at that point she called for the police.

When police constable James Thomson arrived, only the two McLarens were in the room as Tansh had left. She told the court that Tansh had never shown any ill will towards her or made a nuisance of himself.

James Wallace, the tenant of the pub, stated other people came in at the same time as the three accused, but reiterated that Tansh had not caused any problems.

He said it was Thomas McLaren that had turned the table upside down in temper and was swearing, but also that William McLaren had been 'interfering.' The other men in the room, he went on, took not part in the row and never get involved.

The constable stated that when he arrived, all three were making a 'great noise.'

The others in the room, Henry Dickie, Robert Reid, Robert Lindsay and John Stewart, also took the stand, but none were blamed in the incident.

The Procurator Fiscal told the court the case was clearly proven against all three, although believed the case against Tansh could not be entirely proved, but he did go back into the room when the police officer arrived and used abusive language towards him.

The sheriff substitute dismissed the case against Tansh, but the case against the other two was proven.

They were fined 10s each or faced 10 days imprisonment. They paid up.