The Carron Company, along with various other parties, united to form a company called the Company of Proprietors of the Forth and Clyde Navigation. The company proposed to construct a canal to connect the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. The first plan was to use the River Carron to connect the two firths. The Carron Company supported this initial plan, but objected to a revised strategy that would put the east end of the canal directly of the Firth of Forth, rather than on the River Carron as originally proposed. The Carron Company argued that this new route would bypass its iron works mille and petitioned its partners for an agreement to dig a side canal to the River Carron. The Carron Company claimed that this agreement was made, and they sought a Court order to enforce this agreement.

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