Scottish Court of Session Decisions

This is an application by Duncan MacIntyre, M.D., Fort-William, for interdict against Donald MacRaild, surgeon, Brecklet, South Ballachulish, “from practising medicine or surgery at the slate quarries of South Ballachulish, and in the adjacent villages of South Ballachulish, Brecklet, and Carnock, where the workmen at the said quarries reside, and from otherwise interfering with the professional practice of the complainer and his assistant, William Willoughby Cole Burton, at the said quarries and in the said villages.”

It appears that the complainer has for some time practised his profession at Fort-William and the adjoining districts of country, including the slate quarries and villages above-mentioned, which are fifteen miles from Fort-William, where he resides. It was his practice to have an assistant resident at the quarries for that part of his business, and to visit the locality himself once a week. In August 1864 he engaged the respondent as his assistant. In consequence, as the complainer alleged, of his having heard that the respondent was seeking to undermine or supplant him, he remonstrated with the respondent, and on 28th November 1864 the latter wrote out and signed the following obligation:—

“I, Donald MacRaild, licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, who have been and still am medical and surgical assistant to and for Duncan MacIntyre, doctor of medicine, Fort-William, at the Slate Quarries, South Ballachulish, for the last three months, a capacity in which I always acted consistent with professional honour and the said Duncan MacIntyre's interest, do hereby solemnly bind myself to continue to do so as long as my connection with him as assistant lasts: But whereas it has been represented to the said Duncan MacIntyre that his connection with me affected the safety of his present position, or tended to do so, in so far as it appears I have been represented to him as using direct or indirect means to undermine and usurp his charge or practice at Ballachulish; in order to vindicate my own professional honour, and to relieve the said Duncan MacIntyre from any anxiety arising from or caused by any such misrepresentations for the present or the future, and in proof of my integrity, I bind and oblige myself, under a penalty of £500 sterling, in case of infringement on my part, that after my connection with the said Duncan MacIntyre, as his assistant, has ceased, I shall not accept of the practice of the slate quarries in the case of its being offered to me, to his exelusion and disadvantage, at any future period, and that I shall never take advantage of any introductions or insight into his affairs the exigencies of my relations with him as his assistant require I should have and know, thereby settling down in his vicinity, and practising to his detriment or in opposition to him in any of the districts in which he practises his profession: Be it therefore known that, in the event of my infringement on this agreement or promise, or any part thereof, the said sum of £500 sterling is to be paid by me to the said Duncan MacIntyre or his heirs or executors: This agreement, in so far as my engagement is concerned, shall subsist until one month's previous intimation that it is to terminate shall be given by me to, or received by me from, the said Duncan MacIntyre. In witness whereof, these presents, written on this and the preceding page by my own hand, are subscribed by me at Fort-William the 28th November 1864.”

The respondent's engagement with the complainer terminated on 3d November 1865, when he left the quarries, but he returned on 5th December, as the complainer alleged, “for the avowed purpose of practising there as a medical man in opposition to the complainer, in violation alike of professional honour and his foresaid obligation.” The respondent's statement, on the other hand, was that after he left the quarries, an advertisement appeared in the Glasgow Herald for a resident registered practitioner; that, knowing that the complainer would not accept such an appointment, he applied for it, and was appointed. He said that before he applied the complainer had ceased to hold his office at the quarries; that it had been decided that he should not be continued as medical man there, because he was non-resident; and that, if he had not been appointed, a Mr Wilson, of Bathgate, would have been. In these circumstances, he pleaded that he had not violated his obligation.