Although his elder brother Charles did not die until 1712, James succeeded to the family estate on his father's death in 1707, under an entail made in 1703.
Before the funeral, he entertained the Earl of Strathmore, his own brother James Carnegie of Finhaven, Mr Lyon of Bridgeton, and some others, at dinner in his house.
[3] About dusk, the party sallied forth into the street, and "now that the modified restraint of a lady's presence was removed,"[3] Bridgeton pushed Carnegie of Finhaven into a "deep and dirty kennel" (ditch) which ran along the roadside.
There was a huge public outcry to the intended prosecution of Carnegie of Finhaven as illustrated in "A Letter from a Gentleman in Forfar, to his Friend at Edinburgh."
Carnegie was tried on 2 August 1728 for premeditated murder, a charge supported by "long arguments and quotations of authority,"[2] as was common at that time.
However, the court, "sacrificing rationality to form and statute,"[2] overruled the defence on the basis that the prisoner had "given the wound whereof the Earl of Strathmore died."