[2] On 8 April 1536, he received crown nomination to the papacy for provision to become commendator St Mary's Isle in Galloway; in 1549 he became successor to Alexander Mylne as commendator of the abbey of Cambuskenneth, for which he had been coadjutor (designated successor) since 7 August 1534.
[4] Employed by Mary of Guise, he was in France in February 1542 on some unknown errand, and on 31 March 1544, was sent thither with Sir John Campbell of Lundie on a mission to the French king.
In 1543 he became secretary to James V. The letters of the English ambassadors, preserved in Sadler's Papers, and George Buchanan's bitter criticism testify to the strength of his influence on behalf of France.
In December he was ordered by the governor to deliver back, according to custom, the badge of knighthood of the Golden Fleece to the Emperor Charles V. In 1545 he became bishop of Ross, and in May of that year was sent on a mission to the king of France, the Emperor, and Mary of Hungary.
On his return, in 1552, he received consecration to his bishopric at Jedburgh, before a brilliant assembly of the Scottish nobles.