Reconciling the two led to an increase in legal work; Forbes was admitted to the Scottish Faculty of Advocates on 26 July 1709, a professional body with less than 200 members in 1714.

[8] Other members of this circle included Duncan's brother-in-law Hugh Rose and his cousin George (1685-1765), who from 1741 to 1747 was MP for Ayr Burghs, another constituency controlled by Argyll.

During the Jacobite Rising of 1715, his patron Argyll was government commander in Scotland; the Forbes brothers raised a number of independent companies and fortified Culloden and Kilvarock.

[12] Forbes ordered the arrest of several Glasgow magistrates suspected of inciting the unrest; they were soon released and the government made a number of concessions, although Daniel Campbell was awarded £6,080 in compensation.

Following the 1737 Porteous Riots in Edinburgh, a bill was introduced in Parliament imposing penalties on the city, which was opposed by Argyll and Scots MPs in the Commons, Forbes included.

[14] In addition, sales of confiscated property were either delayed by legal arguments or reduced by fictitious debts, with former rebels often aided in this process by their loyalist friends and neighbours.

In March 1743, the Highland-recruited 42nd Regiment or Black Watch was posted to Flanders to fight in the War of the Austrian Succession, despite Forbes warning this was contrary to an understanding their service was restricted to Scotland.

'[17] This changed in 1740 after the war placed Britain and France on opposing sides; Louis XV proposed a landing in England in early 1744 to restore the Stuarts, primarily to divert British resources from Flanders.

As demonstrated in 1708 and 1719, threatening an invasion was far more cost effective than an actual one and the plan was abandoned after the French fleet was severely damaged by winter storms in March.

[23] His efforts were recognised by both sides; a Jacobite commentator later wrote that 'had the Lord President been as firm a friend of the Stuarts as he was an opponent,...we should have seen an army of 18,000, not 5,000 invade England.

'[24] After the Jacobite entry into Edinburgh and their victory at Prestonpans in September, Forbes and John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun based themselves in Inverness with around 2,000 recruits, sending regular updates to General George Wade in Newcastle.

[28] When Flora MacDonald was arrested and sent to London for helping Charles escape, Forbes arranged for her to be held in a private residence until released by the Act of Indemnity in June 1747.

Accused of rape for the third time in 1730, he was sentenced to death; the Earl of Egmont wrote in his diary All the world agree he deserved to be hanged long ago, but they differ whether on this occasion.

In 1744 he competed unsuccessfully against Hew Dalrymple, Lord Hailes and others for the silver golf club awarded by Edinburgh Town Council as a prize for the best golfer.