[6] Kirkcaldy also got extra payments, to "sustain the treasurer's house", when the exchequer followed the king on justice ayres; to Dumbarton in 1540, and Dumfries in 1541.
[8] George Buchanan mentions Kirkcaldy's Protestant faith in his account of the arrest and execution of James Hamilton of Finnart.
According to Melville and John Knox, the Catholic clergy had given James V a list of all the Protestants in Scotland, hoping the king would persecute them and seize their lands.
Melville thought these courtiers persuaded James V against travelling to York to meet Henry VIII of England, who hoped that Scotland would become a Protestant country.
James Kirkcaldy joined the Protestant Fife Lairds who killed David Beaton then held St Andrews Castle against Regent Arran.
In February or March 1547 James joined with other lairds in the Castle to witness Patrick, Lord Gray's pledge to Edward VI of England.
James and his younger brothers George, John and Patrick are all described as "familiar servants of the king", courtiers, in a Great Seal letter.