Lindsay transferred to the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Burford on 27 September 1708 and passed his examination for promotion to the rank of lieutenant on 14 April 1710.
[1] On his return to Scotland he was persuaded to join his father in the 1715 Jacobite rising and took part in the inconclusive Battle of Sheriffmuir.
After the suppression of the uprising he was forced to hide for some time in a secret chamber at the nearby castle of Newark until his aunt secured him a pardon, although in 1716 he was dismissed from the navy.
After he left the army, his prospects limited by his past allegiances, he concentrated on improving the house and estate farms at Balcarres.
Her descendant Lady Waterford told how:"...when one of her little boys disobeyed her, [she] ordered the servants to fling him into the pond in front of the house.