He spent much of his youth at university, eventually obtaining Master's Degree.
[1] He can be found as Comptroller of the Rolls (compotorum rotulator) in 1456, 1457 and in 1459; in such a role his name occurs frequently in the Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, which also mentions that he was a canon of Dunkeld Cathedral.
Before becoming Bishop of Galloway (or Whithorn), he had also held the parish church of Nelbland, probably Newlands in the diocese of Glasgow, which is mentioned in papal documents because it became vacant upon Spot's accession to the bishopric.
[3] This is Bishop Ninian's last appearance in any records, and because he is not known to be dead until 9 December 1482, he must have died at some point between these two dates.
[5] It was during Ninian's episcopate that Pope Sixtus IV created the Archbishopric of St Andrews, under which Galloway became a suffragan.