In 1628, he was created a Baronet, of Elibank in the County of Selkirk, in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia, and, in 1643, he was created Lord Elibank, of Ettrick Forest in Selkirkshire, in the Peerage of Scotland, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever.
Lord Elibank was one of the six peers who opposed the extradition of King Charles I to the English Parliament.
Inspired by the descriptions of his well-travelled friends Sibbald and Balfour he began a grand tour on 2 September 1668.
En route to Italy he died in Avignon, France in early September 1671.
[1] Balfour and Sibbald on hearing of his death travelled to Livingston Peel and organised transportation of the huge plant collection to Edinburgh, to a site now occupied by Waverley Station and shortly, in 1763, to a new site on Leith Walk.