He was the eldest son of Robert Nairne of Muckersie, and afterwards of Strathord, both in Perthshire, by Margaret, daughter of Sir John Preston of Penicuick, Midlothian, lord-president of the court of session.
[1] With other royalists Nairne was captured by a detachment from General George Monck at Alyth, Forfarshire, 28 August 1651 in an incident known as 'the Onfall of Alyth',[2] and sent a prisoner to the Tower of London, where he remained till the Restoration of 1660.
On 23 Jan. 1681 he was created a peer of Scotland by the title of Lord Nairne, to himself for life, and after his decease to his son-in-law, Lord William Murray, who assumed the surname of Nairne.
[1] At the trial of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll in 1681 Nairne was compelled from fatigue to retire while the pleadings on the relevancy were still proceeding.
[1] By his wife Margaret, daughter of Patrick Graham of Inchbrakie, Perthshire, Nairne had an only daughter, Margaret, married to Lord William Murray, who became second Lord Nairne.