[4] He supported the Royalist cause in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and was fined £,1000, under the terms of the English Commonwealth's Act of Pardon and Grace to the People of Scotland.

[3] He supported the Duke of Lauderdale in the early stages of his Scottish policy, in which he adopted a moderate attitude towards the Presbyterians.

With other Scottish noblemen who resisted Lauderdale's measures, he was twice summoned to London to present his case at court, but without obtaining any result.

On the accession of James II, he received numerous honours, but he was one of the first to enter into communication with William III of Orange.

[6] He presided over the Convention of Edinburgh, summoned at his request, which offered the Scottish crown to William III and Mary II in March 1689.