 Skilled in law as well as theology, Pont served as Moderator of the General Assembly on six occasions and also acted as a Lord of Session.In the 16th and 17th century, St Cuthbert's position in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle left the church vulnerable when the Castle came under attack.In January 1573, during the siege of the Castle in the Marian civil war, troops of the Regent Morton occupied St Cuthbert's and were attacked by some of the defenders of the castle, who set fire to the church on 17 January 1573.