 He returned to Scotland in 1636 to serve in the covenanting army, becoming colonel of a horse regiment under General John Middleton.In 1647 he purchased the lands and barony of Urie in Kincardineshire from William Keith, 7th Earl of Marischal.As a known associate of the Earl Marischal he was subsequently confined in Edinburgh Castle where he was converted to Quakerism in 1665 by the celebrated laird of Swinton, who was confined in the same prison.