Having promised on 5 September 1565 to faithfully serve Queen Mary and Lord Darnley against the rebellious lords, Lord Ross was ordered on 10 October 1565 to accompany the vanguard of the Queen's army in pursuit of the rebels. The conflict is known as the Chaseabout Raid. Mary and David Rizzio were frequent visitors to Ross's estate at Melville near Dalkeith, though there were later suggestions by Lord Ruthven that Rizzio and Ross fell out when Ross refused to give Rizzio the lordship of Melville.[1]
On 19 April 1567, Ross was one of the 22 lords who signed the Ainslie Tavern Bond to indicate their agreement to the marriage between Bothwell and the Queen.[2] On 8 May 1568, he signed a bond for defence of the Queen at Hamilton. He took part in the Battle of Langside on 13 May 1568, but was captured by the Regent Moray. Ten years later, in 1578, he appeared in a list of nobles still adhering to the Queen.[1]
As a Roman Catholic, he was excommunicated on 20 June 1573, alongside his brother-in-law, Lord Sempill.[1]
He died on 2 April 1581.