When the Jacobite Army retreated, George Hay parted company with it at Edinburgh before the march north which ended at Culloden. He was persuaded to report himself to the authorities when things died down. It was best to do so, he was advised. When they understood he was simply a medical orderly he would be released. In fact he was sent to a prison ship on the Thames. Here he came into contact with the Church. On his return to Edinburgh he was again advised this time not to stay because people were being re-arrested. He went across country to Kilbride, now known as East Kilbride, and lodged with the Mongomerie family where he read “The Papist: Represented and Misrepresented” and this, built on his London contact, led him to be received into the Church.