Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Murray ya kasance mai goyon bayan ƙa'idodin ƙa'idodin Lord Lauderdale, yana shiga cikin wani hari na 1678 da Covenanters, amma sai ya rasa tagomashin sarauta na ɗan lokaci ta hanyar ba da shawara game da matakan da aka ɗauka a kansu. A shekara ta 1679, duk da haka, ya kasance a yakin Bothwell Bridge
; a watan Yulin 1680 an sanya shi mataimakin Admiral na Scotland, kuma a 1681 shugaban majalisar.