Kammala wannan jumla: John M'Millan, wanda ya kafa Cocin Presbyterian mai gyara, ɗan John M'Millan ne, wanda ya fito daga reshen dangin da suka daɗe suna zaune a Arndarroch. An haifi John a shekara ta 1669 a Barncauchlaw, wani gonar dutse a cikin Ikklesiya na Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire. An ce mahaifinsa ya fadi a
Bothwell Bridge, da mahaifiyarsa, wanda ba a san sunansa ba, sun sake yin aure. M'Millan wataƙila an haife shi ne a Earlston, a Dalry, inda ya halarci makarantar Ikklesiya, kuma ya sadu da yawancin waɗanda suka sha wahala saboda imanin addininsu. Ya yi karatu a Jami'ar Edinburgh, kuma ya kammala karatun MA 28 Yuni 1697. Ya kasance wani lokaci limami ga John Murray, laird na Broughton [Cally, Ikklesiya na Girthon].