Reverend Robert Lyon

Robert Lyon was appointed assistant to Reverend Laurence Drummond in Perth in 1739; Robert Forbes may also have been considered for this appointment (Farquhar, Episcopal History of Perth, p. 134). With Drummond ill, Lyon soon dominated. The Episcopal Meeting House at Perth was noted as "'a nursery of Jacobitism'," and Lyon's participation in the 1745 rising was regarded as a foregeone conclusion by the Reverend William Erskine (Farquhar, pp. 138, 157, 160). On receiving news of the Jacobite victory at Prestonpans, Lyon is said to have illuminated his window with "C., P. R." (Charles, Prince Regent), and departed to join the Jacobite army soon after, serving as a chaplain in Ogilvy's Regiment. Witnesses contradicted Lyon's claim that he never bore arms, and his attempt to pledge loyalty to the established government failed to save his life (NA SP 36/92/1/142).