Pope Paul III received King James V’s recommendation of Thomas Erskine as the next commendator in November 1539 but was not confirmed until April 1541 due to a contesting provision. In 1541, hostilities between Scotland and England resumed but Dryburgh remained untouched until 7 November 1544 when Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, burned the town of Dryburgh and its abbey. He returned in 1545 and again set fire to the abbey. Erskine was captured at Dover when the Scottish warship he was aboard foundered while en route to France prompting Marie de Guise, widow of James V, to call for his release. Erskine was ransomed for £500 and Dryburgh would have been expected to provide amply to the settlement and it may have been the need to obtain funds that, in July 1548, he resigned his commendatorship to his brother John.