Abbott John was blamed for ineffectual financial management and was required to resign and, on 13 January 1255 Pope Alexander IV wrote to the Bishop of St Andrews (position vacant at the time) and to Nicholas de Prenderlathe, abbot of Jedburgh demanding that most of the abbey's income be diverted to paying off debts while only a basic level of income was to be retained for day to day expenses. Slow improvement in the abbey's finances took place over the next forty or so years in a period of relative stability. However this improvement was only relative; Dryburgh's neighbouring monasteries with their much more extensive grazing lands provided the main source of a much greater income.