In July 1583 he fell out of favour with the Earl of Gowrie and was ordered to go to confinement in Dumbarton Castle. His brother John Colville was to go to Edinburgh Castle. Instead, Robert Colville went to James VI to declare his innocence. After receiving little comfort from the young king, he secretly went into exile in England. He met Francis Walsingham at Durham in September.William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1581-1583, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1910), pp. 541, 565, 621.
