Battle of Glen Trool

[1] Robert Bruce had been crowned King of Scots after being involved in the killing of John "the Red" Comyn, a leading rival, a long time enemy, and one of the most powerful men in Scotland, the previous year 1306.

The English border was not far distant; all of the local castles were strongly held by Edward's forces; and, perhaps most important of all, the Lordship of Galloway, the old Balliol patrimony, was adjacent to Carrick, and controlled by the MacDoualls, hostile to King Robert the Bruce and his cause.

When his brothers Thomas and Alexander, Dean of Glasgow attempted a landing on the shores of Loch Ryan, they met with disaster at the hands of Dungal MacDouall, the leading Balliol supporter in the area.

King Robert managed to establish a firm base in the area but it was vital that he made progress against the enemy if his cause was to attract the additional support that was so clearly needed.

Aymer de Valence, King Robert's second cousin and opponent at Methven, received intelligence that his enemy was encamped at the head of Glen Trool.

[2] King Robert not only survived but went on the following month to win the significant engagement against the humiliated Earl of Pembroke at the Battle of Loudoun Hill.

[5] proving that Bruce had acquired an ability to change and adapt to circumstances, using his knowledge of the landscape, his training in battle as a knight and employing the tactics of William Wallace of ambushes and surprise attacks,[6] and advancing and retreating as the occasion demanded.