This is explained either by the fact that they deserted Alexander when faced with the prospect of supporting him as their feudal lord against their king, or that different factions in the clan lined up on both sides.

In turn their eldest son, Donald Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, gave the lordship of Lochaber to his younger brother, Alexander.

James returned in 1424 determined to bring his kingdom to heel; one of his first acts was to execute most of Albany's heirs and restore the Earldom of Ross to the Macdonalds.

Albany's grandson James Mór rebelled, attacking Dumbarton and killing the King's uncle John Stewart of Dundonald, but was driven into exile in Ireland[2] and died in 1429.

This leads to the suggestion that John Mor's son Donald Balloch wanted revenge for his father's murder by the king.

[9] The Royalists appear to have caught the clansmen by surprise on a moor[8] or "marshy ground"[10] somewhere in Lochaber, the district around Fort William at the western end of the Great Glen.

[13] So he went secretly to Edinburgh and dressed only in his shirt and drawers,[13] he handed over his sword to James in the royal church of Holyrood Abbey on 28 August[14] (or in early 1430[2]).

The Queen was impressed by his humility and pleaded for his life so Alexander was imprisoned again, this time in Tantallon Castle.

Donald Dubh appears to have supported James in his defeat at the Battle of Inverlochy in 1431[16] and the Cameron lands were ravaged afterwards.

When Alexander was released, he took further vengeance on the clan he viewed as traitors, driving Donald Dubh into exile and giving the Cameron lands in Lochiel to John Garve Maclean of Coll.