In 1212 they made their most significant advance when William Comyn, Justiciar of Scotia, married Marjory, the only child and heir of Fergus, the "earl" or mormaer of Buchan.

When their son Alexander succeeded them, the Comyns became the first family of Norman origin to acquire comital status in Scotland [citation needed].

This allowed Comyns to gain a head start on the Bruces, also of Norman-French origin, who did not acquire the earldom of Carrick until the later thirteenth century.

In 1290 Margaret, Maid of Norway, the last direct descendant of the Canmore dynasty, died, leaving the Scottish throne with no clear successor.

[citation needed] Following the intervention of Edward I, Balliol finally emerged in 1292 as the strongest claimant in terms of feudal law, though the Bruce family was not reconciled to this outcome.

For Buchan, the task of bringing Moray under control would demand diplomatic skill, involving national politics and family loyalties.

Hugh de Cressingham, the chief agent of the English occupation, expressed his opinion that this was a thinly disguised double-act, writing that "the peace on the other side of the Scottish sea (Firth of Forth) is still in obscurity, as it is said, as to the doings of the earls who are there."

[citation needed] The Guisborough Chronicle had little doubt of Comyn's culpability, who "at first pretended to repress rebellion but in the end changed sides and became a thorn in our flesh."

It seems certain, though, that the death of Moray, either during or shortly after the battle, and the political ascendancy of William Wallace, who emerged as Guardian of Scotland by early 1298, had an effect on his general attitude towards the rising.

For Buchan, and many of his fellow nobles, Wallace was less of the great hero and more of the political parvenu, who by the normal order of things would have been a figure of little importance in a conservative feudal society.

Their interpretation of events involves some intellectual acrobatics: Fordun condemns the Comyns for losing the battle for Wallace, while in the next breath he commends Robert Bruce, the future king, for winning it for the English.

Yet, setting this interpretation of events aside, the evidence suggests Comyn hostility towards Wallace, magnified, perhaps, by Lamberton's known association with the Bruce family.

This uneasy match was obviously intended to balance the competing interests in Scotland; for though Bruce acted with the Red Comyn in the name of "the illustrious King John", his claim to the throne was openly known.

In 1299, the whole delicate structure threatened to fall apart at a meeting of the baronial council at Peebles, a potentially murderous episode reported by an English spy.

Bruce himself stepped down in 1300, at a time when the restoration of King John looked like a serious possibility, the chief political aim of the whole Comyn family.

He was also active on the border, taking part in raids against the English and in Galloway, where, as sheriff of Wigtown, he attempted to win over the local people to the national cause.

Buchan joined with the other ambassadors in writing words of encouragement to his cousin: For God's sake do not despair...it would gladen your hearts if you would know how much your honour has increased in every part of the world as a result of your recent battle with the English.

As the English army punched north of the Forth, the first time it had done so since 1296, threatening the Comyn estates in Buchan and Badenoch, the Guardian took the pragmatic step, entering into peace negotiations with King Edward, concluded at Strathord near Perth in February 1304.

In Scotland he could not afford the ruinous cost in men, money and materials that it had taken to secure his earlier conquest of Wales, so time and again he was forced to enter into bonds and alliances with his former enemies.

Buchan's lands confiscated at one minute were returned at the next, and he was made a member of the council of regency under the new English governor, John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond; and in September 1305 he was one of the commissioners who attended the union Parliament at Westminster to accept Edward's Ordinances for the government of Scotland.

We will never know for certain the reasons behind the killing of the Red Comyn: for the Scottish sources it was the justified fate of a traitor and a spy; for the English it was a bloody and premeditated crime.

In a surprise move Isabella MacDuff, his sister, who also happened to be Buchan's wife, arrived bringing her husband's war horses and claimed the right for herself.

With Bruce having gone one way it was inevitable that Buchan and his associates would go the other: men, in other words, whose patriotic credentials had hitherto been impressive were now guaranteed to fight on the side of the English.

Setting aside Bruce's obvious skills as a soldier and a political strategist, this was the key to the ultimate failure of the Comyns: people who took no position on the murder in Dumfries would identify themselves with a new and successful King of Scots against a party invariably ranged on the side of the national enemy.

With Bruce incapacitated, and the royal army reduced in numbers, an attack was mounted against his camp at Slioch near Huntly; but it was pressed with no great determination, and Buchan withdrew after some desultory arrow fire.

In England the fugitive earl was well received by King Edward, who appointed him warden of the west marches in June 1308; but he was not to enjoy his new responsibilities for long, dying sometime before December.