[26] The following year, in an effort to maintain peace in the western reaches of his realm, John, King of Scotland established the shrievalties of Skye and Lorn.

In this particular communiqué, William II recalled a costly military campaign which he had conducted in the 1290s against rebellious Hebridean chieftains—including Lachlann himself—at the behest of the then-reigning John (reigned 1292–1296).

[38] The struggle between the two Clann Somhairle namesakes seems to be attested not long after Alasdair Óg's appointment in April 1296, and is documented in two undated letters from the latter to Edward I.

At the end of the letter, the Clann Domhnaill chief implored upon Edward I to instruct the other noblemen of Argyll and Ross to aid him in his struggle against the king's enemies.

[39][note 4] In the second letter, Alasdair Óg again appealed to the English Crown, complaining that he faced a united front from Donnchadh, Lachlann, Ruaidhrí, and the Comyns.

The Clann Domhnaill chief further related a specific expedition in which he pursued his opponents to the Comyn stronghold of Inverlochy Castle[42]—the principal fortress in Lochaber[43]—where he was unable to capture—but nevertheless destroyed—two massive galleys which he described as the largest warships in the Western Isles.

[42] Alasdair Óg's dispatches seem to show that Lachlann and Ruaidhrí were focused upon seizing control of Skye and Lewis and Harris from the absentee Earl of Ross.

In specific regard to Clann Ruaidhrí, it is likely that the kindred's campaigning was an extension of the conflict originating from the creation of the shrievalty of Skye, granted to William II in 1293.

[56] Although no evidence of the admiral's activities off Scotland's western seaboard survive for that year, it is apparent that this impending submission of Clann Dubhghaill was regarded by the English as significant enough to divert the fleet.

[57] In 1304, correspondence from John Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl to Edward I suggests that Lachlann was still working in concert with Alexander Comyn.

John Strathbogie, evidently resentful of Alexander's appointment as Sheriff of Aberdeen, besought the English Crown not to allow him possession of Aboyne Castle as Alexander had not only two of the strongest castles in the north—Urquhart and Tarradale—but was working in league in Lachlann, who was then attempting boost his maritime forces by way of raising one galley of twenty oars per davoch of land.

[60] In February 1306, Robert Bruce VII, Earl of Carrick, a claimant to the Scottish throne, killed his chief rival to the kingship, John Comyn III of Badenoch.

[63] According to the fourteenth-century Gesta Annalia II, Lachlann's sister, Cairistíona, played an instrumental part in Robert I's survival at this low point in his career, sheltering him along Scotland's western seaboard.

[64][note 7] In any event, later the next year, at about the time of Edward I's death in July 1307, Robert I mounted a remarkable return to power by first consolidating control of Carrick.

[70] In contrast to the evidence of assistance lent by Cairistíona to the Scottish king, Lachlann is recorded to have aligned himself closer with the English, as he appears to have personally sworn fealty to Edward I at Ebchester in August 1306, and petitioned for certain lands of Patrick Graham, a landholder forfeited from his estate for lending support to the Bruce cause.

[71][note 8] In October, there is evidence indicating that a certain Cristin del Ard delivered messages from the English Crown to William II, Lachlann, Ruaidhrí, and a certain Eóin Mac Neacail.

[78] Whatever the case, William II played a key role in Robert I's misfortunes at about this time, as the earl captured the latter's wife and daughter—Elizabeth and Marjorie—and delivered them into the hands of Edward I.

[79] The correspondence could have concerned this particular episode,[80] and may evince an attempt by the English Crown to project pro-English power into the Isles against Robert I and his supporters.

Such correspondence suggest that the earl was attempting to instil doubts concerning the value of Lachlann and Alexander Comyn to English interests in the region, whilst highlighting his own usefulness.