When Sir Nigel Bruce parted for the last time with his brother and passed on his fated way to Kildrummy, the King was left with some two hundred men, all on foot. He kept steadily to the hills, where he suffered severely from hunger, cold, and wet, till at last he resolved to make southward to Cantyre. Despatching Sir Nigel Campbell, whose kinsmen dwelt in these parts, to obtain boats and victuals, and to meet the party 'at the sea'—either on Loch Long or on the Firth of Clyde—Bruce, says Barbour, struck for Loch Lomond, probably about Rowardennan. Here he could find no boats, and either way round was long and beset with foes. At last Douglas discovered a sunken boat, capable of holding but three men. In the course of a night and a day the party were ferried over, two by two, a few of them, however, swimming 'with fardel on back.' Meanwhile Bruce cheered their drooping spirits by reading from the old romance how Fierabras was overcome by the right doughty Oliver, and how the Twelve (Eleven) Peers held out in Aigremont against Lawyne (Laban, Balan) till they were delivered by Charlemagne.

The most pressing difficulty was lack of food. Presently, however, this was relieved by the Earl of Lennox, who had noted the sound of the King's horn and joyfully hastened to him. Shortly Sir Nigel returned with boats and food in abundance. Bruce and his friends embarked. Barbour has a dramatic story how Lennox made delay in starting, how his boat was pursued—probably by Lorn's men—and how he escaped by throwing overboard his belongings, which the enemy stopped to appropriate. The boats ran down the Firth and safely landed the party in Cantyre.

Here Bruce received a friendly welcome from Angus of Islay, Lord of Cantyre, who placed at his disposal the rock fortress of Dunaverty. He entertained suspicions of treachery, however, and stayed only three days. Then, with all his following, he passed over to the island of Rathlin, an exile from his kingdom.

Such is Barbour's story. Taking it, meantime, as it stands, let us see what the English had been doing in the south-west. The details of operation are very scanty. Percy, the King's lieutenant on the western March, had exerted himself during June, July and August in fortifying and provisioning the castles. Lochmaben Castle fell on July 11, and Prince Edward felt himself free to go to Valence at Perth a few days later, and to carry through the siege of Kildrummy by the middle of September. He seems to have acted with more zeal than prudence. Rishanger says he took 'such vengeance that he spared neither sex nor age; towns, too, and hamlets, wherever he came he set on fire, and he mercilessly devastated the country.' This conduct 'is said to have gravely displeased the King his father, who chid him severely.' The King had moved northwards by slow stages, borne in a litter on horseback. It was September 29 when he reached the priory of Lanercost, eight miles from Carlisle, and this house he made his headquarters till March 26.

In September, the siege of Dunaverty was proceeding under the direction of Sir John Botetourte, the King's ablest engineer. The local people were very slack in aiding the English, and Edward, on September 25, ordered Sir John de Menteith to compel them to supply the besiegers with provisions and necessaries, 'if they will not with a good grace.' Next month Edward empowered Sir John of Argyll to receive to his peace, on special conditions, Donald of Islay, Gotheri his brother, John MacNakyld, and Sir Patrick de Graham. The conditions suggest that they had been in a position to drive a good bargain; and the submission of the first three at least may, perhaps, be connected with the capitulation of Dunaverty towards the end of October.

Now, at what date did Bruce pass from Dunaverty to Rathlin? Even were it not for Barbour's weather indications, and for the necessity of the awkward admission that, for some good reason—say commissariat—Bruce fled before the English approach and left some of his stanchest supporters in Dunaverty, it is difficult to suppose that he could have lain undisturbed in Rathlin from mid September to the end of January. Sir Thomas Gray records that Prince Edward, on his return from Kildrummy (say mid September), had an interview with Bruce, 'who had re-entered from the Isles and had collected a force in Athol,' at the bridge of Perth, much to the displeasure of the King his father. Gray is manifestly wrong in some points, and he may be wrong in all. Still, Bruce, finding his way barred by Alexander of Argyll and not daring to descend to the plains, may likely enough have turned back to Athol, and, on hearing of the disaster of Kildrummy and the capture of his Queen, his daughter, and his sisters, may have felt driven to a desperate attempt at accommodation. On such a supposition, it becomes easy to accept Barbour's Perthshire and Atlantic weather, to absolve Bruce from an apparent sacrifice of friends in Dunaverty, and to shorten to a credible length his stay in Rathlin. There are two difficulties to this view. One is that the English should have gone so far out of their way as to besiege Dunaverty so zealously, or at all. They seem, however, to have been under the impression that Bruce himself was there. The other difficulty is that Dunaverty had just been taken by the English. But if the astute Angus Oig was governor when Bruce arrived, Dunaverty was remote enough to allow him large scope for temporising.

The secret of Bruce's retreat appears to have been well kept. In October, indeed, Edward had commissioned Sir John of Argyll admiral on the west coast. But he did not find Bruce. It was not till January 29, that Edward commanded the Treasurer of Ireland to aid Sir Hugh Bisset in fitting out 'as many well-manned vessels as he can procure, to come to the Isles and the Scottish coast, and join Sir John de Menteith in putting down Robert de Bruce and his accomplices lurking there, and in cutting off their retreat.' More precise are the terms of appointment of Sir Simon de Montacute (January 30) as commander of the fleet specially destined 'for service against the rebels lurking in Scotland, and in the Isles between Scotland and Ireland.' On February 1, Edward ordered up vessels from Skinburness and neighbouring ports 'towards Ayr in pursuit of Robert de Bruce and his abettors, and to cut off his retreat.' Bruce, therefore, must have left Rathlin some days before the end of January, and probably because of the menace of the English fleet.

Barbour keeps him in Rathlin till winter was nearly gone—not really an inconsistency; but he seems to attribute the exodus to Douglas's chafing at inaction. Douglas, he says, proposed to Boyd an attempt on Brodick Castle, which Boyd knew well. With Bruce's leave they proceeded to Arran, and overnight set ambush at the castle. As they lay in wait, the sub-warden arrived with over thirty men in three boats, bringing provisions and arms; and Douglas and Boyd set upon them. The outcry brought men from the castle, who fled, however, before the bold advance of the Scots, and barred the gate. The Scots appropriated the sub-warden's provisions and arms, and took up a position in a narrow pass; and the garrison does not seem to have even attempted to dislodge them.

On the tenth day, it is said, Bruce arrived with the rest of his men, in thirty-three small boats, and was conducted by a woman to the glen where Douglas and Boyd lay, strangely ignorant of his coming. Then Bruce determined to dispatch the trusty Cuthbert of Carrick to sound the people on the mainland, arranging that Cuthbert, in case he found them favourable, should raise a fire on Turnberry Point at a time fixed. Cuthbert found Percy in Turnberry Castle, with some 300 men; and, as for the Scots, some were willing, but afraid, while most were distinctly hostile. He dared not fire the beacon.

At the appointed time, Bruce looked eagerly for the signal. He descried a fire. The party put to sea, 300 strong, and rowed, in the dusk and the dark, right on the fire. Cuthbert was at his wits' end; he dare not extinguish the fire. He met Bruce at the shore, and explained the untoward attitude of the people. 'Why, then,' demanded Bruce angrily, with a suspicion of treachery, 'why did you light the fire?' Cuthbert explained it was none of his doing, and beyond his help. What was to be done? A council of war was held. Sir Edward Bruce is said to have decided the question by a point-blank refusal to retire. He, for one, would strike at once, let come what might. Cuthbert had learned that two-thirds of the garrison were lodged in the town. Bruce and his men entered quietly in small parties, breaking open the doors and slaying all they found. Percy did not venture to sally from the castle. Bruce stayed three days, testing the feeling of the people; but even those that secretly favoured him were afraid to show an open preference. It is said that a lady, a near relative of his own, Christian of the Isles, came and encouraged him, and afterwards sent him frequent supplies of money and victuals. While mewing up Percy, he harried the country with increasing daring. A strong force of Northumberland men, however, raised the siege. Hemingburgh places Bruce's attack on Turnberry Castle 'about Michaelmas'; but it seems very unlikely that Bruce ventured to take the field in the south-west before he passed to Rathlin.

Apart from Barbour's details, it is plain that Bruce had struck a heavy blow. On February 6, Edward wrote to his Treasurer expressing surprise 'at having no news of Valence and his forces since he went to Ayr, if they have done any exploit or pursued the enemy.' He commands him 'quickly to order Valence, Percy, and Sir John de St John, and others he sees, to send a trustworthy man without delay with full particulars of their doings and the state of affairs.' And he is 'not to forget in his letter to them to say on the King's behalf that he hears they have done so badly that they do not wish him to know.' To the same effect he wrote himself to Valence on February 11, and commanded him 'to write distinctly and clearly by the bearer the news of the parts where he is, the state of affairs there, and the doings of himself and the others hitherto, and how he and they have arranged further proceedings. For he suspects from his silence that he has so over-cautiously conducted matters that he wishes to conceal his actions.' At the same time he addressed similar letters to the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, St John, and Percy. The tone is too earnest to permit the supposition that Edward was dissembling knowledge of the facts.

Bruce had at last regained a footing—though but a precarious footing—in his kingdom, and rendered Edward anxious about the immediate future.