The Battle of Glen Trool was a minor engagement in the First War of Scottish Independence, fought in April 1307. Glen Trool is a narrow glen in the Southern Uplands of Galloway, Scotland. Loch Trool is aligned on an east–west axis and is flanked on both sides by steep rising hills, making it ideal for an ambush. The battlefield is currently under research to be inventoried and protected by Historic Scotland under the Scottish Historical Environment Policy of 2009. 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. Robert the Bruce's rightful claim to the Scottish throne led to a war between King Robert and King Edward I and his allies the Comyns and the MacDougalls. The return of King Robert the Bruce After his defeat at the Battle of Methven and subsequently, at the Battle of Dalrigh in the summer of 1306 the recently crowned King Robert was little better than a fugitive, disappearing altogether from the historical record for a number of months. It wasn't until the spring of 1307 that he made a reappearance, landing in the south-west of Scotland with soldiers recruited, for the most part, from the Macdonald controlled Isles (not merely the Western Isles that today are the Outer Hebrides but all the Isles. It was an understandable move; for he came ashore in his own earldom of Carrick, where he could expect to command a large degree of local support. Perhaps even more important, the countryside itself was well known to Bruce, and there were plenty of remote and difficult areas that allowed cover and protection for his men. 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. The "Steps of Trool" King Robert managed to establish a firm base in the area but it was vital