was a bloody and premeditated crime. The one thing they both agree on is that the Comyn family in general, and the Red Comyn in particular, was a major obstacle on the path of Bruce's ambition. The killing of 1306 was thus rewriting the judgement of 1292. Seizing the political high ground, Bruce was crowned at Scone on 25 March in an improvised ceremony. The Stone of Scone was missing; so too was the Earl of Fife, who by custom placed all new kings on the throne as the foremost of the Scottish earls. 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. Accordingly, another ceremony was held two days after the first. We have no insight into the precise reasons why she took a different view of matters from her husband. Buchan, as far as we know, took no action to save Isabella from the fate that her actions were shortly to bring upon her, though as Edward's chief Scottish adherent his views on the matter would certainly have carried some weight. Some sources say that he wanted her executed. 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. War and terror At the outset, the combination of forces ranged against Bruce were formidable but widely scattered. He was to deal with them piece by piece, a task made all the easier by the death of Edward I in July 1307 and the accession of the far less capable Edward II. With the main English army absent from the scene Bruce dealt with his enemies in Scotland with ruthless determination. Following successful campaigns in Galloway and Argyll he concentrated all his efforts and resources against the earl of Buchan, his principal domestic enemy. The campaign against Comyn was to last from late 1307 right