Alexander MacDougall, too old and sick to take part in the fighting, lay in his castle at Dunstaffnage so throughout the period his eldest son, John Bacach, was the main war leader of the MacDougalls. In the summer of 1308, possibly late August, his army took up position in the narrow Pass of Brander, where the River Awe slices through the southern slope of Ben Cruachan on its way down from Loch Awe. However, only Barbour's poem The Brus (late 14th century) places the battle; it does not mention the pass by name but the description fits. The large number of cairns around the Bridge of Awe may give some support to the location.