In the meantime Dundee had not been idle.  Sending a few men straight down the valley, he led his main body across the Tilt, which joins the Garry just below the castle, round at the back of the hills till he had reached the English right.  Mackay was in front with his skirmishers, watching what he supposed to be the approach of Dundee’s van, when word was brought to him that the enemy were occupying the hills on the right in force.  Mackay saw his danger at a glance.  The Highlanders would be down like one of their own rivers in flood on his right flank, and roll the whole line up into the Garry.  On one of the hills overlooking his position stood what is now known as Urrard House, but was then called by its proper name of Renrorie.[99] Immediately below this stretched a piece of ground large and level enough in Mackay’s judgment for his army to receive, though not to give, the attack.  He made no change in his line, but wheeling it as it stood upon the right wing, he marched it up the slope on to this new ground in the face of the enemy.[100] His position was now better than it had been; but it was bad enough.  The river was in his rear, and behind the river the inhospitable mountains.  His only way of escape, should the day go against him, lay through that terrible pass up which, with no enemy to harass him, he had just climbed with infinite toil.  He could hardly hope to make good his retreat down such a road with a victorious army maddening in his rear.  In the preliminary game of tactics he had been completely out-manoeuvred by his old comrade.

The clans were now forming for battle.  The Macleans of Duart held the post of honour on the right wing.  Next to the Macleans stood Cannon with his Irish.  Then came the men of Clanranald, the men of Glengarry, and the Camerons.  The left wing was composed of the Macdonalds of Sleat and some more Macleans.  In the centre was the cavalry, commanded not as hitherto by the gallant Dunfermline, but by a gentleman bearing the illustrious name of Wallace.  He had crossed from Ireland with Cannon; but nothing is heard of him till apparently on the very morning of the day he produced a commission from James superseding the Earl of Dunfermline in favour of Sir William Wallace of Craigie.  What would otherwise appear one of those inexplicable freaks by which James ever delighted to confound his affairs at their crisis, is amply explained by the fact that the new captain was the brother of Melfort’s second wife.  Fortunately Dunfermline was too good a soldier and too loyal a gentleman to resent the slight.  As Mackay’s line was much longer than his, Dundee was compelled to widen the spaces between the clans for fear of being outflanked, which left for his centre only this little cluster of sabres.  Lochiel’s eldest son, John, was with his father, but Allan, the second, held a commission in Mackay’s own regiment.  As the general saw each clan take up its ground, he turned to young Cameron and said, pointing to the standard of Lochiel, “There is your father with his wild savages; how would you like to be with him?” “It signifies little what I would like,” was the spirited answer; “but I recommend you to be prepared, or perhaps my father and his wild savages may be nearer to you before night than you would like!"[101]