Unfortunately for the Scots, their king died suddenly on the verge of conquest. Since his son and successor, Alexander III (d. 1286), was only a boy at the time, the Scottish realm suffered through a lengthy and troubled minority. In consequence, it wasn't until the 1260s that the king looked west and attempted to finish what his father had so nearly accomplished.

In 1262, a year after another unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Isles, Scottish forces launched an attack upon Skye. Haakon's