Regents will rule Scotland during the childhood of James V: first his mother, until she remarries in 1514 to the pro-English Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, then  John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, who is next in line to the throne after James and his younger brother, the posthumously born Alexander Stewart, Duke of Ross.

Other regents include Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, a member of the Council of Regency who is also bestowed as Regent of Arran, the largest island in the Firth of Clyde.

A power struggle ensues among factions controlled by Albany, Angus, and Margaret.