Simon was facing nearly impossible odds in his attempts to gain control of the Fraser lands, and the law offered him no opportunity for recourse. Both Tullibardine and his ally, George Mackenzie, Viscount of Tarbat, had a firm control of the Edinburgh judiciary. However, he found a powerful ally in Archibald Campbell, tenth Earl (and after 1701, first Duke) of Argyll and chief of the powerful Clan Campbell. Argyll advised Simon to and go to London and seek a pardon from King William, whilst informing William in a letter of the "chaos and hostility" caused by Tullibardine in his pursuit of Simon. Other powerful voices were to support Argyll's opinion, and ultimately this was to sway the King, now concerned to keep the peace in Scotland whilst he fought a war in Flanders. Granted a pardon in 1700, he was at last free to assume the title of Lord Lovat in the ancestral residence at Castle Dounie. Argyll was himself elevated to a Dukedom, and his rise seemed to presage Tullibardine's fall as well as Simon's advancement.